Managing your household energy use
Tag: Consumers
01 December 2008
For most consumers, the amount of energy that each electrical appliance in a household consumes is hidden.
Yello Strom Sparzähler
THE YELLO ELECTRICITY METER - MORE THAN JUST A METER
For most consumers, the amount of energy that each electrical appliance in a household consumes is hidden. Be it the television, the coffee maker, the personal computer or the refrigerator, each device consumes electrical power and may itself be an opportunity to reduce overall household power consumption.
The Yello Strom ‘Sparzähler' (which means ‘saving meter') is designed to change the way consumers use electrical power. Made of a communications module integrated with an electrical meter, the ‘Sparzähler' not only measures electrical power usage, it also provides consumers with actionable intelligence on the real-time power consumption of household devices. Hence, with the development of ‘Sparzähler', Yello Strom adds value to the service that utility providers can offer to their customers. In addition to reliable sources of energy and accurate on-time account statements, Yello Strom will deliver a new service that equips consumers with the information they need to help reduce their power consumption, lower their energy costs, and minimise their impact on the environment.
A WAY TO IDENTIFY ENERGY USE
From the electric kettle to the washing machine, today most consumers have dozens of devices running with electrical power. One challenge of reducing household energy consumption is that it is hard for consumers to see the impact of each device since their consumption details are largely hidden. Each flip of the switch, however, results in some amount of energy use that is reported to the power provider and then billed at the end of each month. In most cases, this is the only engagement the user has with their power provider.
However, if consumers could easily visualise the amount of energy consumed by each device, then it is more likely they would change their behaviour in order to save energy. This is why the German power provider Yello Strom has developed the Sparzähler. Now, Yello Strom and Microsoft concluded a strategic partnership for the technological development of the Yello Sparzähler online. This smart meter enables the user to see exactly how much energy is consumed or saved each time they turn on or off a device.
REAL-TIME INFORMATION ON ENERGY CONSUMPTION
With Sparzähler, household power consumption is no longer obscure and mysterious. “For the first time, consumers can view on their personal computer real-time data on the power consumed during a particular period in time,” says Martin Vesper, executive director of Yello Strom. “For example, a consumer might want to understand the impact of turning off a coffee machine rather than leaving it in standby mode,” says Vesper. “With Sparzähler, he will instantly see the reduction in electrical power usage, expressed in kilowatts, as well as the subsequent savings in energy costs, expressed in a currency like Euros, the moment they switch off the machine.”
‘Sparzähler' enables Yello Strom to improve account statement interaction for customers. Rather than waiting for the bill to arrive and the account statement coming as a shock, customers can track energy consumption throughout the billing cycle, which encourages thinking about energy usage and leads to better consumer awareness.
BE YOUR OWN HOUSEHOLD ENERGY MANAGER - FIGHT THE ‘VAMPIRE' APPLIANCES!
The Sparzähler transforms energy consumers into household energy managers. With a clear understanding of where the energy consumption is, customers can make immediate adjustments in their energy usage.
The technology is applied at several sites. The pilot test with about 1,000 consumers shows that household energy consumption can be reduced by 6 – 10 percent just by making the energy consumption more visible. “Small adjustments in how appliances are used could result in up to 10 percent savings in energy consumption without any reduction in personal comfort,” says Martin Vesper. This is especially true of ‘always on appliances' such as televisions, VCRs, and amplifiers that can consume surprising amounts of power even when they are not in active operation mode – and are sometimes described as ‘vampire' appliances for this reason. In the United States, the average home has about twenty ‘always on appliances'—a number similar to European homes. These silent energy consumers cumulatively cause significant costs.
THIS IS WHERE THE EMBEDDED COMPUTER IS
The Sparzähler was unveiled in April 2007 at the HMI, a large trade fair in Hanover, Germany. At the CeBIT in March 2008, one of the world's largest computer technology trade shows in Hanover, Yello and Microsoft started a strategic partnership for the technological development of the Sparzähler. New fields and new application scenarios require new types of partnerships and both partners, Yello and Microsoft, see their partnership as a key to move forward towards more energy efficiency.
The core of the ‘Sparzähler' is the meter itself, which is a combination of a tiny communications module attached to a traditional electrical meter. The communications module is a small embedded computer. And this module is what makes the meter ‘smart', enabling the meter to communicate directly with both the consumer and the utility provider. The meter is integrated into a computer network within the house. This enables consumers, through their personal computer, to access the meter to monitor electrical power consumption in real-time.
Martin Vesper, Executive Director of Yello Strom and Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft
The meter also communicates with the utility provider. Every fifteen minutes, the Yello meter sends consumption information to server machines based at Yello Strom. This information is available to the consumers through a personalised portal on the Yello Strom web site, where they can see energy usage trends based on data that is updated every fifteen minutes. Consumers can track electrical consumption during an appliance's usage cycle, such as a hot water heater while someone is taking a shower, or over a specific period of time, such as in the evening, when meals are prepared and the television is in use.
The Sparzähler provides the consumer with a very appealing graphical and easy-to-use interface, enhanced by the latest Windows Presentation Foundation technology. “ It means the consumer will have a great experience while browsing account data that otherwise is maybe not so exciting,” says Bernhard Carli, Platform Strategy Advisor in Microsoft's Developer Platform & Strategy Group. “We helped Yello to manage the data with our database software and to rapidly develop the services with our great development tools. This is what the consumer does not see immediately, but certainly appreciates if it works well - and the developers at Yello definitely appreciate.” Adds Andreas Berthold-van der Molen, a colleague of Carli's at Microsoft in Germany, “Yello's Sparzähler concept and Microsoft's software technology make a significant contribution to the efficiency of energy and climate protection with their development cooperation.”
THE FUTURE
Yello Strom executive director Martin Vesper says, “We have developed a cost-efficient solution for consumers with the Yello Strom ‘Sparzähler', enabling them to efficiently and intelligently use energy. Our ‘Sparzähler' makes the consumption of energy visible and simplifies the saving of energy. That is in our eyes the best form of environmental protection available on the energy market today.”