Real-Time Electricity Monitoring Works (24 Hours Later Doesn't).

Smart meters have the capacity to provide utilities - and therefore homeowners - with real-time monitoring of electricity use. But early indications are that utilities, and even data managing services based upon smart meters, like Google PowerMeter, may not take advantage of real-time data, and instead will continue to ask consumers to settle for next-day information.

Our experience proves that next day data doesn't hold a candle to real-time feedback. Since Earth Day, we've been sending our real-time electricity use data directly to our website and also to a live Twitter feed. We'd been monitoring our usage for several months using TED, The Energy Detective, the electricity monitoring tool that we adapted - and  open-sourced on this blog. Although we anticipated that the real-time visualization of our data would be instructive,  we frankly under-estimated the potency of the lessons. These lessons are at the heart of why we actively agitate for real-time monitoring opportunities for all home owners.

From the general (our house has a heartbeat) to the specific (we know what every light bulb does to our electricity use), here are the top ten lessons from the live-feed front:

1. Spikes Hurt.  One of the most obvious aspects of real-time measuring is the spikes. You can see them. Sometimes they are staggering. Very quickly, we identified every spike, knew why it happened, and had figured out whether we could reduce the size of the spike or cut it out altogether.  Seeing spikes a day later will not have the same effect as seeing the data live and asking, "What the hell's on right now." 

2. Baseload Matters. Our initial attention to spikes after a while gave way to a closer look at what was happening under the line - the baseload, or standing heart rate of our house. Some of the composite parts of the baseload were comparatively small, but anything that runs 24/7, even low wattage, adds up after a while.

3. Our house has a heart beat. Within days of getting the system set up, we developed an understanding of how our house uses electricity--an innate sense of what we should be using at any time given what's on.

4. Humans screw up.  Yes, it's true. More often than I care to admit, we leave something on that shouldn't be. By knowing our standing heart rate, it has made it very easy to identify when something's been inadvertently left running. This point alone makes the case for real-time monitoring: figuring out the next day that you've left a space heater on in the basement is not so helpful.

5. The right tools are critical.  A whole house monitor, in our case TED, The Energy Detective, has been the key component of this system for us. But an individual appliance measuring device like the Kill-a-Watt is also critical, for sussing out individual appliances and loads that might catch you off guard, one at a time.

6. Data=Action. The old management axiom: "You can't manage what you can't measure"--is as true with energy as with anything else. One of the key aspects of real-time monitoring is that it lets you know immediately the impact of your daily activities. We'd been talking about putting up a clothesline for a long time. Seeing the height and breadth of the dryer's pull, however, got us carting the laundry outside.

7. Some bulbs really cost you. We know what our bulbs cost us, every day.  Not all light bulbs, and not all energy efficient bulbs, are created equal. Once we had a good idea of how much electricity our lights were costing us, we were motivated to study individual draw. The results surprised us.

8. Efficiency is a family matter. Our electricity monitor has been sitting on our kitchen counter, where everyone can see it for a while. Our kids paid some attention to the ups and downs before we went visual, but now, they are all over the live-feed. If behavioral change is one of energy's biggest challenges, real time measurement instigates. We are considering charging kids for the electricity use associated with television time. We'll let you know how that goes. Bottom line: the whole household is engaged in this process.

9. The little shifts count.  In the same way that we initially focused on spikes rather than baseload, we focused on big steps rather than small shifts. Over time, that changed. Reducing the dryer heat  from high to medium has a significant impact on electricity. When they are measurable, those shifts become tangible, and you look for more opportunities.

10. Real-time leads to a real map of action. Admittedly, we have unique access to energy efficient products and measuring devices, but this project revealed to us very clearly which of those products need to be put to use immediately, and which of our existing strategies are working. It's clearer to us than ever that there are a handful of products that will help a homeowner get started. The first, of course, is a home energy monitoring device. It's never been clearer to us that it all starts with measuring.  

Recent news that energy monitoring and managing devices will not take advantage of their real-time potential is distressing. Real-time electricity monitoring provides incentives to increase energy efficiency like no other tool. We will continue to advocate for widespread availability of real-time data.