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 II1. 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?