Inspiring Energy Conservation Through Open Source Power Monitoring and In-Home Display
I just learnt that that my full co-authored (with co-author Fred Popowich, TaeJin Moon, and Bob Gill) paper “Inspiring Energy Conservation Through Open Source Power Monitoring and In-Home Display” was accepted at the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting. It will be held in Vancouver so I will not need to travel! Here is the paper abstract:
Many homeowners and occupants are interested in energy conservation for economical and/or ecological reasons. A number of commercial energy conservation solutions exist on the market today. However, these products contain closed systems and do not provide easy access to much of the raw data needed for more sophisticated analysis. An open source solution would be a great benefit for homeowners and occupants, allowing access to (and custom analysis of) raw power readings. We present a complete open source solution that monitors power, stores raw power readings, and makes provision for an in-home display, that informs stakeholders about energy consumption through a real-time ambient feedback effectively becoming an eco-feedback device.
Keywords: Power Monitoring, In-Home Display, Residential, Open Source, Arduino, RS-485, Modbus, Electric Imp, Energy Conservation
Apparently there were over 1,600 submission and they will be accepting only between 60-80 papers. Those are some odds!
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The Cognitive Power Meter: Looking Beyond the Smart Meter
Last week I learnt that that my full co-authored (with co-author Fred Popowich and Bob Gill) paper “The Cognitive Power Meter: Looking Beyond the Smart Meter” was accepted at IEEE‘s 2013 Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE’13). So I will be travelling to Regina, Saskatchewan in the Canada. Here is the paper abstract:
The smart meter is often heralded as the key component supporting energy displays that can notify home occupants of their energy usage. But, a smart meter is only a digital power meter with enhanced communications capabilities — it is not actually smart. We need to look beyond the smart meter and define what intelligence is needed to actually make a meter smart. One area with promise is load disaggregation. Load disaggregation can be used to determine what loads contributing to the consumption reading at the smart meter. A smart meter incorporating load disaggregation intelligence can be seen as going beyond the traditional smart meter — what we call a cognitive power meter (c-meter). However, using load disaggregation, in its current form, is not feasible. We critically review the requirements for a c-meter and provide insights as to how load disaggregation research needs to change to make the c-meters a reality.
Keywords: Power Meter, Smart Meter, Load Disaggregation, Cognitive Analysis, Demand Response, Energy Conservation
I will post a link to where you can download the paper soon…
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APMR Version 2.0 Released
Version 2.0 of the Arduino Power Meter Reader (APMR) project is now released. APMR s an open source hardware and software project. APMR reads the power (W) and energy (Wh) readings of RS485/Modbus communicating power meters at a constant interval. Readings are recorded on an SD card and/or sent over the Internet using a HTTP RESTful web service. Version 2.0 sees a number of new features and enhancements which include:
- Added feature to log readings to SD card
- Added feature to save setting/config to EEPROM using browser
- Modified JSON format and accompany web service
- Perform load testing on hardware
- Sense when network down, when up send all unsent readings
APMR has a new project website (http://smakonin.github.com/APMR/) and the project source code can be down loaded from GitHub (https://github.com/smakonin/APMR).
Special thanks to TJ Moon who worked on this project all summer long!
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A Smarter Smart Home: Case Studies of Ambient Intelligence
This week I learnt that I (and co-author Lyn Bartram and Fred Popowich) will have a paper appearing in a future issue of IEEE Pervasive Computing (vol 12, no 1). Here is the paper abstract:
Research has shown that small changes in behaviour in how we use our homes can result in substantial energy and water savings. Home automation and the integration of computational intelligence capabilities in the “smart home” are often cited as promising advances in the design and renovation of efficient buildings. However, the design and implementation of such technologies are largely based on energy use simulations, smart automation of the building systems and components for optimal performance rather than on effectively supporting how people use their homes. Additional factors including system complexity and awkward automation can discourage acceptance of smart home technologies. In this paper we propose that technological support for sustainable home use lies in more subtle and contextually appropriate interventions that integrate more informative models of occupant behaviour, provide hybrid levels of automated control, and use ambient sensing for localized decisions. We discuss several cases from our experience in designing sustainable home systems and describe two current design cases for ambient intelligence in home control.
Keywords: Smart Home, Ambient Intelligence; Adaptive Lighting; Circadian Rhythms; Adaptive HVAC.
