Google PowerMeter
| Thu May. 21, 2009 8:18 AM PDT
Felix Salmon updates us on Google's PowerMeter project:
San Diego Gas & Electric [] has recently
started installing what it calls “smart meters” in 1.4 million homes in southern California. It’s up to 10,000 now, hopes to get more than 200,000 by the end of the year, and have everybody installed by 2011.
Any of SDG&E’s customers can get their electricity-usage information from the utility’s own website, but now they’ll have the option of getting it straight from Google instead, embedding it on their iGoogle home page, that kind of thing. And the more they see how much energy they’re using, the less they’ll use — a 5%-10% reduction up-front, with more down the road when they start replacing appliances and light bulbs and the like.
SDG&E's smart meters are indeed smarter, but they're still outside, and they're still basically just a fancy replacement for your current power meter. What's important is having something inside that shows you in real time how much electricity you're using. Someday that will probably be a physical device, but for now Google is providing this information to SDG&E customers via its PowerMeter app, which can be embedded on your iGoogle home page. Open it up and you can see exactly how much power you're using every time you turn an appliance on or off. Neat.
The simple act of making people aware of their electricity usage can probably generate a surprising amount of conservation. And relatively speaking, it's cheap. This kind of thing could help in other areas too. Here's a cheap and simple idea, for example: place the estimated 5-year cost of gasoline on the sticker of every new car. EPA could easily come up with a formula based on average car use and recent gasoline prices, and it would almost certainly make fuel-efficient cars more attractive if people saw the savings of buying one right in front of their faces when they were comparing cars. More like this, please.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Comments
Knowledge is (conservation of) power
Submitted by SecularAnimist (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 8:48 AM PDT.
Kevin wrote: "The simple act of making people aware of their electricity usage can probably generate a surprising amount of conservation."
I heard a radio report a few years ago about a municipal utility in Canada, which ran a pilot program in which consumers could choose the option of prepaying for a "block" of electricity, rather than being billed at the end of the month for however much they used. The system worked much like buying a prepaid telephone calling card. The participants bought a prepaid "electricity card", which they could replenish when it was used up. They had special meters which showed how much prepaid electricity remained on their account.
The result was that the consumers who chose the prepaid option dramatically reduced their electricity consumption. And the only real change was psychological, the desire to make the prepaid amount of electricity last as long as possible.
Realtime MPG readings might be useful
Submitted by Trippp on Thu May. 21, 2009 8:51 AM PDT.
I've thought that realtime MPG meters in cars would be useful, and I think some cars already come with that. I've never had one though. For you people who have, do you pretty much ignore the meter after awhile? I know I ignore the LED in my stick shift car which prompts me to shift gears sooner than I'd like.
Tripp
Viridian Note
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 9:03 AM PDT.
Reality catches up with speculation!
From "Viridian Note 43", circa 1998:
http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/26-50/Note%2000043.txt
Ad copy: bruces@well.com (Bruce Sterling)
"One of the most offensive artifacts of the
twentieth century is the standard household energy meter.
This ugly gizmo clings like a barnacle to the outside of
your home, readable only by functionaries. Clumsily
painted in battleship gray, this network spy device
features creepy, illegible little clock-dials, under an
ungainly glass dome. Look a bit closer, and this user-
hostile interface deliberately insults you, with a hateful
anti-theft warning, and a foul little lockbox.
"This crass device is designed to leave you in
stellar ignorance of your own energy usage. It publicly
brands you as a helpless peon, a technically-illiterate
source of cash for remote, uncaring utility lords.
"But today, thanks to the Viridian Electrical
Meter, the tables are turned. The Viridian Meter is not
some utility spy device, but a user-owned art object!
Based on the popular "plasma globe," this interactive
meter/installation will grace any 21st-century living
room. The attractively sizzling "Magic Sphere" perches on
a beautiful, visionary plant-stand, inspired by noted
designers Hector Guimard and Albert Paley!
