And what if you are thinking of new appliances? How long will it take for an A+++ fridge to pay back its capital cost in terms of reduced energy consumption? And if you could only afford to buy one appliance, would it be better to get a freezer, a washing machine or a dishwasher? So many questions, but they can only be answered if you have the right data at your fingertips. However, to get the exact electricity consumption of every light and every appliance would require an incredibly complex and continuous analysis of your meter. Alternatively, it would require extensive rewiring to get all the loads registered at a central reading point, or separate meters on each device.
There has to be a better way, and that is your challenge this month. We want a device or system that is going to give us all the information we need to turn us eco-friendly, to cut our bills and stop polar bears wondering why their habitat is melting. We have a solution in mind that we will print in the next issue.
Any ideas please share with the editor at tim.fryer@markallengroup.com or leave your ideas a comment below.
Last month we asked you to come up with a device that could tell you how much electricity every appliance in a building was using. A number of readers said solutions to this problem are already out there, but our solution, admittedly still in the development phase, has been proposed by the inestimable MIT in Boston.
The MIT system involves placing a postage stamp sized sensors over the incoming power line, requiring no special installation or wiring. With a very fast sampling rate, sensors can pick up enough detailed information about spikes and patterns in the voltage and current that the system can, thanks to dedicated software, tell the difference between every different kind of light, motor, and other device in the home and show exactly which ones go on and off, at what times.
The system is designed so that all of the detailed information stays inside the user’s own home, eliminating concerns about privacy that potential users may have when considering power-monitoring systems. The detailed analysis, including the potential for specialised analysis based on an individual user’s specific needs or interests, can be provided by customised apps that can be developed using the MIT team’s system.
