[Articles] Energy Monitoring, just a fad?

[CT Droid]

So is the ability to monitor your energy usage via a web based interface just a fad? It looks like both Google and Microsoft have called it quits, and are ending their energy monitoring programs. Google is killing Google PowerMeter in a few months (September 16th, 2011), while Microsoft is shutting down Microsoft Hohm next year (May 31, 2012). I personally have a monitoring system in place as well (Brultech), but rarely pay attention to the data, so I am guessing this is happening everywhere. How much attention do you pay to your energy monitoring solutions?

I also noticed that some stores, such as Lowes, have put some of this energy monitoring hardware on clearance, so you might be able to get some good deals if you have the ability to interface these units with your own software.

As for alternatives, Pachube seems to be one of the more popular options. What do you think? Keep on reading for the original announcements.



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[az1324]

Well firstly I can now view and download hourly usage data directly from my utility. The interface isn't quite as nice as power meter or hohm but the problem with those services is that they never did anything other than draw graphs. I'm not sure why they never added features or what they were expecting from these projects, but maybe their model was to get utility participation and big contracts and they didn't. Regarding energy monitoring, nobody just wants to stare at usage data all the time. What they want is smart energy solutions wherein usage patterns can be dynamically and automatically adjusted to save them money. Now obviously to totally automate this would require a lot more integration of sensors and automation at the device level. But there are still plenty of opportunities for personalized informational feedback in reports/analysis, suggestions, alerts, etc... None of this was provided by those services. The other issue is where does minimizing energy use/cost come to conflict between the utility and the customer. Obviously the utility wants to be able to avoid shortages and maintain a healthy grid but at the same time they want to sell as much power as they can when they've got it. And once you've got a significant number of customers using these dynamic methods you might have to adjust your rate plans to compensate, which will again change usage pattern, and on... Also how much potential savings are involved at the household level in optimizing your power usage subject to acceptable ranges of convenience and comfort and how much effort are people going to go through to save those dollars. So energy monitoring was never going to be enough but smart energy isn't going away.

Amazon SimpleDB has a free tier that should be good for sensor data storage.

 

[tmbrown97]

I have to agree with most of the above - I have a smart-meter that lets me see hour by hour energy usage and even graph it next to outside temperatures (HVAC is of course the largest user of energy). To do anything more for me I'd need to see much more granular data.

Plus I looked inside my panel and it's so tight I don't know how I could ever fit individual sensors on each load - and that's what I'd need to really start making good decisions (seeing how much energy is being used per circuit would allow me to evaluate if it's worth buying a different dryer, if the LED lights I put in made a difference, seeing literally what the AC cost me for the day, etc.).

 

[jwilson56]

Well I have resisted the temptation to add a monitoring system to my setup. As I see it most of my energy usage would come down to the major appliances and the HVAC. I once saw a day graph from someone and it looked like a square wave generator. The amount of power the AC unit used dwarfed the rest of the day's use. Just didn't seem much I could do to lower my usage except not run the washer/dryer or AC/Furnace less. Replacing many of my lights with dimmable CFL's helped some I am sure but getting my son to re-use a towel every time he showered I think did more by cutting out a load of towels to wash and dry per week.

 

[linuxha]

I thought the very idea of motivating people by showing them what they would use was a little (okay, alot) odd. I wonder if the power companies have alterer As jwilson56 pointed out, you have to lower the usage of the large items to see any real advantage. After a while it just falls into too much information. Once you've got the data and you've (reasonable) trimmed back the power suckers what do you do with the data? I have ideas how to use the data but I haven't written the software. Basically you'd monitor the power, store the data and perform calculations to determine when to upgrade the appliance to a more efficient unit. Or monitor usage for drastic changes (a sign of something going bad). Useful information but not the kind of thing I'm willing to buy a monthly service for.

 

[damage]

we have a brultech & i use the data fairly regularly. it updates in real-time on our HA control panels so it's hard not to notice. it is integrated into our leaving the house routine - when the exit delay on the alarm is triggered, our system will TTS us if there is power usage in the kitchen zone greater than that of the fridge (convection oven or toaster is on). i also track our solar array's production w/ it. i've coded some sanity checks for daily peak and total production based on weather conditions and expected production for time of year, etc. to make sure the panels are producing as expected (ie pollen build up, bird turd bombardment or a panel died)

 

[gatchel]

The only thing a monitoring system would do for me is tell me that something is out of whack before the bill comes.

In the cooler months our bill is x. When it gets hot, it goes up $100 or so because of running the A/C. It is what it is.

I believe it is a fad. If I want to know what something costs to run a use a $25 Kill-a-Watt.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I was going to do this myself, but just don't know what I'll do with the data as the overall cost is with the air conditioning as many others have remarked.

I think the money would be better spent on getting my house occupancy detection in better order and getting some thermostats remoted to use this data for AC adjustments.

