data.ox.ac.uk Quick Start

Construct a query URL

We've created a tool to help you construct a query to data.ox.ac.uk (d.ox):

1. Leave data source as is
2. In series put unique id(s) for the meter(s) you are interested in. This will be either of the form "ion:RCH214" or "mpan:2000027361054" depending on whether we pull the data from Scottish and Southern Energy or the Ion Enterprise Service. Use this list of currently know meter points at Oxford to find the identifier.
3. Define the period you want to retrieve data between using the start and end dates
4. (Optional) If you don't want all your half hourly meter readings, you can change the interval to retrieve daily average readings by inserting &resolution=86400
   1. 86400 is the number of seconds in a day, use a calculator to change this value to retrieve weekly, monthly and other intervals
   2. N.B. d.ox returns average power draw over this interval in kW. If you want to calculate total power draw for a day you will need to multiply this value by 24!
5. Leave the format as CSV and JSONP callback as "eval"
6. Press the TEST button - success indicated you have constructed a valid query URL

You'll end up with something like:

http://time-series.data.ox.ac.uk/?action=fetch&type=average&series=mpan:2000027360200,mpan:2000027360868,virtual:computing-services&startTime=1318291200&endTime=1318377600&format=csv

We plan to improve the query-making tool - any problems email howard or alex.

Get your data

1. If you paste your URL into a new browser search address bar you'll download a file that can be imported into a spreadsheet
2. You can also import your data into a Google Docs Spreadsheet using: ImportData("insert your URL")

Play

Once you have your data you should be able to enhance it by performing calculations such as introducing a target consumption (that is set for instance on n% reduction over the previous year reading at the same time).

Spreadsheet tools normally make visualising the data easy. We recommend sharing your visualisations and maybe engaging in a little friendly competition!