Energy gets intelligent with smart meters

May 19, 2012 by

This is a sponsored post on behalf of British Gas. Click here to find out what that means.

British Gas LogoThere's something I've always wondered: given that the gas meter is in a box outside my house, why does the meter man knock the door to tell me he's about to read it? Is it so that I don't think there's some ruffian in my garden and burst out the door brandishing an under-used golf club? The thing is, meter readers are likely to become a thing of the past, with the UK government planning to have a Smart Meter in every home in the UK by 2019.

Smart Meters are much like the ones we've had up to now – they live quietly under the stairs, or in their cupboard, but these ones are networked. Rather than having to be read by a man turning up at your door, or you doing it yourself, they transmit your energy usage back to your provider daily. Bad news for meter readers, but potentially very good news for the average consumer.

Why is this good news? The main benefit that comes to mind is that you will not receive any more estimated bills. Sometimes they work in your favour, like when your energy company thinks you used more gas and electricity than you really did and you end up in credit, but more often than not I find I haven't paid enough… with a more accurate picture, energy providers will be much less likely to drop a surprisingly large bill on you after a string of estimated readings. 

British Gas has committed to do their bit by providing free Smart Meters for their customers – take a look at the video below to find out more about their vision for smarter energy usage:

I like the idea that the British Gas Smart Meter can, as well as handling those automatic readings for you, be linked to a monitor to tell you exactly what your current energy usage is. We have something similar on our electricity meter at the moment, and I can tell you it changed the way we used the power in our house… for a start, I was much more likely to switch things off to try and keep the numbers as low as possible, and there has been at least one occasion when I've noticed a particularly high figure and discovered the immersion heater on when it shouldn't have been. 

One last benefit to Smart Meters, and up-to-date information, is that energy companies can better plan the demand on their services. I remember going on a tour of Hunterston B (nuclear power plant) when I was young, and being told that they tried to predict energy usage. The example the tour guide gave was that there's a surge in demand when Eastenders finishes as a slew of households put the kettle on. Smart technology will (and perhaps already can) enable companies to produce just the right amount of energy at the right time – doing away with the need to try and store any over-production, or experiencing shortages due to over-demand. 

What do you think of the Smart Meter idea? Is it going to make your life easier? Is it really the first step in greener energy production? Or is it a way of cutting costs by eliminating meter men? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. If you want to let British Gas know your thoughts directly, you can find them on Facebook and Twitter. 

Sponsored Post -  I will receive financial payment for posting this article. Please be aware that I will never accept offers of paid posts where I am required only to give a positive opinion – objectivity is important to me and you can be sure that what I write, even in paid posts, is what I really think.

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Saving energy goes social with E.ON Innovation

February 20, 2012 by

This is a sponsored post. Click here to find out what that means.

Motion sensing radiatorCrowdsourcing is all the rage at the moment. If you’re wondering what that is, it’s the idea of taking a task normally done by one person (or one agency) and turning it over to a crowd. For example, coming up with new business ideas might be done by a single entrepreneur, but websites like Cambrian House invite people to submit the kernel of an idea and have “the crowd” chip in to refine and build upon it until a viable business emerges.

Well, now energy company E.ON is getting in on the crowdsourcing act by asking you and I to come up with creative ways to shape energy use. There are five challenges, linked with the challenges in a new Channel 4 television series which transforms a Sheffield family’s home by filling it with the latest tech and gadgets.

Is crowdsourcing a good idea for this sort of endavour? Despite the obvious cynical attitude that it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than paying a team of consultants, I think it also opens up the possibility of having some truly bizarre ideas submitted.

See, the bizarre ideas are very valuable. They spark lines of thought that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise, and might lead on to something a little less outlandish that may actually work.

The same thing happens in “brainstorming” sessions – where rather than judging each idea as it is suggested, you just roll with it and churn another idea out. Before long you have a list of wild and wacky ideas and some real gems.

The key here is volume of ideas. With a wide enough selection, there are bound to be some good ones in there.

