Archive for April, 2010

Measure Your Energy

April 26th, 2010

There are so many ways we can make changes in our energy usage. One way is to utilize products such as our biodegradable bags. This of course can use recyclable resources and has the to key added benefits of biodegrading over time and release methane which is now captured by landfills as energy. That’s great, but how can the typical home user get into the act beyond the obvious biodegradable products?

An interesting place to start is with home energy usage. Home energy savings occurs with newer energy efficient appliances, maybe shutting down your home computer at night, unplugging power adapters which continue to suck energy all the time when not in use, using less air conditioning, and more. all this helps but how much? If you cant measure it does it really happen? the energy management and measurement market will be exploding over the next few years. If people can track the differences in the costs or savings with biodegradable products and energy efficient products, I think we will see definite shifts in usage.

What is a good start in engaging consumers to make changes? Cool appliances are great and most cities have some form of rebate to use energy efficient devices (although participation rates in most energy-efficiency programs are typically less than 5%). smaller appliances have not really hit the market yet but should be here in the next few years. that includes smart appliances that can “talk” to you. the measurement of the devices is another interesting place to start. Here are a couple of companies working on devices for the home energy consumption market.

Google PowerMeter (www.google.com/powermeter)- Google PowerMeter is a free energy monitoring tool that helps you save energy and money. Using energy information provided by utility smart meters and energy monitoring devices, Google PowerMeter enables you to view your home’s energy consumption from anywhere online.

Opower (www.opower.com) – What they do is compare neighboring households use of energy and report bsck to energy companies and users. Their customer-engagement approach leverages cutting-edge behavioral science, customer data analytics and the latest software to engage millions of utilities customers and gets customers to reduce energy consuption.

EcoFactor (www.ecofactor.com) – they use a communicating thermostat that managed the HVAC. Their residential energy management solution delivers both double-digit energy savings and significantly enhanced demand response, achieving true integrated demand-side management using only a two-way communicating thermostat.

Tendril – Their platform can manage energy using smart technologies. The Tendril Vision lets consumers manage their energy consumption in a familiar, easy to use design that keeps them engaged and participating in energy management programs. The Vision can also provide real time pricing information which motivates customers to reduce consumption even more.

There are many ways consumers can reduce energy and these choices will only expand over the next few years. We just have to take the steps to change our usage patterns.