Smart Energy Meters – Take Control Of Your Power Consumption
Imagine if you knew how much energy you were consuming at home at any time of the day, will you refrain of using some unnecessary energy hog appliances ? or use them at the time of the day when the energy is cheapest? on the economy turmoil we are currently in, I believe all of us are willing to make those small adjustments to lower down the bill numbers at the end of the month.
Smart energy meters are devices that will sit on your home, monitor energy data from your electricity meter, and let you know how much energy you are using - this put more control on your hands on how you spend your energy at home. conventional electricity meters are normally hidden somewhere on a wall on the basement, and the only time you realize how much energy you’ve been spending is when the bill hit the door, thanks to the Obama stimulus package all that will change.
Barack Obama has pledged to help utilities install 40 million smart energy meters, which are basically digital meters that create a two-way connection with the power grid and the utility. Smart meters installed in homes can unleash data about the fluctuating price of electricity throughout the day, enabling consumers that have energy-management tools to shift energy consumption to the time of day when power is cheapest. For utilities, that can mean better management of the power grid, eliminating the need to build out expensive power generating systems.
Home energy usage in most of the U.S. is at an all-time high, and utilities across the country are struggling to keep up with demand. Meanwhile, America’s 110 million households needlessly waste energy, mainly through thermostats that are incorrectly programmed, lights and appliances that are left on, and the occurrence of leak current (the power used by electronic devices when they are plugged in but not in use).
At the same time, we’re all motivated to reduce our carbon footprint and save money. But aside from changing to compact fluorescent light bulbs or choosing Energy Star appliances, we don’t know where or how to begin—because we don’t have the tools or information.
Utility companies send a bill at the end of the month showing a dollar amount that reflects total usage. That bill does not tell you how much you could have saved if you upgraded your air conditioner or refrigerator. Or adjusted your thermostat by a few degrees. Or what you wasted on leak current. Or how your usage compares to your neighbors’. Or when the grid in your area is in danger of a blackout.
Smart Energy Meters currently or soon to be available 
EnergyHub will give you all of that information and in real time. the system lets you track every appliance in your home, down to the last cell phone charger. The system also connects you to other people in your community, and creates a way for your utility to communicate with you directly.
Using the user friendly installation system, you can control appliances and devices—essentially anything in your home that consumes energy—from the touch screen dashboard. Put your house to sleep with the touch of a button. Automatically turn off your window air conditioners when you leave for work, and schedule them to turn back on before you come home. Automate your devices and cut leak power. Access and control your data and appliances from the Internet or your mobile device. Find out how much your friends and neighbors are consuming, and get tips from your utility for lowering your energy costs. For the first time, you will be in total control over how and when you use energy. You’ll have an easy way of communicating with your utility. And you’ll have the power to reduce your consumption and save money on your utility bills, all without sacrificing comfort.
How does this smart meter works ?
The EnergyHub Starter Kit consists of a touch screen dashboard and temperature control unit. The two devices communicate using a low-power ZigBee wireless link. The touch screen dashboard also talks to your electric or gas meter to display your home’s total energy use (as long as your utility has installed a modern “smart meter” with wireless capability).
How do you get one?
at the time of this writing Energyhub smart meters are not currently available yet, but you can keep track of the time of the release by checking their website at http://www.energyhub.net/ and subscribe to their newsletter.
The Onzo smart energy kit provides energy management for consumers. It consists of a sensor, display and integrated website. The display interprets and delivers simple actionable information to users in real-time, empowering them to make positive decisions about how they use energy. The display can be connected to a home computer to upload data to the website via the internet.
with a user friendly interface, onzo display information that can be easily analyzed by consumers and make smart decisions about their energy usage. the compactness of the device gives freedom to people to use it anywhere they like. it can be pinned on a board, fridge, wall, or set on any flat surface.
