The New York Times is reporting Google will announce a free web service tomorrow called PowerMeter that'll let users track energy consumption in their homes or business, provided there's a means to upload the data. That part of the equation's gonna be up to other companies to create compatible devices, and while no manufacturing partners have been named, we'd suspect strange bedfellow GE will probably jump aboard pretty quickly. The service is expected to roll out in the next few months. Ready to give the boys in Mountain View even more access to your life?
Update: The official site has launched. According to the FAQ, PowerMeter is currently in closed beta. There's also a video about the program, which you can peep after the break.
Kill-A-Watt anyone? I already have 2 which I use to monitor everything. Turns out my computers represent almost a negligible amount of my power consumption. Big surprise.
@ Andre: That was in response to allowing Google more access to your life, right? Personally, they can track my every move and breath and it would only make me happier, but hopefully everyone (not just Ross Miller) understands that Google doesn't actually point and laugh that you seem to be cooking only once every three years and come up with stories about how you must eat McDonalds all day. It seems like the idea of "privacy" has come to not allowing impersonal objects such as computers know what you are doing, so everyone might want to stop using their trusty pen because it knows everything you've written, and if it decides to, your pen can suddenly turn all of that information over to the government at any point in time. NOT!
Right. Now they want us to share personal energy usage patterns with them. And I am sure millions will flock to do exactly that without any real concern. Like everything else Google comes up with. Do no evil. Sure.
There will no doubt be an API that any company can use to build creative power monitoring & control solutions. The good thing about Google getting involved & demonstrating the concept is that it raises awareness...often times at the global level.
The problem with the electric bill is that it's cumulative for a month most of the time. It's a single number for the quantity you use. If you increase the sampling resolution, and start to make smarter reporting devices you can separate out the pieces of the puzzle that is "where does all my power go?" It's easy to do with gasoline, you know where you're driving. It's harder to do with electricity because it can just vanish into not-always-on devices like your fridge. I put a watts-up monitoring device on my fridge for a month. It turns out that 15% of my average 350kWh electric bill is my fridge. More stuff around needs report individual usage like networks monitor packets being passed over network switches via SNMP, or even better active reporting like netflows.
Seems like smart things like this are what should be subsidized by our government. Giving people the ability to easily monitor their power usage is a great way to get people thinking about conserving energy and acting on it. Millions of people cutting a few dollars off their electricity bills each month adds up to big savings and big energy efficiency statistics. Something like a bunch of cheap kill-a-watts and a nice GUI from google and you've got a nice little system.
why do people always think big brother is collecting information about them? that type of paranoia is really weird. just realize nobody gives a fuc% about you or what you do, and you'll be one step closer to acting like a normal person. and don't reply talking about how i don't realize my rights are being taken away. thats even more rediculous. i think this is a great idea. now every time my bill goes up with a hidden rate increase, i will be able to log on and see if everyone elses did the same, or if i just did something stupid to drive my bill up like leave the cover off the hot tub for a week.
That paranoia is gonna be why I'm alive and you're a zombie during the zombie apocalypse the republicans are planning to scare people into voting for them in 4 years.
This is great idea. It will do more to cut energy use than all the carbon credit BS. People react when the numbers are right in front of their face.
For cars, the govt should mandate that all vehicles have an always-on mileage indicator that works like a taxi meter. When you fill up it should RF-link what you just spent for gas, and then have a $ meter on the dash that increments while you're driving. When a Chevy Suburban driver sees in real time that gunning it off the light just cost $0.50, maybe behavior will change.
From the Demo Project page: " "I don't own a toaster and because I live by myself, I've always used my standard electric oven to toast bread. After seeing the power spikes from my sunday breakfasts, I did a little research on the power required to toast bread using a toaster compared to an electric oven and found that toasting bread in an oven uses 33 times as much energy as a typical toaster! With this savings, I realized that I would save money (not to mention time) by buying a toaster." Don, Software Engineer "
o_O
Are you effing kidding me? This guy didn't know running an electric oven JUST TO TOAST BREAD uses more electricity (like, a lot more) than just using a damn toaster? Isn't that a bit like driving your car (full electric, let's say) on a clear sunny day from your front door to the mail box when you could just, you know, walk?
Maybe once we all submit our energy use to Google, and then reduce it by the tiniest amount. Google can offset this against the study that said every Google search used as much electricty as boiling a kettle, thus making them carbon neutral!
Has anyone read the qutoes on the sites 'demo project' page? I'm a bit worried that someone needed to look at their power consumption to then work out they had left their oven on. And do we really need a software package to remind us we have left our lights on, surely using the computer to check that a light may be left on therefore negates any energy saving.
Does Google really think Electricity companies sign up for this. After all they are interested to sell electricity and make money and not to save power. Maybe in some states where there are blackouts which is of course a reason to cut down on usage. But most states have plenty of capacity and they want to sell that to cover infrastructure and operating cost.
