UK Based Company on the Right Track for Home/Office Energy Monitoring

There are numerous sensor devices entering the market but this particular on is the one we believe is on the right path to giving you the capability and intelligence to modify your energy use habits. It is way more effective than just having a “smart meter” which will benefit the power company more than it will the consumer. Enter Green Energy Options, a new an innovative business dedicated to helping people use energy more efficiently, to cut the carbon emissions, and to move toward renewable energy sources.

How does the system work?

A set of low cost movable sensors are connected to any electrical supply or appliance. The information gathered is presented on a range of displays from PCs to independent corridor displays in a way that brings the information to life in a useful easy to interpret way.

The system is modular and people will generally start by using a relatively small kit. This enables the home/business owner to run an initial set of energy tests, engaging in practical and lasting improvements for the home or office. More modules can be added at anytime. See their site at Green Energy Options for more info on the types of displays and PC software they offer. Although the products are not currently available in the United States they look to expand here very soon as they widen their distribution beyond the UK.

Worthy of a look!

I am back on the grid after 30 plus days. So how was it… to say the least it was enlightening and quite relaxing although I must admit it took a couple of days of withdrawal pains before I got to that point. I thought I had prepared enough before going off the grid by printing out my phone lists, calendars purging my name of e-mail lists, etc.  However, I must admit I did have to break a couple of times during the period out of economic necessity. The first time was to re-direct my VoIP phone after I found out that it could not be done via the phone only via their website as my wife who led me to this path practically begged me to get back on the grid as she ended up fielding my office calls at our home number, getting text messages to her mobile phone for her to tell me things and finally receiving e-mails addressed to her for her to read to me.

I did also have to answer a couple of business e-mails that needed to be tended to after a couple of terse phone calls about needing to respond to some proposals and business opportunities via electronic means only. Also at the end of the month I needed to take a business trip to California so I needed to turn my cell phone back on during the last week. I did also use the computer to access the web to get and print some photos for a memorial for our black lab, Pirate, who after  14 and a half years of loyal and unrelenting love was put to eternal rest. Sweet puppy dreams my friend may you rest in peace.

So what did I learn? First off I realized how time consuming e-mail has become on my daily regime. It seems I have conditioned people to expect immediate responses, even late at night and early in the morning. This will change as I realized there is really very little e-mail that you need to be that responsive to. When I do not respond immediately it seemed most of the things that needed response seem to have come to a rightful conclusion without my input and the ones that could not were solved via a simple telephone call versus a diatribe of e-mails! Also after receiving some 3,000 plus e-mails during the month I realized I need to further reduce the number of information and group mailing lists I am on as they suck up time and give you back little to nothing in return. The overall amount of time I saved was immense as it allowed to me to finish a couple of good books and catch up on many periodicals (all of which I recycled after reading). I also found that by calling people versus e-mailing them faster results occurred along with much better rapport being established with business associates and customers. All my personal friends also seemed much more responsive to a live conversation versus e-mail with many of them being downright surprised at how long it had been since we had actually spoken.

Another  lesson learned was that by using cash to purchase things versus using my credit card I was way more mindful of what I spent my money on and thus spent less. I did use my credit card for some business needs as it was a more efficient way for me to keep track of my expenses. However, for personal purchases moving forward, I will continue to use cash. My efforts at recycling and or fixing versus throwing it out were modestly successful as it entailed numerous written letters and a few phone calls where I was put on hold for an extended period before I reached a real person. I would say that the internet really can help out here as getting rid of many no longer needed items could have been much easier by placing an online ad on Craig’s list or FreeCycle with much better results. Also finding and procuring replacement parts would have been much easier and I put off doing many fixes until I was back on the grid.

Cycling and walking to work netted me a loss of 5 pounds of weight for the month. So I will continue to do this along with eating smarter and healthier. Imagine how much energy would be saved if everyone lost 5-10 pounds or more of weight in the next 30-60 days. Taking mass transit as much as possible also helped reduce my energy consumption and netted me a few new friends. However for a summer vacation trip, I did fire up the ole’ gas eating SUV to take a trip to Maine with the family. During this trip to Maine we stayed at the Attean Lake Lodge on one of the islands at Attean Lake which was only accessible by pontoon boat. It is a very unique family enriching vacation spot. I was truly off the grid then as there was no cell service, no TV, no newspapers and no electricity except in the main lodge where meals were prepared.  The rooms had a wood stove for some heat and kerosene lamps for light at night reminiscent of a bygone era I had only read about and have now experienced.

After this off the grid experience I have learned how to get my life back or at least more balanced. I now turn my Crackberry off at 7pm and back on at 7am during the week days (there is actually a way to program this to be done automatically). By not having this diversion device for the month, I realized how rude it is to be at meetings and events constantly checking it and not paying attention. So I will now make a habit of leaving it in the car or at my desk when going to meetings, out to dinner with family and friends, etc.

I must say that I did learn how useful the Internet can be and how it can save allot of time, however I also learned that you can equally waste allot of time on the Internet as well via the many social websites, and other non essential sites. As one friend put it when I announced I was back on the grid on my FaceBook page… “Welcome back… you didn’t miss much”.