How this smart meter will work?
the Onzo kit consists of a sensor and a display screen, the sensor is a clip which attaches to one of the cables coming from the electricity meter – this sensor can be installed without any special knowledge ( in case you’re wondering). the sensor gets the power from where its attached, so you will never need to change the batteries, it consumes a very low amount of energy – so your electrical bill won’t be impacted for having such device. it stores up to 10 years of data. the sensor sends the the energy data wirelessly to the display device, which analyze the data, and make it easily readable to you.
Both the display and the sensor can be recycled. They are delivered in compact packaging that fits in most standard mailboxes, which also reduces the environmental impact of their distribution.
The Onzo kit is expected to be available by med-2009. check their website at http://www.onzo.co.uk/ for more coverage, and time of release.
The Energy Detective or (TED) is a simple home energy meter that let you measure electricity usage in
real-time. TED is one of the few smart energy meters already available on the US market. TED does not requires any power to operate, and only uses very little electricity to operate. according to Energy Inc, the company behind this smart meter, the operation of the device only cost about 0.08 per month to work. according to some reviews, TED is very accurate, with an accuracy of 1% to 2%. and a sensitivity of 10 WATTS, that means if you turn on a device that consumes more than 10 watts of energy, this device will detect it and record its usage.
Review about TED video
How to Install TED
The Energy Detective smart meter is available for consumers, and you can order it through the website store at http://www.theenergydetective.com/store, on the same website you can find many other resources regarding the device.
Google PowerMeter, now in prototype, will receive information from utility smart meters and energy management devices and provide anyone who signs up access to her home electricity consumption right on her iGoogle homepage. The graph on the right shows how someone could use this information to figure out how much energy is used by different household activities. Google will only provide the software, you will need to have a smart meter already installed at your house in order for powermeter to work.
The software from Google will be free for consumers and utilities. currently is available for Google employees only. check the official website for more information and time of release. http://www.google.org/powermeter/index.html
GreenBox like Google is working on the software side of things with their web-based software. Greenbox is a web-based solution that enables households to track, understand, and manage their home energy usage and environmental footprint. greenbox is already available for utilities. read more about greenbox on their website http://www.getgreenbox.com/
Agilewaves constantly monitors electric, gas and water use and provides accurate consumption and carbon footprint information in real-time, from any web enabled device, from anywhere in the world. The system intelligence can send automatic notifications of leaks, excessive energy use or carbon emissions via email or text messaging, and can seamlessly communicate with home control systems.
measuring the ecological footprint of a property in real-time, the technology can monitor each individual circuit, water line, and gas appliance. The flexible system can also track other factors such as temperature/humidity, output from solar PV, performance of solar or geo-thermal water heating, indoor air quality and even living architecture. Current and historical information is automatically stored allowing powerful trend analysis and comparative features to be easily displayed across any time period. The system, custom-designed for larger buildings and higher-end homes, needs to be installed by an electrician and can also be used to dim lights, turn on and off heating and cooling, and adjust smart appliances.
What’s included on the system?
A basic system is turn-key and includes all the associated sensors, hardware and pre-configured software to monitor main water, main gas, and main electric plus 7 additional individual circuits of your choice (equipment, appliances, lights, sub-panels, etc). This is a suggested system starting point only and the system can easily be refined to monitor additional electric, gas or water points of use, as well as indoor air quality, solar, geo-thermal, green living roofs, climate and more
how is it installed?
Sensors are mounted and wired back to an Agilewaves Sensor Integration Panel (ASIP). The electrical sensors mount directly in the circuit breaker panel(s), so do not require invasive installation within the home or building. The gas, water and other sensors are installed at their monitoring point and wired back to the nearest ASIP. In some cases, Agilewaves may be able to gather data from existing “communicating” utility meters or equipment, avoiding the need for additional sensors. Wireless is an option, but only used as a last resort.Agilewaves can communicate with smart meters also.
visit Agilewaves at http://www.agilewaves.com/ to learn about prices and how to order it.