Home Energy Monitoring"The more you know the more you save"
Robert CrowellAndrew DarmodyLuke FrittsJosh Kamdjou
Average single family home electricity usage in 2010:
940 kWh/month @ .12$/kWh = $112.00/month x 12 =
1,350.00$ per year
Source: Energy Information Administration eia.gov
What's the Problem?
Vague- Only shows how many kWh you used- Peak hours- Unit charges
No granularity- Not able to see where the electricity was used.- Total energy usage read once per month.
Dull-Electric bill = yawn
Image Courtesy Nstar.com
Where did my dollars go?
Why did my usage spike this month?
Who is using all this energy?
What can I do to fix this!?
Past Solutions
Verizon Home Monitoring
- A "total" home monitoring system that aims to provide a user with complete control of home.
- Accessible through personal website or mobile application.
- A user can monitor their electricity usage for the entire house (through existing meter) or attach individual sensors to high load appliances.
- Doesn't always give the user a clear understanding of where their energy is being used.
- Usage isn't always calculated in dollars, no incentive to lower consumption!
- Verizon visualizes home energy usage to the through the use of many graphs, charts, and technical jargon.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD!
Solution KISS
•Keep
• It
• Simple
• Stupid
Tasks
• Thermostat
• Save money
• Monitor Energy Usage
Evolution - Iterative Design
• Brainstorming
• First Sketches through iteration
• Interviews, Brainstorming
• Altered sketches that changed little
• User Testing(Observations), Brainstorming
• Made Interactive Prototype that adjusted the design because of time, but mostly followed the sketches
User Testing Results
• Easy to use
• Easy to learn
• Users who tested would actually use our product
• Achieved success of our initial goals
Future Work
• Add spin wheel for temperature change
• Create better buttons
• Have real backend
• Have floor plan database
• Create multiple styles
• Gain control of lights and display lights in the room layout
• Expand on the Schedule for more customizability
• Add AC/Heater counter
• Make items clearer that they can be clicked
• Add more information
References I1. Katie Fehrenbacher. (APR. 14, 2009). 10 Monitoring Tools Bringing Smart Energy Home. In gigaom. Retrieved
12Feb2013, from http://gigaom.com/2009/04/14/10-energy-dashboards-for-your-home/.2. Ian Britton. (2008). Smart Electricity Meter. In FreeFoto.com. Retrieved 17Feb2013, from
http://www.freefoto.com/preview/810-15-6354/Smart-Electricity-Meter.3. Grant Clauser. (April 25, 2012). Verizon Customers: Home Control System Full of Bugs. In CEPro. Retrieved
18Feb2013, from http://www.cepro.com/article/verizon_customers_home_control_system_full_of_bugs/.4. Alabama Power. (Unknown). Learn More About Your Bill. In Alabama Power. Retrieved 18Feb2013, from
http://www.alabamapower.com/residential/pricing-rates/new-bill.asp.5. Verizon. (Unknown). Home Control Mobile App. In Verizon. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from
http://www22.verizon.com/support/residential/homecontrol/home+monitoring+and+control/use/monitoring+devices/129870.htm.
6. Jon Edward Froehlich. (2011). Sensing and Feedback of Everyday Activities to Promote Environmental Behaviors. In Computer Science At University of Maryland. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://www.cs.umd.edu/~jonf/publications/Froehlich_SensingAndFeedbackOfEverydayActivitiesToPromoteEnvironmentalBehaviors_UWPhdDissertation2011.pdf.
7. Jon Edward Froehlich. (2010). Moving Beyond Line Graphs. Slide Share. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://www.slideshare.net/jonfroehlich/moving-beyond-line-graphs
8. Alice Clamp. (May 2010). Putting Home Energy Monitoring Systems to the Test. In Public Power. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://www.publicpower.org/Media/magazine/ArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=27548.
9. Brian Burke. (April 5, 2001). Utility Monitoring System . In Hyatt. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CIABEBYwBA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.energystar.gov%2Fia%2F(This is a powerpoint download)
References II
1. Paul Hora/Sandhills Utility Services . (February 19, 2010). Utility monitoring system helps Fort Bragg conserve energy. In Army. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://www.army.mil/article/34717/utility-monitoring-system-helps-fort-bragg-conserve-energy/.
2. CaTec. (Unknown). RF Energy Transmitter – rl4602. In CaTec. Retrieved 17Feb2013, from http://www.catec.nl/folders/Hanwell/HAN-iSense-Energy-rl4602.pdf.
3. Jaymi Heimbuch. (Sept 25, 2008). Agilewaves Shows Off User-Friendly Home Energy Monitoring System at WCG 2008 Showhouse. In Tree Hugger. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/agilewaves-shows-off-user-friendly-home-energy-monitoring-system-at-wcg-2008-showhouse.html.
4. Chris. (September 6th, 2010). DIY HOME ENERGY MONITORING SYSTEM. In Mapawatt. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://mapawatt.com/2010/09/06/diy-home-energy-monitoring-system/.
5. New Horizon Technologies. (Unknown). Products. In New Horizon Technologies. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://www.newhorizontech.com/products_desc.htm.
6. Verizon. (Unknown). Verizon Home Control. In AppBrain. Retrieved 18Feb2013, from http://de.appbrain.com/app/verizon-home-control/com.verizon.ams.edison.
7. TheIMCGroupUK. (Sep 13, 2011). iSense Energy - Utility monitoring system. In YouTube. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgWDvvpK_k.(Video)
8. Chris. (October 7th, 2009). LIST OF ENERGY MONITORING TOOLS : DEVICES, SOFTWARE AND HOME AUTOMATION. In Mapawatt. Retrieved 12Feb2013, from http://mapawatt.com/2009/10/07/list-of-energy-monitoring-tools/.
Questions?