1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Google goes after Prius Effect

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by zenMachine, Feb 11, 2009.

  1. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2007
    3,355
    299
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Hoping to reduce household energy waste, Google today will unveil free software to provide consumers with real-time data on electricity use.

    Currently, consumers get a utility bill once a month that says how much power they've used and how much it costs. Michael Terrell, an energy program manager with Google.org, hopes real-time information about household energy consumption will lead to the so-called Prius Effect.

    A dashboard monitor on that hybrid vehicle reveals how driving styles affect fuel economy, and that information prompts people to drive in ways that improve mileage. Terrell said studies show that home-energy-use information changes behavior and saves 5 to 15 percent of electricity.

    For a U.S. household with a typical $1,200-a-year electricity bill, that would mean saving $60 to $180 while reducing greenhouse gases. The overall savings could be huge, given that households consume an estimated 21 percent of the energy used in the United States.

    The Google PowerMeter will work on an iGoogle home page when it becomes available to the public sometime later this year.

    http://www.mercurynews.com/google/ci_11666399
     
    #1 zenMachine, Feb 11, 2009
  2. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2008
    2,224
    139
    0
    Location:
    Midwest
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    This should help awareness considerably.

    The only negative is that the PC and monitor are major power consumers themselves (laptops are better in this regard.) Having a semi-portable display on the fridge/elsewhere that can be used for logging (up to several days of buffer) and periodic data dump to the PC would be more efficient.
     
    #2 Celtic Blue, Feb 11, 2009
  3. bedrock8x

    bedrock8x Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2008
    1,483
    137
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    I use a Blueline Power Cost Monitor to monitor the electricity consumption. It reads the power meter information and transmits to a hand held monitor inside the house. It displays the rate of consumption and calculates the cost base on the rate entered into the monitor.

    I bought it when the utility company has a promotion for 50% off.
     
    #3 bedrock8x, Feb 11, 2009
  4. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    4,003
    944
    118
    Location:
    Los Angeles Foothills
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Unfortunatly, this system WILL NOT WORK for those of us who have a "Grid Tied Solar System" As the disk spins BACKWARDS, the unit will just assume its another forward rotation.
    I spoke with Tech Support in Canada about the unit. They are surprised at the number of folk who are calling with this very question. They are considering a unit to take forward and backward rotation into account. Hopefully someone will come out with a unit that works for those of us smart enough to invest in a Solar System and we can get a real time data readout of our power consumpton and savings together!!!

    73 de Pat KK6PD
     
    #4 KK6PD, Feb 11, 2009
  5. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2005
    19,681
    8,073
    54
    Location:
    Montana & Nashville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2018 Chevy Volt
    Model:
    Premium
    Our roof top solar PV system (for the life of me, I don't know why) got a new meter from the power company after the install, even though the old meter ran backwards, just like the new meter. The nice thing though was that the new meter was zero'd out ... so each day when i walk by, I see exactly whether we're running a deficit or a surplus.

    [​IMG]

    Don't know how widely they're used, but I understand there are a few companies that have web enabled meters ... which makes good economical sense. No more meter reader guys ... both you & the power company can simply jump on the web, using software (like in the picture above) to see what's going on out at the Kwh meter.
     
    #5 hill, Feb 14, 2009
  6. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2005
    4,717
    79
    0
    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Xcel is looking to build a model smart grid in Boulder (I think the whole city, but not sure about that). Would defo get rid of the meter readers. There are a few pilot smart grids in CO and, in the main, they've been quite successful.
     
    #6 tripp, Feb 14, 2009
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)