Paper ID: 2308.05711

A Comparison of Classical and Deep Reinforcement Learning Methods for HVAC Control

Marshall Wang, John Willes, Thomas Jiralerspong, Matin Moezzi

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising approach for optimizing HVAC control. RL offers a framework for improving system performance, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing cost efficiency. We benchmark two popular classical and deep RL methods (Q-Learning and Deep-Q-Networks) across multiple HVAC environments and explore the practical consideration of model hyper-parameter selection and reward tuning. The findings provide insight for configuring RL agents in HVAC systems, promoting energy-efficient and cost-effective operation.

Submitted: Aug 10, 2023