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March 27, 2008
Affordable High Performance Housing
Here is a nice article about work our friends at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have been doing with Habitat for Humanity in Tennessee.
This is a good example of how building science can be used to provide housing that will perform very well but not cost an arm and a leg.
Posted by Eric Helton at 1:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 21, 2008
Home Electrical Energy Monitoring for the Homeowner
A high-performance house client from a few years back just sent me an email saying he has opened a retail store for environmental and sustainable products. He asked me if I could point him toward some products for homeowners to monitor their electrical usage. I figured I'd share the list as an easy entry for a Friday afternoon. :)
Miscellaneous electric loads are a somewhat difficult creature for the building scientist and especially a builder to help a homeowner address. These loads are all of the things that people plug in to the electrical outlets. Besides the electricity used when things are running, many items draw power, even when they are in the "off" state. There has been a lot of exposure recently about these standby power draws, sometimes called phantom or vampire loads.
Plug-in power meters are easy to use. Plug the item in question into the meter (which is plugged into a power outlet) and the power draw will display. Turn the item on and off and note the differences. Take actions based on what you learn. There are various features that are offered beyond this, but that's the basic idea. Similarly, the whole-house meters show all the electricity the house is using in real-time. It can be challenging to figure out individual loads, but you get a good idea of how your house runs after watching it for some time. For instance, when I leave my house, I know how much power it should be drawing and can tell if I left something on somewhere.
Ok, so here are the lists of products in no particular order. Feel free to send comments if you know of products I have neglected to list.
Plug in power meters:
P3 Kill A Watt (several models)
P3 Kill A Watt Power Strip
Brand Electronics
Watts up?
Brultech EML 2020
UPM EM-series
Whole-house meters:
Blueline Power Cost Meter
The Energy Detective (TED)
Brand Electronics
Cent-a-Meter
Wattson
Home Joule
Energy Monitor EM-2500
Posted by Eric Helton at 4:36 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 17, 2008
Will home automation be part of the solution?
A study just released by ABI Research says that the market for home automation and security systems is beginning to open up. Costs of systems and components are coming down, and the technologies are becoming much more accessible to the non-techie. Are we going to see advances in energy efficiency due to the control such systems may have over the HVAC, lighting, and other electric loads? Or, will it be adding electrical consumption to the house where there currently isn't?
I expect both to be true for a while. At the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show this past weekend, I didn't run across any companies that did much in home automation or integration. I talked to one company that specializes in security systems, but does some home sound and theater work. This isn't a big market for new technologies nor perceived expensive technologies, unlike some other markets here in the States. I think there is a lot of potential for integrating all of the various home technology systems to provide energy savings at the same time as offering enhanced experience and comfort in the home. As these systems become cheaper and offer more benefits, greater market penetration will undoubtedly advance the technology and provide more and more integration and utility. We can hope this will also bring lower energy use and bills...
You can read more about the study from Tekrati.
Posted by Eric Helton at 11:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