For an introduction to the scheme, check out this video:

The video mentions a couple of website you’ll want to check out - E.ON Innovation, where you can submit your ideas for energy-saving, and the TV series that accompanies all of this, Home of the Future.

The best submission from each challenge will win a home energy makeover worth up to £2,000, and one of the five winners will be selected to receive the ‘Shining Star’ award, which increases the prize to a home energy makeover worth up to £10,000 so, if you have a fantastic idea for how to change the way we consume energy, it’s well worth giving it a shot. TIme to dust off those plans for a treadmill-powered washing machine, I think.

I'm blogging about e.onSponsored Post - I will receive financial payment for posting this article. Please be aware that I will never accept offers of paid posts where I am required only to give a positive opinion – objectivity is important to me and you can be sure that what I write, even in paid posts, is what I really think.

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Some thoughts on Green Motoring

July 6, 2011 by

Car companies are increasingly shouting about their green credentials – doubtless in part because of increased legislation from governments around the world that require them to show they are doing something to reduce their environmental impact. I was sent this video recently that talks about some of the benefits modern cars bring in terms of environmental impact. Have a look, and join me again afterwards.

OK, now this is clearly an advert for Ford’s C-Max, but it makes some interesting points. I was particularly interested by the claim that it would take two hundred modern cars to produce the same pollution as the 1976 Ford Fiesta. The introduction of unleaded fuel and catalytic convertors seem very old hat nowadays, but they have gone a long way to cleaning up cars’ act.

It’s also nice to see attention being brought to technologies like low resistance tyres and stop-start engines. Why? Well, because the media in general goes on about hybrids and electric vehicles so much it’s sometimes forgotten that even conventional cars can go green. Volkswagen, for instance, have a range of BlueMotion technologies designed to make their cars more energy efficient.

And there’s the key – energy efficiency. It’s at the heart of environmentalism, as less energy used is less pollution generated. But for most consumers, the average Joe, it seems the concern is less about saving the planet as saving our wallets. In the press information for the Honda Insight, for instance, there is a section on costs which says this:

Our research and that of other manufacturers has also shown that while many people have good intentions to be greener, when it comes to buying cars, it’s cost rather than climate that’s influencing purchase decisions.

I sympathise with that. Better insulation on my house might mean less gas burned to heat it, but I’m thinking more about the gas bill than how much CO2 I’m releasing into the atmosphere. With the price of petrol ever increasing, it’s much the same with cars – make them more efficient and, yes, there will be less harm to the environment, but I will also get more milage out of a tank… and that tank is getting pretty expensive.

Of course I’m concerned about the planet, but I, and I would be willing to bet many others, need some measurable incentive to reduce our energy use rather than a nebulous threat of impending doom. Reducing costs is, I believe, just the measurable incentive that’s required.

What do you think? When you look at energy efficiency, is it the environment or your pocket that first comes to mind? Is reducing energy bills the “carrot” to the threat of global warming’s “stick” when it comes to efficiency? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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Cheap energy? Generate your own!

September 3, 2008 by
Pylons

Image by Elsie esq.

Global oil prices are up. Electricity and gas companies are hiking their prices. And all the while, people are wondering what to do about their energy bills.

We’re going to take a look at some methods that are available to generate your own energy and power/heat your house. Remember that there are a load of methods you can use to minimise energy loss at home (loft insulation, double-glazing, switching appliances off at the wall), but that’s not a topic for today. Today we’re looking at generation, not conservation.

Use the sun!

Probably the greatest source of energy available isn’t even on the planet… the sun. We all know it warms the Earth, and no doubt you know its energy can be harnessed. So what tech can you use to enlist the sun’s help in powering or heating your home?

Solar Panels

Dead obvious, this one :) Solar panels! Those shiny sheets that power the International Space Station and a multitude of eco-friendly concept cars. There are two types of solar panels that concern us here, photovoltaic (electricity generating) or water heating panels.

Photovoltaic panels generate electricity from the sun’s energy, which can be used to fulfil some or all of your home’s electricity needs. It’s even possible to put your house ‘on-grid’ and sell any surplus energy you generate back to the National Grid. From what I hear, though, you will get the lowest price possible for your electricity in the UK, while the prices are a bit more favourable in other countries.

