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Google announces Powermeter for the UK
GOOGLE HAS LAUNCHED a free software tool in the UK that provides consumers with information on how much energy their home is using, called Powermeter.
The software receives information from utility smart meters and in-home 'energy management devices' and displays the information on a user's customised Google homepage.
The information helps consumers analyse where and when their power is being used, to reduce their utility bills while contributing to saving the beleaguered environment.
Last night Google announced its first UK Powermeter partnership with energy supplier First Utility. The company already has 30,000 customers signed up to its 'Smart Tariff' offering, which provides end-users with a smart electric meter. However, it offers this service only in the Midlands and East Midlands.
Alternatively, consumers can purchase a £69 self-install device - with a £2.99 monthly subscription - from Alertme, which allows similar monitoring without having a pre-installed smart meter.
We suspect the monthly subscription payment will somewhat dent any savings made by using the device.
Google has now signed up two device partners and ten utility companies serving Powermeter in five countries. It's a small splash in a big pond, but a step in the right direction for those who want to keep an eye on their power consumption. µ
Tags: Google
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One of our local power utilities here has been giving out a similar device for a couple of years as a pilot study. It's a small display that looks like a digital clock radio. It goes on your kitchen counter and reads the kw usage from the smart meter on the side of the house and calculates the current fee. The utility claims they have been quite effective, because it gets the average consumer to think about their power usage every time they walk past the display. You or I may think about how many watts our computer uses, but 95% of the consumers out there don't. Devices like these change that.
firefox+adblock plus = your friend
Way too many adverts here... can't see the actual article.
£69 + £2.99pm = too expensive!
£35 + £0.00pm = the right price!
Its google running the show it should be free.
Am I the only one that fails to see the point in all this smart monitoring?
I mean..I know my PC draws XXX watts and I know that if I leave it on over night doing nothing it's wasted power...
But seriously...are people that stupid that they can't realise that leaving something on when it isn't necessary is a waste of power and therefore need another power consuming gizmo to tell them they are wasting resources?
Perhaps it would be wise to invest in the company/ies producing these smart devices.
Sorry couldn't read the entire article, annoying adverts kept popping up like 'EDF engergy', got a bit annoying in the end.