If the utility companies install smart meters, they can charge different rates depending on demand and time of day. Right now it's just a total of what you use in one or two months, a smart meter means "we see you used x kwh during peak load and we will charge you xx more for those kwh then what you used at 6am".
Another issue is if you currently own an expensive solar array and have net meetering set up with the utility co. Usually you receive no bill or a very cheap one as you offset what you consume with what the array produces. Unless they modify your net meetering agreement to where during high demad periods your solar array earns xx more credit vs during times of low demand you will end up with an expensive bill. After spending 6 figures on a solar array, people will go crazy if they get screwed and have to start paying a bill again.
Google PowerMeter, now in prototype, will receive information from utility smart meters and energy management devices and provide anyone who signs up access to her home electricity consumption right on her iGoogle homepage.
Are we all girls - anyone who signs up access to her home electricity consumption
Not to keen on letting Google watch how much electricity you use? Try T.E.D. (The Energy Detective). This digital meter plugs into an outlet in your house and shows you real-time how much electricity you are using even calculating how much that usage will cost you. Two pickup coils are mounted in your breaker box to measure your usage. It can even send your usage data to your PC to log.
That guy in the video said he SAVED $3000 in a year? Holy crap, if that's his savings, what is his actual bill? Did he have every light on in his house while running his AC 24/7? I live in an all electric home and I don't even near $2000 in a single year.
Electricity is pretty expensive in California, and if you have a large house and a family it is very common for you to have to pay nonlinear usage penalties. The incremental cost per Watt is very high, but so is the incentive to save power. That was precisely the motivation to closely monitor my power and to take actions to reduce my consumption. Calculating the savings is actually a bit involved, but the straight forward "what's the difference between the last year and each of the prior two years" nets out to significantly more than $3000 annually. Wouldn't that motivate you also ?
Wow...it's going to be interesting to see how Google can contribute to the smart energy effort. Right now, 85% of the smart meter communications is via HAN, HomePlug, or Zigbee. So this is also going to bring some interest (notoriety?) to those protocols. But it will be cool if we can eventually have a way to check our power consumption and have our AC/Heater adjust room temperature according to energy pricing.
Google begins infiltration of energy market: For good or for awesome?: As solar technology steadily improves, and as stimulus money gets channeled into the green power industry, soon a significant percentage of power will come from individuals and small power farms. Hard to imagine now? Sound greenwashed? Solar panels already pay for themselves after just a few years. In ten years crowdsourced power will be a completely new market and Google (as usual) is putting themselves in the position to be the manager of that market. This is big stuff. More: http://thinksketch.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/google-begins-infiltration-of-energy-market-for-good-or-for-awesome/ -ThinkSketch
Talk about a momentum booster. Google’s entrance into the smart grid conversation is great news all around, just as President Obama is turning up the volume on its importance as well. No one company or entity can tackle all the challenges around building the smart grid and populating it with smart meters. Google’s entrance into the conversation is not only a great complementary effort in providing consumers the tools they need to take charge of their energy consumption; it validates the issue. When Google speaks, people listen.
It’s a piece of a larger platform approach—one that Tendril’s building out—that adds the necessary elements of consumer and utility control, in addition to device-level information, that enables a real-time dialogue between consumers and their energy provider. It’s great to see quickening momentum among vendors, utilities and consumers as we drive 21st century energy efficiency on the road to energy independence.
Information is the key to change. Having Google throw their weight to drive real change is a huge win for the industry, for Tendril and for consumers.
Smart meters are great the way the hydrogen car is "great". But you don't need General Electric's permission to log and analyse you own consumption and renewable generation and collaborate - there's an open source project called:
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
posted Feb 9th 2009 10:37PM
is this an april fools joke?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google's_hoaxes
Right, I mean its like totally April 1st........
Isn't this you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbass
it was just very random thing in my point of view for google to be doing r-tards... calm down i know its not april
neat
http://www.google.com/search?q=Kill-a-watt&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Kill-A-Watt anyone? I already have 2 which I use to monitor everything. Turns out my computers represent almost a negligible amount of my power consumption. Big surprise.
Sure, why not.
@ Andre: That was in response to allowing Google more access to your life, right?
Personally, they can track my every move and breath and it would only make me happier, but hopefully everyone (not just Ross Miller) understands that Google doesn't actually point and laugh that you seem to be cooking only once every three years and come up with stories about how you must eat McDonalds all day. It seems like the idea of "privacy" has come to not allowing impersonal objects such as computers know what you are doing, so everyone might want to stop using their trusty pen because it knows everything you've written, and if it decides to, your pen can suddenly turn all of that information over to the government at any point in time. NOT!
*2 years later*
Google PowerMeter (Beta)
Isn't Google in Mountain View and not Menlo Park?
yes.
