Optimal scheduling of household appliances for demand response

•The model consists of the cost, incentive and inconvenience level which differentiates our work from the standard models.•The model is formulated as a nonlinear integer problem.•The study shows that the consumer switches off and shifts their appliances usage.•By choosing the weighting factor the consumer can make a decision to participate in a demand response program.

In this paper, residential demand response is studied through the scheduling of typical home appliances in order to minimize electricity cost and earn the relevant incentive. A mixed integer nonlinear optimization model is built under a time-of-use electricity tariff. A case study shows that a household is able to shift consumption in response to the varying prices and incentives, through which the consumer may realize an electricity cost saving of more than 25%. It has also been shown that at different values of the weighting factor α gives varying costs, from which the consumer is able to choose according to their preferences. Therefore a final decision about participation in the program could be made.