We finally got that Kill-A-Watt we’ve been thinking about, and we spent a good part of last weekend running around the house measuring the energy use of every single piece of electronic equipment we own. It was surprisingly fun. It was also a lot of numbers. (See below.) But we could draw a few conclusions from all of them:
How can we measure what we can’t see? Electricity provides a particular challenge in this regard. Even though we’re told turning off lights saves energy and money, many people continue to leave lights on, unaware of how much power they’re actually consuming. What’s more, many devices we use today maintain a low-level of power usage, often referred to as “vampire power” or standby power, even when we think the device is off. Electronics such as computers, stereos and televisions are highly to blame in this regard. There is however light at the end of the tunnel. Google has recently released a new application called PowerMeter that will allow individuals to connect to their utility and view their up-to-date energy usage via iGoogle. While testing is still in progress and the complete version is planned for roll-out later this year, the idea is a brilliant one, and one that may change the way we look at and use electricty moving forward.…
The debate on the value (and costs) of wide spread deployment and installation of ‘Smart Meters‘ for monitoring energy usage rages on-most notably in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.
A succession of articles and editorials has been published recently, with each author taking a particular side of the argument.…
If the idea of tracking and analyzing your power consumption via a chart does not excite you, consider NEC’s online energy games. The electronics company’s program, currently undergoing a three-month trial in employees’ homes, uses a WiFi-enabled device attached to your circuit breaker to keep track of power consumption.…
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about a test program of ’smart’ meters installed to monitor electricity use in Michigan homes. Now, as details of last week’s stimulus package are unveiled, it seems that smart meter usage within America’s homes will soon go way beyond the prototype stage.
This will provide consumers with immediate feedback on their energy use, and show the effect of turning off lights when they leave the room, or using cold water to wash their clothes.
The Citizen Patriot newspaper in Jackson, Michigan ran a story yesterday about the new ’smart’ meters Consumers Energy customers will start seeing in their homes. It’s actually a visual display panel that will allow their customers to see-and control–energy usage in their homes.…
