cent-a-meter

http://power2save.ca/

• total household electricity cost
• power consumption
  
• Greenhouse gas
  
• temperature and humidity. 
  
• It also has a user settable peak load alarm.
  
•  Sensors are clipped around the incoming electrical supply wires at the electrical panel
  
•  $179.99 CAD
  

The Meter Reader (EM-2500)

http://www.energymonitor.com/purchase.html

• Clip on to main circuit breaker
  
• Shows power, electrical bill estimate
  
• $215 - $290

PowerCost Home energy monitor

http://www.bluelineinnovations.com/

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/12/powercost_home.php

• Currently Available
  
• wireless energy monitor for your home
  
• "Householders who use real-time feedback can reduce electricity use by as much as five to 20 per cent."
  
• This is the advantage of having real-time feedback on your electricity.
  

A study of 400 households in Ontario showed an aggregate reduction in energy consumption of up to 8.2% with this device.

Wattson Energy Monitor

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• attach Wattson’s sensor clip to your mains electricity meter’s input cable
  
• Wireless display
  
• Colour represents how much energy you are using
  
• Switch off the kitchen light- see your consumption decrease instantly
  
• Tilt the unit and the screen changes to projected annual cost of electricity usage. (£, $, e)
  
• £99.95
  

More Info:

http://www.ecosensations.co.uk/

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/07/wattson_monitor.php

http://www.diykyoto.com/uk

Smarty Pants Monitor

http://www.ambientdevices.com/products/energyjoule.html

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/05/the-home-joule.php

• Monitors home energy
• Connects to real time info about weather, time of day energy costs
• Display at sides shows when your energy is high
• Connects to rewards like movie tickets
• Colour displays how expensive electricity is
• Order through electricity company

Wilting Flower

 

Wilting Flower uses a wireless transmitter to montior your home's electricity use. Colours denote how much electricity you are using, and when it wilts purple, you're using too much. This was just a design project by Carl Smith at Industrial Design and Technology at Loughborough University, and there are no production plans.

More info at Treehugger

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/budding-concepts-in-home-energy-monitoring.php

Blue is the new Green?

Interesting NYTimes article on ways to conserve water

http://arieff.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/blue-is-the-new-green/

The energy cost of play

The NRDC (US Natural Resources Defense Council) has just released a new issue paper on the amount of energy used if you leave your game console on all the time. We've known for a while that zombie devices can drink your energy even when they're off, but if you leave something on it can cost you even more $. It looks like the Wii is the best (not surprising, since it's less powerful).




http://www.nrdc.org/energy/consoles/contents.asp

Tesco Carbon Footprint Program

Tesco, a British grocery chain, is putting carbon footprint labels on some of its products. This will allow customers to make informed decisions about how products affect the environment.


Tesco Carbon FootPrint

as reported by ABC News

The labeling is based on the Carbon Trust's Carbon reduction label using the draft standard PAS 2050. There has been some argument from the Organic community that the label does not properly reflect the advantage of organic produce because it does not include soil carbon.

Cost to Drive

Cost to Drive http://www.costtodrive.com/

A driving cost calculator which uses google maps to get a distance, Opis to get the cheapest gas prices on the route, and fueleconomy.gov to find out out your car's gas mileage. It looked to me like it underestimated gas prices (and ignored wear and tear), but it would be a useful system as compared to other methods of transit.

Gas Prices: http://www.opisnet.com/
Fuel Economy http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Ecorio

http://www.ecorio.org/index.htm

Ecorio is an application for Android phones that tracks your travel (car and bus) and calculates your carbon footprint. It also proactively suggests carpools, based on a related carpool site.

Trees reduce childhood obesity?

A study at the University of Washington showed that for kids in urban environments, higher greenness was significantly associated with lower body mass index changes in those children. Previous studies of adults have shown that neighbourhood walkability was a factor, but that was not found for the children in this study.

MicroEnergy Credits

http://microenergycredits.com/

Many households in poverty burn carbon emitting fuels such as dung or wood, which have been linked to infant mortality. In the more affluent world, people have the inclination to offset some of their fuel burning by buying carbon credits. This site hopes to assist in green energy use in 3rd world countries (such as distributing solar home systems) by using carbon credits.

Drain Water Heat Recovery

How much of your heat is going down the drain? Aside from heating your house, one of the major energy draws is heating water. However, a lot of that heat dissipates down the drain.

RenweABILITY is a company that seeks to bring commercial energy reclamation to the home environment. Estimated savings 25-40%

Amazon Packaging Change

New Amazon Frustration-Free packaging takes the pain out of opening those gifts. There's no need for all the display and loss prevention plastic. Amazon has realized that they don't have a large problem with shoplifting.
New Packaging!

International Energy Agency

The International Energy Agency has detailed energy statistics on member countries.

For example, Canada produces 31773 thousand tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) in coal, and the US 564204 ktoe in coal.

Intel Open House

http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2008/10/02/personal-robots-home-sensing-private-networks-and-more-from-intel-research-seattles-open-house/

Intel Research has a yearly open house where they describe their research projects. The RFID on everyday projects for home monitoring for elder care is mentioned.

LED light bulb

http://www.gadgetvenue.com/led-light-bulb-network-the-new-wi-fi-10075126"

Ways to slash your utility bill

via Popular Mechanics


Did you know you can get an energy auditor to look at your home with an infrared camera? Blue and aqua show where heat isn't moving, and red shows your trouble spots.

Seattle City Light

My own Seattle City Light has a page on finding out how much electricity appliances use.


http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/light/accounts/stretchyourdollar/ac5_appl.htm