Yeah. Engadget fail, big time.
Right. Now they want us to share personal energy usage patterns with them. And I am sure millions will flock to do exactly that without any real concern. Like everything else Google comes up with. Do no evil. Sure.
There will no doubt be an API that any company can use to build creative power monitoring & control solutions. The good thing about Google getting involved & demonstrating the concept is that it raises awareness...often times at the global level.
doesn't my electric bill track energy consumption?
The problem with the electric bill is that it's cumulative for a month most of the time. It's a single number for the quantity you use. If you increase the sampling resolution, and start to make smarter reporting devices you can separate out the pieces of the puzzle that is "where does all my power go?" It's easy to do with gasoline, you know where you're driving. It's harder to do with electricity because it can just vanish into not-always-on devices like your fridge. I put a watts-up monitoring device on my fridge for a month. It turns out that 15% of my average 350kWh electric bill is my fridge. More stuff around needs report individual usage like networks monitor packets being passed over network switches via SNMP, or even better active reporting like netflows.
why don't we just let Google just go all the way, and put rfid chips in our bodies. Maybe we will pollute less.
They're offering a service...
thats a big google logo
Google: "To Serve Man"
You could use one of these:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/student-charts-electrical-usage-in-real-time-much-to-big-brothe/
Seems like smart things like this are what should be subsidized by our government. Giving people the ability to easily monitor their power usage is a great way to get people thinking about conserving energy and acting on it. Millions of people cutting a few dollars off their electricity bills each month adds up to big savings and big energy efficiency statistics. Something like a bunch of cheap kill-a-watts and a nice GUI from google and you've got a nice little system.
Ah yes, President Obama's hint that companies that help consumers save energy will be given tax cuts.
I honestly think Google would still be doing something like this, but Im sure the added incentive doesnt hurt.
why do people always think big brother is collecting information about them? that type of paranoia is really weird. just realize nobody gives a fuc% about you or what you do, and you'll be one step closer to acting like a normal person. and don't reply talking about how i don't realize my rights are being taken away. thats even more rediculous. i think this is a great idea. now every time my bill goes up with a hidden rate increase, i will be able to log on and see if everyone elses did the same, or if i just did something stupid to drive my bill up like leave the cover off the hot tub for a week.
That paranoia is gonna be why I'm alive and you're a zombie during the zombie apocalypse the republicans are planning to scare people into voting for them in 4 years.
It's true! I saw it in Zeitgeist!
Your rights are being taken away!
THANK YOU!!!!!
Obviously you've never heard of marketing. There are whole divisions in companies whose sole function is to collect more information about you. http://www.aclu.org/pizza/index.html?orgid=EA071904&MX=1414&H=1
Yes Google please let me tell you yet more about myself Please monitor my electrical consumption and tell Daddy Obama too.
Awesome! now ppl can see how much hydro they use when they're growing dope!
yes- thank you! Thank was my concern! Thought I was the only one...
http:///www.google.org/powermeter is up and running
How about Google becomes more open itself? http://harpers.org/media/slideshow/annot/2008-03/index.html
http://www.google.com/corporate/green/datacenters/measuring.html
Done
Uhhhhh, Google is in Mountain View.
Not Menlo Park.
I don't think the Google logo is quite big enough in this story. Next time, could you find a bigger one, please?
This is great idea. It will do more to cut energy use than all the carbon credit BS. People react when the numbers are right in front of their face.
For cars, the govt should mandate that all vehicles have an always-on mileage indicator that works like a taxi meter. When you fill up it should RF-link what you just spent for gas, and then have a $ meter on the dash that increments while you're driving. When a Chevy Suburban driver sees in real time that gunning it off the light just cost $0.50, maybe behavior will change.
From the Demo Project page:
" "I don't own a toaster and because I live by myself, I've always used my standard electric oven to toast bread. After seeing the power spikes from my sunday breakfasts, I did a little research on the power required to toast bread using a toaster compared to an electric oven and found that toasting bread in an oven uses 33 times as much energy as a typical toaster! With this savings, I realized that I would save money (not to mention time) by buying a toaster."
Don, Software Engineer "
o_O
Are you effing kidding me? This guy didn't know running an electric oven JUST TO TOAST BREAD uses more electricity (like, a lot more) than just using a damn toaster? Isn't that a bit like driving your car (full electric, let's say) on a clear sunny day from your front door to the mail box when you could just, you know, walk?
Why does the google page talk about 'her' all the time? Is this just for women?
Google are everywhere collecting everything about everyone... I'm feeling a bit paranoid now.
Maybe once we all submit our energy use to Google, and then reduce it by the tiniest amount. Google can offset this against the study that said every Google search used as much electricty as boiling a kettle, thus making them carbon neutral!