"The Viridian Meter is pre-set with the standard
demographic energy consumption of your biome and climatic
area. Network brownouts and spikes produce visible,
spitting anomolies, quickly warning you to protect your
valuable household gizmos from the incompetent vagaries of
the local utility. When your home's energy use grows
excessive, the plasma-globe arcs up with a warning red
crackle. Best of all, feeding energy from your home into
the grid causes the Viridian Meter to reverse its
polarity, displaying its internal aurora in a cool, lovely
green! Guests in your home will soon see that your solar
panels (and/or fuel cells and windmills) free our planet
from the nasty burdens of fossil-fuel. When your child
comes home from school, all long-faced about environmental
decline and horrific weather anomalies, your conscience
will be certifiably clear! 'See our Meter, honey? Look!
It runs green!'"
place the estimated 5-year
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 9:06 AM PDT.
place the estimated 5-year cost of gasoline on the sticker of every new car.
It's a bit late for this, but I always thought SUVs should be required to bear a sticker indicating how much more deadly they are than minivans.
Very Cool
Submitted by RobertSeattle on Thu May. 21, 2009 9:19 AM PDT.
I want a "I'm leaving the house" device that will turn everything I've preset to turn off when I am away from the house - including my gas stove (which I left of a few days ago...).
I use... ...A power strip.
Submitted by Crissa (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 6:33 PM PDT.
I use...
...A power strip. Flip and go.
The EPA's fuel-economy
Submitted by Biff (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 9:21 AM PDT.
The EPA's fuel-economy window sticker already incorporates an estimated annual fuel cost:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/ratingsNewSticker.shtml
Living in the water-challenged West, I'd be interested if the 'Energyguide' stickers on new dishwashers and washing machines were extended to show a model's average yearly water use. With a little digging, you can find the numbers on the Web, but that's no help if you're standing in the appliance store.
Smart Meters? For Utilities Yes, for Consumers, No
Submitted by Dave Brown on Thu May. 21, 2009 9:26 AM PDT.
Don't be distracted by the shiny objects. The ultimate goal of "smart" meters is demand pricing, where the price of electricity varies throughout the day as demand varies. It sounds like a sensible scheme, but if you're like most people, you don't have much choice about when you use electricity; you use it when you're home and awake. If utilities truly wanted to conserve, they would simply charge industrial customers the same rates as consumers.
A better idea for fuel economy ratings on cars and trucks is to report gallons per hundred miles, instead of miles per gallon. This helps people make intelligent choices. A one mpg difference doesn't sound like much, but if you're looking at a truck that gets 15 mpg, it's a big deal. On the other hand, if you're considering a vehicle that gets 45 mpg, it's inconsequential. With ratings of gallons per 100 miles, the differences are better illuminated.
Demand Pricing
Submitted by Art Eclectic on Thu May. 21, 2009 10:46 AM PDT.
Demand Pricing is absolutely where we want to go. Peak demand is generally in the afternoon hours on hot days when everyone has their air conditioning cranked. At the consumer level, this is precisely when you don't want people using dryers, dishwashers, etc.... By pushing consumer load to the early mornings and later evenings, it takes the stress off the grid.
real time gas meters
Submitted by J. Frank Parnell on Thu May. 21, 2009 9:29 AM PDT.
My car's fuel consumption read out has two settings. One is instantaneous fuel consumption, and it jumps around too much to be useful. The other is "average" and changes too slowly to be of interest. I tend not to pay attention unless I am low on gas and trying to make it home without getting off the freeway to gas up.
That said, the more sophisticated fuel consumption read outs on hybrid cars are reportedly very addictive, at least too some people.
Demand pricing
Submitted by J. Frank Parnell on Thu May. 21, 2009 9:50 AM PDT.