Water heating panels pass cold water through the panel, which is then (obviously) heated by the sun. This heated water is then delivered either to a pre-heat water tank or directly to the hot water tank, depending on the type of system. Even if the water that’s returned from the solar panels isn’t hot enough to take a bath in, it still represents an energy saving as it has been part-heated for you.

Ground Source Heat Pumps

The sun isn’t just heating your roof, though: it’s also heating the ground around your house. Ground source heat pumps are a way of extracting ground heat and using that to heat your water up. If you have ever touched the grille at the back of a refrigerator you will realise that it’s warm. That’s because the refrigerator is transferring heat from inside the fridge to the grille, where it radiates away. Ground source heat pumps do pretty much the same, but they transfer heat from the ground into your house. Heat is collected by laying pipes in your garden – either in a trench or, if you don’t have enough room, in a deep bore-hole. You’ll have a unit in the house that transfers heat from the water in the pipes to your heating system, so you don’t need to worry if the garden’s not roasting hot! :)

What about wind?

Another renewable energy source is all around us – wind. You’ve seen those wind farms, right? The groups of massive windmills? Well what about having one all of your very own? Not a whole wind farm, obviously, but you can have a small turbine generating electricity for your house.

The technology here is just the same as on the larger turbines – the wind turns the blades and a generator converts that motion into electricity. Add a power-shaper to iron out any spikes or dips and you’re good to go. You can even to ‘on-grid’ with this as well and sell any excess power back to the National Grid.

Be warned though: wind turbines will usually require planning permission (in the UK), and to be really worth it you should have a survey carried out to ensure that there’s enough wind in your chosen location (apparently the average windspeed can be worked out for where you are).

And the downside?

The big downside with these systems is the installation cost. Domestic solar panels can range from a few thousand pounds up into tens of thousands, whilst the cheapest domestic wind turbine I could find was £1898. I was unable to get a price for ground source heat pumps without having someone come out and do a survey of my garden!

These are all pretty hefty methods of reducing your energy bills, and they certainly aren’t a quick fix. You won’t recoup your money in a single winter, or anything like that, but if you’re going to be staying in the same house for a long time and are serious about reducing your reliance on the utility companies, they are certainly worth thinking about.

Have you tried any of these methods of generating energy? Got a wind turbine in your garden? Solar panels? Have you any experience of Ground Source Heat Pumps? Let us know how well they work and if you’re seeing any savings in the comments.

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Solar Islands On The Cards?

May 21, 2008 by

What do we want? Cheap, clean energy! When do we want it? Now!

Hmm, it’s never going to catch on as a protest chant, really, but creating cheap and clean energy is in demand. The problem is it takes a lot of solar panels to generate the same energy load as, say, a nuclear power station. How about building them HUGE, and in a very sunny spot then?

Researcher Dr Thomas Hinderling proposes just that: building huge floating solar panel islands 5km across, with designs suitable for use on sea and on land. Dr Hinderling’s “most concrete partner” at the moment is the government of Ras al Khaimah, the northern-most Emirate in the United Arab Emirates, who are already building a prototype solar island in the desert. It’ll certainly get plenty of sun! It is hoped that this island will be generating by mid-2008.

Solar LilliesBut would this kind of thing work in more temperate climates? Believe it or not, plans are afoot to do the same thing on a smaller scale in… wait for it… Glasgow.

Local firm, ZM Architecture, have submitted plans to tether solar-panel “lilies” on the river Clyde where they will get maximum exposure to the sun. The energy they generate will be fed into the National Grid.

At present there seem to be no firm plans to go ahead with the Glasgow project, although ZM Architecture hope to develop a pilot project in partnership with the Glasgow Science Centre.

So, two similar project but on massively different scales. I can certainly see the UAE project working out, but is solar power in a Scottish city centre going to make much difference to the environment?

What do you think?

(photo credit: BBC News)

H/T to Wired and BBC News

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