a transient event classification scheme, system identification techniques, and implementation for use in no intrusive load monitoring. Together, these techniques form a system that can determine the operating schedule and find parameters of physical models of loads that are connected to an AC or DC power distribution system. The monitoring system requires only off-the-shelf hardware and recognizes individual transients by disaggregating the signal from a minimal number of sensors that are installed at a central location in the distribution system. Implementation details and field tests for AC and DC systems are presented