[LINK] Free Sydney Smart Home

[Ivan Trundle]

On 11/02/2010, at 5:29 PM, Richard Chirgwin wrote:

> But as to a computer running the thing? OK, I'll go with Ivan that 
> people need to learn what uses how much (although without aircon or 
> flat-screen, my home is pretty simple to figure), but once you know 
> what's going on, the system becomes a redundant user of power.

IT sounds like you've completed a significant audit through absolute need. But people's consumption patterns change, and not having this information leads to complacency (new plasma, sir?).

It doesn't have to be a major consumer of power: but metering a range of objects, and consuming different materials (electrons, water, gas) sounds to me like it would need an integrated approach, which implies a 'computer'.

I'm not entirely in favour of 'smart meters' unless they can be aggregated into one device: the 'consumption meter' (of sorts): this way, consumers are better able to track consumption habits and trends (so a recording facility is needed, along with the ability to add additional input, such as outside temperature, humidity and rainfall).

Once people can see that their habits change even beyond environmental influences, they can make more informed choices about consumption.

It still staggers me that most people in Melbourne are unaware that evaporative coolers are the biggest single consumers of water in the city (both domestic and industrial) - data from a Melbourne Water Workshop that I facilitated some time ago.

Who would have thought that evaporative coolers were appropriate technology in Melbourne?

iT

--
Ivan Trundle
http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com
ph: +61 (0)418 244 259 fx: +61 (0)2 6286 8742 skype: callto://ivanovitchk