Has anyone read the qutoes on the sites 'demo project' page? I'm a bit worried that someone needed to look at their power consumption to then work out they had left their oven on. And do we really need a software package to remind us we have left our lights on, surely using the computer to check that a light may be left on therefore negates any energy saving.
Does Google really think Electricity companies sign up for this. After all they are interested to sell electricity and make money and not to save power. Maybe in some states where there are blackouts which is of course a reason to cut down on usage. But most states have plenty of capacity and they want to sell that to cover infrastructure and operating cost.
It costs utilities more money to put in infrastructure to boost capacity than to have people conserve.
You need to think a little more big picture.
If the utility companies install smart meters, they can charge different rates depending on demand and time of day. Right now it's just a total of what you use in one or two months, a smart meter means "we see you used x kwh during peak load and we will charge you xx more for those kwh then what you used at 6am".
Another issue is if you currently own an expensive solar array and have net meetering set up with the utility co. Usually you receive no bill or a very cheap one as you offset what you consume with what the array produces. Unless they modify your net meetering agreement to where during high demad periods your solar array earns xx more credit vs during times of low demand you will end up with an expensive bill. After spending 6 figures on a solar array, people will go crazy if they get screwed and have to start paying a bill again.
Any one notice it says her
Google PowerMeter, now in prototype, will receive information from utility smart meters and energy management devices and provide anyone who signs up access to her home electricity consumption right on her iGoogle homepage.
Are we all girls - anyone who signs up access to her home electricity consumption
Not to keen on letting Google watch how much electricity you use? Try T.E.D. (The Energy Detective). This digital meter plugs into an outlet in your house and shows you real-time how much electricity you are using even calculating how much that usage will cost you. Two pickup coils are mounted in your breaker box to measure your usage. It can even send your usage data to your PC to log.
That guy in the video said he SAVED $3000 in a year? Holy crap, if that's his savings, what is his actual bill? Did he have every light on in his house while running his AC 24/7? I live in an all electric home and I don't even near $2000 in a single year.
Electricity is pretty expensive in California, and if you have a large house and a family it is very common for you to have to pay nonlinear usage penalties. The incremental cost per Watt is very high, but so is the incentive to save power. That was precisely the motivation to closely monitor my power and to take actions to reduce my consumption. Calculating the savings is actually a bit involved, but the straight forward "what's the difference between the last year and each of the prior two years" nets out to significantly more than $3000 annually.
Wouldn't that motivate you also ?
WOW. Google is.... absolutely everywhere. Kinda freaky
sexist much? The Google Energy website references everyone as "her". "her power meter" on "Her iGoogle homepage". Geesh.
betting that some market research firm said that the vast majority of wives pay the power bill... just a guess.
Wow...it's going to be interesting to see how Google can contribute to the smart energy effort. Right now, 85% of the smart meter communications is via HAN, HomePlug, or Zigbee. So this is also going to bring some interest (notoriety?) to those protocols. But it will be cool if we can eventually have a way to check our power consumption and have our AC/Heater adjust room temperature according to energy pricing.
Akiba
FreakLabs
Open Source Zigbee Project
http://www.freaklabs.org
Seriously, "gonna"? You guys can't even use proper English anymore?
How about measuring water usage too?
Google begins infiltration of energy market: For good or for awesome?:
As solar technology steadily improves, and as stimulus money gets channeled into the green power industry, soon a significant percentage of power will come from individuals and small power farms. Hard to imagine now? Sound greenwashed? Solar panels already pay for themselves after just a few years. In ten years crowdsourced power will be a completely new market and Google (as usual) is putting themselves in the position to be the manager of that market. This is big stuff.
More: http://thinksketch.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/google-begins-infiltration-of-energy-market-for-good-or-for-awesome/
-ThinkSketch
Talk about a momentum booster. Google’s entrance into the smart grid conversation is great news all around, just as President Obama is turning up the volume on its importance as well. No one company or entity can tackle all the challenges around building the smart grid and populating it with smart meters. Google’s entrance into the conversation is not only a great complementary effort in providing consumers the tools they need to take charge of their energy consumption; it validates the issue. When Google speaks, people listen.
It’s a piece of a larger platform approach—one that Tendril’s building out—that adds the necessary elements of consumer and utility control, in addition to device-level information, that enables a real-time dialogue between consumers and their energy provider. It’s great to see quickening momentum among vendors, utilities and consumers as we drive 21st century energy efficiency on the road to energy independence.
Information is the key to change. Having Google throw their weight to drive real change is a huge win for the industry, for Tendril and for consumers.
Smart meters are great the way the hydrogen car is "great". But you don't need General Electric's permission to log and analyse you own consumption and renewable generation and collaborate - there's an open source project called:
http://www.solarnetwork.net/
which is already building the open platform.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE data crunching, that's what computers are best at.
tomo
EcoTouch does it better:
http://www.solarcommunities.com/homeowners/ecotouch.php