Home Energy Management Can Save You Money
Home Energy Management
The recent Consumer Electronic Show (CES) revealed how important Home Energy Management has become. For years Home Automation been the focus of home technology research and development – for example, remote control of home entertainment and home lighting.
Now, big names like Google, Verizon, GE, Whirlpool – and smaller companies like SmartHome, EcoFactor, and Control4 – are testing and marketing new home energy management products: These companies see growing markets for these products because they:
- Help consumers save energy and money, and
- Help electric utilities reduce demand growth and manage peak power demand.
Real time energy feedback meters
If you knew exactly how much electricity your hone is using and how much it is costing you in real time, -- this minute, this hour, this day – you’d have a tool to reduce your electric bill.
Fortunately there are inexpensive real time energy feedback meters on the home automation market right now that monitor your whole house electrical consumption.
Studies have shown that you could save as much as 10-20% on your electric bill -- if you knew how much electricity each of your appliances and power-eaters were using -- and made some simple adjustments to optimize their use.
The PowerCost Monitor and Energy Meter®
The PowerCost Monitor and Energy Meter® is a powerful in-home, wireless, real-time electric meter in two parts -- a sensor and a power use display.
Attach the sensor to your utility's outdoor electric meter with a simple ring clamp. The sensor does not interfere with meter-reading by your utility. It transmits data wirelessly to your monitor.
Place the in-home display where it is convenient for you to read and act on your data. Use this power meter to tell how much electricity is being used by each room in your house, each breaker circuit, each appliance.
Google PowerMeter
Google wants to use information and technology to address global challenges, such as energy management.
Google’s goal is to develop an energy information software tool that will enable consumers to make informed choices about their energy use as they browse the web, read email, or use a mobile phone.
Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, created Google PowerMeter in 2009. It was designed to receive information from smart meters installed on your house by your electric utility. The smart meter -- combined with in-home energy management devices -- enabled the PowerMeter to visualize this information for you on iGoogle (your personalized Google homepage) and manage your energy use.
And, the Google PowerMeter was free.
Unfortunately, Google pulled the plug on the Powermenter in 2014. Apparently, it did not gain sufficient market success for Google.
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The Energy Detective Monitors Real-Time Energy Use
If you're interested in the service that the Google PowerMeter would have provided, you can now use The Energy Detective, a home energy monitor that provides real-time electricity use data to your computer screen.
You can perform your own energy audit. The Energy Detective measures voltage, Power Factor, and Current.
Note that you should have a licensed electrician to install The Energy Detective as it requires connections made in your electrical distribution panel.
Eyedro EHWEM1 Wireless Home Electricity Monitor
Neurio offers a wireless home electricity monitor, the Eyedro EHWEM1. Since it requires installation in your breaker panel you should use a licensed electrician.
Once installed you need to put Eyedro on your home wireless network. You can download a smartphone app so that you can monitor your home electrical usage from anywhere.
Neurio support offers clearly videos and articles to guide you through the process.