Home Energy Monitoring "The more you know the more you save" Robert Crowell Andrew Darmody...

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?