Home electricity usage monitoring is an idea on the verge of becoming mainstream. Why?
Saving electricity involves more than installing a few CFLs. Google’s PowerMeter video begins with a quote from Lord Kelvin: “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” Most of us who pay an electricity bill have attempted to reduce our usage and become more “green” without measuring it. I have installed over a dozen CFLs, but my electricity usage is still higher than I want it. According to my electricity provider, only 6% of their customers use more electricity than I do on a monthly basis :-(.
Lighting typically accounts for less than 20% of household electricity usage. To get to the real savings, you need to go beyond light bulbs. You need a complete picture of energy use in your home.
Time of use pricing is another reason to get interested in electricity usage monitoring. Electricity providers around the world are moving towards prices that vary by time of day, called time-of-use (TOU) pricing. When this happens, you will pay approximately double for day time use compared to night time use. In Ontario, the Ontario Energy Board has established off-peak prices at 4 cents/kWh, mid-peak prices at 7.2 cents/kWh, and peak prices at 8.8 cents/kWh.
After receiving your first TOU electricity bill, you will become keenly interested in exactly how and when you use electricity. (Next, you’ll develop a keen interested in generating your own electricity).
Here are some home electricity usage monitors available for purchase now:
The Energy Detective. The Energy Detective (aka TED) consists of a transmitter that is installed in your electrical panel, and a display unit that can be plugged in anywhere in your home. Although you may want to have an electrician install the transmitter, it uses current transformers to measure electricity usage, so you don’t need to disconnect major power lines – you just install the current transformer clamps over the incoming power lines.
The display unit shows instantaneous power usage and many other statistics. You can also connect the display to your computer and use the TED Footprints software to log and further analyze usage.
Black & Decker EM100B. The transmitter for this monitor is an optical sensor that you strap directly to your utility’s power meter. It transmits electricity usage data wirelessly to a display unit in your home. This is the simplest monitor to install because it doesn’t require opening your electrical panel.
Brultech ECM-1220. Brultech is a Canadian company with over 15 years experience with energy monitoring. Like The Energy Detective, the ECM-1220 uses current transformers to measure electricity usage. The transformers are wrapped around incoming power lines, then connected to the monitor. Unlike The Energy Detective, the ECM-1220 is an integrated monitor and display, which remains near your electrical panel.
You can download electricity usage data to your computer via USB connection or an optional wireless interface.
For the true techie, there are DIY options too:
Jason Winters put together a very innovative electricity monitor using current transformers and an ioBridge. The ioBridge transmits electricity usage data to ioBridge server where it can be accessed.
is another electricity monitor using an 89S52 micro-controller.
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