I have to say that demand pricing is a potentially good thing. It is widespread in Europe, where most appliances have a timer setting to allow them to run during the night. I have also heard of electrical heating systems that heat rocks at night to keep your apartment warm during the day. My Bosch dish washer has a timer setting, but it is fairly rare on appliances in the U.S. It's the old chicken/egg thing, until we have smart meters and demand pricing, the consumer doesn't want an extra feature they won’t use.
The real payoff on demand pricing is the reduction in the number of new power plants and reduced loads on the grid. I don't particularly want a new power plant or power line in my back yard, so anything that makes more efficient use of the existing infrastructure is a good thing.
And in cars too!
Submitted by stand on Thu May. 21, 2009 9:52 AM PDT.
Ahh, a chance to ride my favorite hobby horse! All new cars should have mpg readouts of some sort. If you know how much gas you are burning as driving conditions change, you learn to save fuel.
Is there some way to retrofit old cars with this kind of instrument? That would be a great thing.
Frank, cute dog. Actually,
Submitted by Dave Brown on Thu May. 21, 2009 10:54 AM PDT.
Frank, cute dog.
Actually, most dishwashers these days have a delay feature. And my dishwasher runs at night as I sleep. But I've got a big house and a very quiet dishwasher so it doesn't keep me awake. I'm wealthy; my family income is in the top four or five percent, and I can take advantage of all the latest technologies to save energy. I conserve because it's the right thing to do, not because it costs less. And quite frankly, doubling the price of electricity wouldn't change my lifestyle.
I wasn't always so fortunate. And I can remember what its like to to be poor. The poor can't take advantage of the latest energy saving technologies. They're driving ten or fifteen year old cars, if they have a car at all. And they don't have the latest energy star appliances, they're stuck with the twenty year old appliances their landlord provides. The fact is, demand pricing, like so many well intentioned policies, is a far greater burden for the poor than the rich.
And yes, I've heard the pleas from the utilities, that if only we would conserve, they wouldn't have to build another power plant. And at one time I believed them. But post Enron, they've been able to provide no evidence to back up their argument.
Finally, for all of you who want shiny little mpg meters. The ability is built into all cars built since 1994 via the OBD interface. But please be careful how you use the information. Specifically, if you are in an urban area, ignore what your meter tells you, and go with the flow of traffic. If we want to save fuel and reduce carbon emissions, then we need to think like members of a community, not as selfless individuals. If you fight the flow of traffic, either by going slower, or by going faster, you'll increase everyone elses fuel consumption, even while reducing your own.
Were electricity demand more
Submitted by trollhattan (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 11:46 AM PDT.
Were electricity demand more elastic I'd be a little more welcoming of real-time meters and sliding daily rate tables, but there's not a whole lot of electricity usage I can time-shift beyond the appliances already noted. Their percentage of my total use is miniscule.
I need light when I need it, not when the rate drops. I need AC in the afternoon and evening, same as everybody else (and I already have a set-back thermostat). My fridge runs hardest when the house it hot, ironically putting warm air into the kitchen and increasing cooling demand. (My heat, range and hot water are gas, unlike folks with all-electric homes.)
I'm all for being informed on my usage, but I don't particularly want to open the proverbial door to peak-rate billing without access to technology that's a LOT more efficient and has a lot more intelligent control than what I have today, because I can't do much to avoid peak period use. I've already spent a lot making my old house far more efficient and comfortable than it once was.
As it is we're billed at three progressivly higher rates as monthly use goes up, and in summer when I get to tier 3 the punishment for running the AC is already built in.
re. real-time and cumulative MPG readouts: I had a car with these features for many years and never lost my nerdy fascination with it. Cumulatively it's actually very useful in tracking the effects of small things (such as tire inflation, switching gasoline brands, switching to synthetic oil, etc.) and it answers age old questions such as whether it's better to downshift for a grade or keep it in the present gear. Geeky fun.
Except, it is. If I use the
Submitted by Crissa (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 6:41 PM PDT.
Except, it is.