 

[gatchel]

i also track our solar array's production w/ it. i've coded some sanity checks for daily peak and total production based on weather conditions and expected production for time of year, etc. to make sure the panels are producing as expected (ie pollen build up, bird turd bombardment or a panel died)

With solar I would definitely feel different and probably have something for monitoring. The more energy the array produces, the quicker the payoff.

 

[apostolakisl]

Monitoring a handful of big appliances like HVAC, fridge/freezer, laundry is probably as far as it is going to go in the near future for any significant number of people. I see appliances such as these having built-in wifi that will report their operating status and power consumption as likely in the near future. Beyond that I doubt any mainstream monitoring of every kwh is going to happen anytime soon.

 

[linuxha]

I'm going to go the Brultech route, just not right away. I feel the data is useful and though I pointed out 'TMI' (too much information) as a problem if there's software taking the 'TMI' and cutting it down to something usable then it's okay. I just think a lot of companies are trying to find way of making money off of your information. I won't go into that now as that would quickly turn into a rant.

I'm also going to put in a bunch of 1-wire temperature probes. I'm going to use them to figure how this house heats. I'll feed the information to a DB and let external programs deal with the data. My HA should just deal with it's immediate use and external programs can figure out trends.

 

[davidfay999]

I too watch my electricity usage regularly. I use a TED with custom software that lets me view my usage with one second resolution on the web: http://energy.shadypixel.com (when I'm out of town, like right now, all you see is the refrigerator cycling and occasionally defrosting). I was never interested in PowerMeter because its time resolution wasn't very good.

Why do I check my electricity daily? For the same reason I check the dashboard on my car: to make sure everything is OK. And sometimes it isn't. I've detected malfunctions in my furnace (fast cycling caused by insufficient return air), washing machine (clogged filter), and basement (leaking pipe causing the well pump to run continuously while I was away). It has been very useful and has saved me from some near disasters. There are other ways to monitor the systems in your house but none so convenient.

My TED was also very useful in reducing my electricity usage (down 60% from three years ago). But now that I've bottomed out, I just keep my finger on the pulse.

David

 

[Lagerhead]

Interesting discussion, along with a "best-practice" story from davidfay.

For me, It begs the question -- what is the purpose of the growing, government-funded "smart grid"? How many "lesser-tech-savvy-than-Coontech-types" regular people will really care to use -- or be competent to use -- the "smart grid" data for their energy management? Now we know the answer, per Google and Microsoft: Not enough. Close to zero.

The purposes of the "smart grid" are plainly elsewhere: Variable pricing (to the benefit of the utilities), consumer intelligence gathering (to the benefit of the utilities and others), involuntary consumption control (to the benefit of politically correct "green" interests). I just don't see a lot of consumer benefit in a utility-provided energy monitoring service, and a whole lot of privacy downside, a view which is confirmed by Google's and Microsoft's abandonment of the business model.

Stipulate that there is a world of difference between *consumer-owned and -provided" energy monitoring (that's us) on the one hand, and utility-provided smart meters on the other. The key animating questions of "is it worth enough for me to pay for it" and "who has the data" are critically in the balance. In other words, with the smart grid I have to pay for it anyway -- one way or other -- and since I don't "own" the data, who will ultimately see, and perhaps control, my energy usage?

 

[linuxha]

Interesting discussion, along with a "best-practice" story from davidfay.

For me, It begs the question -- what is the purpose of the growing, government-funded "smart grid"? How many "lesser-tech-savvy-than-Coontech-types" regular people will really care to use -- or be competent to use -- the "smart grid" data for their energy management? Now we know the answer, per Google and Microsoft: Not enough. Close to zero.

From the engineering standpoint, the smart grid is a way to re-engineer the power grid without rebuilding the power grid. From teh goverment's point of view it's to stabilize the future of the power grid. Of course we all know that MBA types run the companies and the point of the utilities is not to deliver power, it's to make profits (I'm not against businesses making a profile so please don't get me going on MBA types).

Anyway, right now in this economic climate it's cheaper to manually turn off a switch that to program-matically turn off a switch. Also we might want to consider the green side of HA (Energy monitoring and control). If each module uses .5W in the US alone (~300M, 1 module/person - okay so I'm making up numbers) we'd use 150MW of power. If we could lower that to .005W (milliamps -> microamps), usage would be 1.5MW. If we could drop that power to .000005W (microamps -> nanoamps) that would mean .0015MW. At this point we might start considering HA a lot more useful. Of course this doesn't include the main controller (lets say a 4W plug computer). With all this I think we can spend out money else where to make our lives more green (e.g. lower the power of light bulbs, TVs, DVRs and cable boxes).

BTW, low power micro-controllers are now available, so this is quite possible. But it will also take new thinking in programming to make sure it stays low power.

I really wouldn't mind running around the house and clipping each LED but my wife won't let me. :angry:

 

[Lagerhead]

From the engineering standpoint, the smart grid is a way to re-engineer the power grid without rebuilding the power grid.

In MBA school we call this "paving the cowpaths."