Smart Home Energy Monitoring Equipment

Residential consumers’ home energy use is changing. New smart
home energy monitoring equipment can provide a near real-time
snapshot of energy usage. With this information in hand, consumers
are altering their energy-using behavior and becoming more energy
efficient. Studies have shown that savings range from 10% to 20% when
consumers are able to monitor electricity usage in real time.

Most home energy monitoring equipment consist of two parts: 1)
a transmitting device that attaches to the circuit breaker panel or the
electrical meter and measures energy usage, and 2) a display unit (some
can be plugged into any outlet in the home). One popular model is TED,
short for The Energy Detective. The idea behind TED is that if you can
measure energy usage, you can manage energy usage. TED measures
whole-house electrical usage that is updated every second and is
displayed on an easy-to-read LCD screen. It’s sensitive to 10 watts, so if
you open your refrigerator, you will immediately see the slight spike of
the 20-watt bulb. There is additional software that allows you to log your
electricity usage on your computer for graphing, charting, seeing trends,
load-profiling and much more. Other manufacturers of moment-tomoment
electrical energy monitoring equipment include the PowerCost
Monitor, Kill-A-Watt and PowerWatch. Prices range from $50 to $120.

Home energy monitors are a component of a much larger green
effort: turning our energy grid into a smart grid that streamlines energy
costs and provides incentives for consumers to lower costs. Another
component of this large project is the smart meter. Smart meters replace
existing electrical meters and do not require monthly onsite inspections.
Utility companies are installing smart meters to better analyze how
consumers use energy. Unfortunately, many of these smart meters don’t
display information to the consumer. In response, Google has launched
the PowerMeter. The PowerMeter is a free software program that works in
concert with smart meters and allows consumers to track their electricity
usage, at home or remotely, on any computer through a Google widget.
For more information about smart meters and the deployment of smart
grid technology, residents can contact their utility company.

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