If I use the PS3 or the PC, or leave them on standby? That's a big power use. So I turn them off.
My Mac is always on. If I did the same with a PC... I'd spend $100 more a month on power.
Yeah, I did choose some slightly more expensive items up front - CFLs, LED string lights, Apple computer, all in one LG washer/dryer - but they use so much less power that I can still have some of the more power intensive items and just pull them on and off the grid as needed.
Are we trying to solve the energy crises or poverty?
Submitted by J. Frank Parnell on Thu May. 21, 2009 11:50 AM PDT.
Energy policy needs to be targeted at reducing consumption and pollution. Social and Economic policies need to be targeted at helping the poor. Trying to help the poor by keeping gasoline and electricity cheap strikes me is an ineffective and ultimately counterproductive policy. Better to help them out with direct subsidies, or better yet a revitalized economy. That way in fifteen years they will at least be driving fuel efficient vehicles.
Is this stuff worth the cost?
Submitted by BigTom (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 1:30 PM PDT.
Is this stuff worth the cost? I have real doubts. A few folks like myself, who enjoy engineering and tinkering love these sorts of things, and might even discover a thing or two about our consumption that will matter. But, I bet the average Joe will just be confused and learn to ignore it. Maybe the utility company can gather some data that has some value to themselves.
That said. For those who like to tinker, and at least know the difference between power, energy, voltage, etc. I want to recommend the Kill-a-Watt. This plug this into the power, and plug an appliance into it, and it monitors that appliance. You can find out if leaving that VCR plugged in when not in use is a big enough problem to bother with putting in on a switch. People that I've loaned mine too managed to find some significant power hogs they could do something about, so perhaps if every tenth person bought one, and loaned it around the savings would add up.
I got curious and checked
Submitted by trollhattan (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 2:22 PM PDT.
I got curious and checked the local utility. They'll sell you one of these gizmos for $40. It can't (easily) suss out power use of individial gadgets, but looks good for checking overall use, presuming the data's accurate.
http://www.smud.org/en/residential/saving-energy/Pages/monitor.aspx
I am lucky enough to live in
Submitted by Trippp on Thu May. 21, 2009 4:45 PM PDT.
I am lucky enough to live in a small city with a municipal power plant, and I took the public tour a couple years ago. They've got four coal-fired Westinghouse generators from the 50s and 60s that are still the most efficient they can get. They use three in the winter, and four in the summer, and if the demand is extra high they turn on a supplemental diesel generator, and as a last resort they buy power off the grid.
When they warn us about peak loads it is no BS. They've got some kind of smart switch you can request to which automatically cycles off AC compressors during peak loads, and if you have one you get a discount on your bill.
More people should take a look at their local power companies because the more that people know the more they can do that makes sense.
There should be a lot more wind power coming online locally this summer, and it will be interesting to see how well that merges into the grid.
Tripp
mpg gauge is great
Submitted by neutrino23 on Thu May. 21, 2009 5:24 PM PDT.
I got a nice loaner sedan once during a repair with an mpg gauge. It amazed me. Going up hill on the freeway it was kind of fun to push the pedal down and feel the acceleration, till I looked at the gauge and it read 2mpg!
Now I have a Prius and can only shake my head as I go uphill at ~23mpg and I can clearly imagine that the SUVs, pickups and big sedans are are racing uphill at 1 or 2mpg without knowing it.
It makes a lot of sense. If all you know is the sense of acceleration, the tach and the speedometer you go with that. If you have a gauge telling you the cost of your action you have at least the chance to modify your behavior. If we just cut back our fuel use about 10 or 15% that would be huge. I believe it is possible. Cut out the jack rabbit starts, coast up to red lights, turn off the engine when standing still. Use mild acceleration instead of pushing the pedal to the floor.
Post new comment
MoJo Comments: Send Us Your Feedback
We changed our spam software to better filter comments. Should you encounter any issues, please let us know.
