Smart Meters for Energy Efficiency

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Smart Meters for Energy Efficiency

• ISPRA meeting 7.3.05
• Marcus Newborough,
• Heriot-Watt University,
• Edinburgh

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Decarbonising Energy Use in Your Home
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Context

• Atmospheric CO2 concentration is increasing.
  Government sees energy efficiency as a major tool
  for reducing carbon emissions. Save Energy ?
  Save Carbon
• Energy is very cheap (2-3 of household
  expenditure). Demand is still growing.
• Government does not want to increase tax on
  domestic energy
• The rate of new builds and building
  refurbishments is low (lt1).
• Several markets for end use equipment are
  regulated for energy performance with energy
  information available at the points-of-sale.
• Previous energy advice and information campaigns
  have had limited lasting effects.
• Achieving energy efficiency at the
  points-of-use isnt easy!

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Energy Saving Information-Transfer Approaches

• There are three main opportunities for
  influencing consumers
• when they buy an appliance
• when they use an appliance
• at other times.
• Point-of-use information-transfer methods could
  empower people to save energy.
• Really Smart Meters could provide a route for
  achieving this.

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How and What to Change?
Energy use in the home is like shopping at a
store, which has no prices on individual items,
and then being presented with a total bill at the
cash register Willet
Kempton, 1987
How can you reduce your energy consumption next
year so that its X less than this year? What
actions will you take? Will these infringe on
your lifestyle? How certain are you that it will
work? What if your energy consumption went up
next year, what extra action would you take? Do
you know enough about your consumption?
Electronic information feedback about
electricity/gas/water use has considerable
potential for influencing consumers and helping
them diagnose what action to take. It is
important that we identify preferred methods for
achieving this.
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Whole-House Feedback Relative Consumption
Displays
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Informing at the Points-of-Use
Average electricity saving across a two month
period by group of 10 households 15 Seven out
of 10 households saved gt10 Six out of 31
households saved gt20
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RD Questions
Appliance-specific displays, activity-specific
displays or one interface for the whole
house? Display units of money, energy or carbon?
Update how frequently and illustrate across what
timescale? Stimulate the experimenter and / or
the accountant? Encourage goal setting? Develop
tariff incentives for those who reduce their
consumption? Provide energy-saving advice and
tips, or leave it to the individual to develop
his / her own set of energy-saving behaviours?
Probably gaining a relative understanding of
consumption in ones own home is what is most
needed.