I will close with an excerpt I read in USA today a couple of weeks ago by Captain James Kelly, an Army Chaplain at the Arlington National Cemetery, who wrote an article on the passing of 77 year old military spouse who understood what it meant to be a good neighbor. “Technology allows us, even encourages us to disconnect from our fellow man. Don’t believe me? Try riding a train in a major U.S. city. And neighborhoods? They are becoming a collection of individual houses rather than a community of people… we could use a little yesteryear today.”

I can now say that I can live with about 20% less technology and gain about 40% more productivity by not using it to save time… an interesting conundrum. With that I leave you to all re-think what you have been doing not only to make the world a better place for us all to live by saving some energy but to grab back a little of yesteryear when technology did not rule our lives.

Now back to work… more energy related posts to come so keep checking back.

Utilities around the world are under pressure. Growing populations are using increasing amounts of power, which is putting a strain on existing supplies. In many countries (including the US), the increase in demand is growing faster than the rate at which utilities are able to increase their transmission capacity. And the cost of providing power is also increasing due to higher fuel costs and increases in the cost of construction and capital expenses.

To make things even more challenging, governments around the world are introducing new regulations and guidelines to reduce emissions. And many countries have deregulated the energy sector in recent years, which has led to greater competition along with consumer demand for more control over power usage and costs.

This has forced utilities to rethink tradition practices and look for a smarter way to provide supply, billing and services to their customers.

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About Smart Energy

AMR, AMI and HANs

Automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) are revolutionizing the industry. AMR provides more efficient and timely metering information, while AMI uses this information to put more control into the hands of both utilities and consumers by giving them more detailed information about consumption. This allows utilities to better regulate supply and to refine their pricing structure based on demand cycles. It also gives consumers immediate feedback about their usage, allowing them to reduce consumption by turning off things they don’t need and switching others over to non-peak demand times when prices are lower.

Demand Response

Demand response (DR) refers to the reduction of consumer energy usage at times of peak usage to help address system reliability, reflect market conditions and pricing, and support infrastructure optimization or deferral. Demand response programs can include dynamic pricing/tariffs, price-responsive demand bidding, contractually obligated and voluntary curtailment, and direct load control/cycling.

In a DR system, AMI networks are extended through smart meters or separate gateways to also include home area networks (HANs), which connect communicating devices and systems such as lighting, thermostats, load switches, and in-home displays. Utilities who institute time-of-use pricing schemes can use the HAN to communicate the current price of energy to the consumer. Smart appliances connected to the HAN can be controlled automatically or manually (including remotely) to react to pricing events and operate during low-cost energy periods.

Utilities can also be given access to HANs in certain situations, for example, during emergencies they can adjust thermostats and other high-usage household applications to free up supply and make sure it can be delivered where it is most needed.

Applications

• Utilities are able to track peak usage times (and days), which provides them with the ability to offer consumers a greater range of rates and programs, such as time-based pricing.
• On-demand meter reading and remote troubleshooting allow utilities to provide better and more timely consumer support. Utilities have more information at hand about outages and restorations, and are able to provide consumers with reliable information about when power will be restored.
• Smart energy can be integrated with smart homes to provide both consumers and utilities remote access to the home area network (HAN). For example, consumers can remotely adjust usage during peak periods when prices are high, and utilities can remotely adjust usage during emergencies.

Savings

• Demand response can enable utilities to keep prices low by reducing demand when wholesale prices are high.
• Utilities can post meter readings daily (or at more regular intervals) for consumers to view, which enables consumers to track and modify their energy usage. This provides more timely and immediate feedback than traditional monthly or quarterly statements.
• Utilities can not only notify consumers of peak demand times, but also monitor the extent to which those notifications cause consumers to change their habits and reduce their load during these periods.
• Utilities and consumers both benefit from more accurate billing that is available thanks to the increased granularity of usage information. This gives consumers better control of their usage and passes on the biggest savings to those who use services most efficiently. It also helps to reduce the number of billing inquiries and helps to make those inquiries easier to resolve.

Safety and Conservation

• During emergencies, utilities can create “partial outages” in non-exempt buildings to ensure that power remains available where it is most needed. Partial outages are more economically efficient than full rotating outages because the effects are limited to the reduction of a single discretionary service (such as air conditioning) rather than the elimination of all services.
• When consumers use less power to save money, utilities are better able to manage the power they have available and don’t need to generate as much. This not only reduces costs for the utility (in reducing the number of new power stations that need to be built), it also helps to reduce emissions to satisfy new “green” legislation.

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Daintree Smart Energy Solutions

MeshOperator

Daintree’s MeshOperator provides a comprehensive solution for developing and delivering wireless embedded applications and services based on technologies such as ZigBee and IEEE 802.125.4. It provides components that deliver key features essential for commissioning, operating and managing wireless embedded networks. MeshOperator allows you to deliver a new class of wireless embedded services such as smart energy and energy-efficient commercial and industrial lighting. By using MeshOperator’s off-the-shelf reporting, pre-emptive diagnostics, automatic repair capabilities, and troubleshooting tools, you save the time, cost and effort of developing your own operations and management solution.