Re: Digital Tools Help Users Save Energy, Study Finds

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Ryan White" <poogiefunk@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:vkhl7yu9c7ot.1dnsdyj88nzgf.dlg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 05:09:30 -0500, Robert Green wrote:
>
> > Is anyone out there doing detailed monitoring of the electrical load?
I'd
> > like to program my HomeVision controller to speak an audio warning when
> > consumption exceeded a certain level.
> >
> > I know there are expensive load centers with intelligent branch power
> > consumption sensors, but last time I looked, it was a $1500+ investment.
I
> > would do it if I were spec'ing a new custom home I expected to retire
in.
> > I'd especially do it if I were going to add a lot of solar panels and
wanted
> > precise consumption estimates.  In the meantime, I'm making do with a
couple
> > of $23 Kill-o-watt meters.  I even gave some away as presents.  (-:
>
> It's a project on tap for 2009, we come at this from a very different
> perspective. The company I work for writes difficult custom software
> solutions using, mainly, the MSoft Enterprise Server OS and tools.

I hope they actually write custom software for difficult applications and
not difficult software!

(-:

When I went looking on the net, I found some very interesting initiatives
out there:

http://topics.energycentral.com/centers/datamanage/view/detail.cfm?aid=1495

There an interesting two-part article that examines the advanced metering
infrastructure and smart grid strategies of 14 U.S. utilities here:

The methods the use for collection are remarkably similar to the HA
protocols many of us are familiar with.  RF appears to be the dominant
choice although it's often used in combination with BPL or PLC interfaces.
Here's the breakdown:

RF is planned to support AMI Systems at Con Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric,
Southern California Edison, and Xcel Energy.

Portland General Electric and PG&E plan to use PLC technology to retrieve
meter data and a fixed RF network for collecting and transmitting daily gas
usage data. PG&E has opted to use a wide area network to control and manage
interval data transmitted to its information systems for billing and
customer viewing.

Some plan to use wireless mesh technology to allow meters to pass along
reads from other meters.  Mesh networks also appears to be better suited for
some urban areas than traditional RF-configured systems because they
eliminate problems coming from a single receiver point.

> We are in cahoots with a very aggressive and advanced thinking residential
> real estate developer who is pushing the alternative energy envelope on
the
> community and residential unit level.

Cahoots?  Maybe I'm waaaay off base, but I've never heard of anyone being
"in cahoots" in a good way.  Worse, still, I am sure we've had this
conversation before . . .  Deja hoots?

> The 2009 is a "living lab" project, an upscale home that we can test,
> install, retest, deinstall, etc. One of the primary goals is the
monitoring
> aspect or the integration of the monitoring capabilities of others where
it
> can be displayed  and negotiated easily for the homeowner.

I can tell you what I've discovered even within my brief research on the
subject.  Any significant advances will have to come very slowly because
good power management means knowing the total load and certain large
component loads.  Even with a smart panel, unless every major appliance is
on its own circuit, the granularity of the readings is likely to be coarse.

The last time I looked into this, there was a single "smart" power center
that could report on the load passing through the breaker panel but I
haven't even been able to find that unit.  Until all appliances (from irons
to slab AC units) come with some sort of self-reporting current consumption
data, the reading granularity of power consumption in the home is bound to
remain gross.  The best users can hope for is smart utility-supplied billing
meters that can report the current consumption of electricity to the
homeowner, as well as the power company.  My utility has already petitioned
to buy remote reporting meters and consumers will pay for most of them,
according to the filing.

--
Bobby G.