You can find a PDF of the paper at http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MPRV.2012.58
Keep your eyes peeled as there are a number of other submissions that I am either waiting on review or in the midst of writing. Write on…
Attention Proliphix Thermostat Users!
If you have a Proliphix thermostat like me (I have a IMT550w thermostat) and want a way to collect data and generate reports on the data then you should visit InThrMa. The have an web-based product that does this. They have a iPhone app as well as energy-saving features like SmartStart and Heat Pump Optimization (see Beta Labs). They also offer a free (no credit card required) 2 week trial.
I have been using them for a couple of months now.
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New Consumption Report
So I have finally had a chance to update the My Smart Home: Consumption Report to reflect readings from the new DENT PowerScout 18 meters and a new database design. Checkout:
http://makonin.com/report_consumption.html.
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Home Occupancy Agent: Occupancy and Sleep Detection
Earlier this month I learnt that I (and co-author Fred Popowich) will have my first journal paper published in the GSTF Journal on Computing in the April/2012 edition (vol 2, no 1). Here is the paper abstract:
Smart homes of the future will have a number of different types of sensors. What types of sensors and how they will be used depends on the behaviour needed from the smart home. Using the sensors to automatically determine if a home is occupied can lead to a wide range of benefits. For example, it could trigger a change in the thermostat setting to save money, or even a change in security monitoring systems. Our prototype Home Occupancy Agent (HOA), which we present in this paper, uses a rule based system that monitors power consumption from meters and ambient light sensor readings in order to determine occupancy. The agent is also able to determine when the occupants are asleep, and thus provide the potential for further energy saving opportunities.
Keywords: Smart Home, Intelligent Agent, Occupancy Detection, Power Consumption, Ambient Light Sensors, Sleep Detection, Energy Conservation, Sustainability.
Keep your eyes peeled as there are a number of other submissions that I am either waiting on review or in the midst of writing. Write on…
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The Affect of Lifestyle Factors on Eco-Visualization Design
On Monday I learnt that my full co-authored (with Maryam H Kashani and Lyn Bartram) paper “The Affect of Lifestyle Factors on Eco-Visualization Design” was accepted at Computer Graphics International (CGI 2012). So I will be travelling to Bournemouth University in the UK. Here is the paper abstract:
As people become more concerned with the need to conserve their power consumption we need to find ways to inform them of how electricity is being consumed within the home. There are a number of devices that have been designed using different forms, sizes, and technologies. We are interested in large ambient displays that can be read at a glance and from a distance as informative art. However, from these objectives come a number of questions that need to be explored and answered. To what degree might lifestyle factors influence the design of eco-visualizations? To answer this we need to ask how people with varying lifestyle factors perceive the utility of such devices and their placement within a home. We explore these questions by creating four ambient display prototypes. We take our prototypes and subject them to a user study to gain insight as to the questions posed above. This paper discusses our prototypes in detail and the results and findings of our user study.
Keywords: eco-visualization, informative art, ambient display, power consumption, energy conservation, sustainability.
CGI 2012 received 178 papers, 111 were rejected, 35 were selected for the CGI 2012 Special Issue of The Visual Computer, 32 were selected for the Electronic Proceedings.
I will be updating the Elements of Consumption (EoC) project page soon. I plan to be releasing the project source code as an open source project along with details on how to create your own custom ambient display.
Climate Delusions
Climate Delusions Talk
Today the Royal Society of Canada invited Dr. Mark Jaccard, Professor with the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University to talk about climate change modelling. He presented a very good talk about how and why we will not be meeting any of the emission reduction targets.
Abstract: Two decades of research into the risk of human-induced climate change has focused on climate science and the costs of greenhouse gas mitigation. It is increasingly obvious, however, that the research focus must include understanding the reasons why humans have been incapable of effective action in spite of scientific consensus on the climate threat, economic consensus on the relatively modest cost of mitigation, and continuous commitments by political leaders. This talk will combine science, economics, policy design and human cognition to explain how self-interest biases in human cognition have fostered delusions about the problem and its solution – and what to do about these.
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Branch Circuit Power Metering
Over the weekend I was busy replacing my 2 INO6200 meters with 2 DENT PowerScout 18 branch circuit power meters (BCPM). Instead on only monitoring 2 circuits (the main house and the heat pump), I can now monitor 24 different circuits!
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- PS18 Install – Open Panels
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- PS18 Install – Power Junction Box
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- PS18 Install – Finished Install
I will post a link to a real-time consumption report soon. I am having issue with my ModbusTCP server and a lack of time to program the report.
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