# Comparative Study on Load Monitoring Approaches
## 3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Intrusive and Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring  
### Advantages and Disadvantages of Intrusive Load Monitoring  
#### 3.1.1 Advantages  
Some of the advantages of the intrusive approach to load monitoring include:  
High accuracy: it is possible to accurately obtain information about the power consumption of different devices installed in the system [22]. Therefore, the details obtained from the analysis of the household or building power consumption could be exploited for modeling purposes.  
Finer control: intrusive load monitoring gives consumers the ability to control their electricity consumption with more finesse, identifying appliances with high power consumption potential, and readjusting their operation.  
Anomaly detection: With the intrusive approach to load monitoring, it is possible to detect anomalies in energy consumption due to faulty equipment, power leaks, or any other problems.  
In addition to the above benefits, ILM has the ability to identify the power consumption of devices that are on standby, plugged in, and not in use, also known as \"phantom loads\". In this way, consumers can adopt measures that lead to the reduction in overall electricity consumption in their homes or buildings. In addition to this benefit, the data collection devices used in the ILM provide real-time information about electricity consumption. Seen in this way, it can help users track their energy consumption throughout the day and adapt their consumption patterns or habits for efficient energy optimization.  
Thanks to the concept of intrusive load monitoring, several applications have been developed with the aim of improving the daily life of energy consumers. The applications developed aim to:  
* Understand energy consumption in a localized way. That is, give households accurate information about the consumption status of a single appliance. Typically, the information made available to the household is accessible at the power outlet, a static display, or on a mobile device [21; 22].
* Monitor appliances. With ILM, it is possible to identify abnormal consumption, or consumption deviations, as well as faulty appliances that may disrupt load monitoring [21; 22].
* Evaluate non-intrusive load monitoring environments. In this case, ILM is used to evaluate the performance of non-intrusive load monitoring through the disaggregation of consumed energy. This involves comparing the data from the results obtained from the non-intrusive load monitoring disaggregation algorithm to the data that the ILM sensors provide [21; 22].
* Daily recognition of human activities. With ILM it is possible to identify during their operations the devices that are involved in facilitating the daily life of the occupants of a household [21; 22].
* Detecting occupied space. Intrusive monitoring devices can also detect intrusion into a space, through sensors that control the on/off state of an appliance, and thus save energy [21; 22]. Overall, while ILM can be costly and complex to implement, it offers significant benefits in terms of identifying energy waste, optimizing energy use and improving overall energy efficiency.