HAI, the leader in home energy automation systems has been included in the open4energy list of home energy saving devices.
open4energy has opened a forum for discussion on the HAI Smart Grid Solution to gather real feedback on the energy saving that home owners will achieve through the combination of energy monitoring and energy automation.
HAI is one of the first solutions to provide energy monitoring information which the user can use to plan their energy savings activities, and direct links to the utility company that work with the home automation elements of the system to optimize billing and validate the capabilities of the emerging "smart grid".
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Energy Monitors
open4energy has published a second list of home energy products. The initial list, called "home energy saving devices" included energy saving technology and energy monitoring technology.
The plan is to separate energy saving products from energy monitoring technology for it is our opinion that ultimately monitoring software will be provided as a FREE social networking solution and the monitoring done by the smart meters from the utility companies.
"The List of Home Energy Monitors changes fast. open4energy will need help from readers to update on new product announcements, and provide real user information on using them."
The plan is to separate energy saving products from energy monitoring technology for it is our opinion that ultimately monitoring software will be provided as a FREE social networking solution and the monitoring done by the smart meters from the utility companies.
"The List of Home Energy Monitors changes fast. open4energy will need help from readers to update on new product announcements, and provide real user information on using them."
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Energy Saving Scam Links
It is with much regret that I am posting these links to open4energy. I do not know the businesses who are included, I do not know the quality of their products, and I do not know if they actually make the power factor corrections claimed or not.
But, consumer electricity bills are NOT altered by power factor correction, up or down. It is bogus and false marketing to suggest that any of these products will reduce a consumers electricity bill in any way at all. In fact, if they did by some peculiar interference with the meters working, it would be illegal. A consumer may not do anything to their electrical system which interferes with its readings of electricity consumed.
Fact: Electricity utility companies bill consumers on Real Power. This is the actual amount used, not the amount delivered.
Fact: When the power factor is less than 100% the electricity is not being lost, only its phase is being altered. The consumer electrical tariffs include provision for the losses which this "out of phase" might cause the electricity supplier.
It is true that electricity suppliers need to manage their distribution networks, and that power factor IS one of the factors that impacts their distribution losses. It is also true that large industrial users are charged a penalty for a net power factor of less than 85%. But distribution losses will not be solved by consumers. They are aggregate issues that can only be solved by the utility companies (the smart grid) in partnership with industry and device manufacturers.
If you are considering any of the following products to reduce your home energy bill please STOP NOW - they are misrepresenting the savings you can make!
CFL Power Factor
Dolphin Smart Electricity Saver
Free Power Blueprint
EcoPower4 by EcoTrust Energy
KVAR Energy Controller
KVAR KEC PU 1200
KVAR PFC Unit
KVAR Power Factor Optimizer
Magnetic Generator Plans
Magniwork Perpetual Motion
Nevvus PowerGard - Scam Review
PerpetualGreen EnergySave System
Power Save 1200
Power Saver Enersonic
PowerwoRx e3 Home Energy Management System
Xpower Energy Saver
But, consumer electricity bills are NOT altered by power factor correction, up or down. It is bogus and false marketing to suggest that any of these products will reduce a consumers electricity bill in any way at all. In fact, if they did by some peculiar interference with the meters working, it would be illegal. A consumer may not do anything to their electrical system which interferes with its readings of electricity consumed.
Fact: Electricity utility companies bill consumers on Real Power. This is the actual amount used, not the amount delivered.
Fact: When the power factor is less than 100% the electricity is not being lost, only its phase is being altered. The consumer electrical tariffs include provision for the losses which this "out of phase" might cause the electricity supplier.
It is true that electricity suppliers need to manage their distribution networks, and that power factor IS one of the factors that impacts their distribution losses. It is also true that large industrial users are charged a penalty for a net power factor of less than 85%. But distribution losses will not be solved by consumers. They are aggregate issues that can only be solved by the utility companies (the smart grid) in partnership with industry and device manufacturers.
If you are considering any of the following products to reduce your home energy bill please STOP NOW - they are misrepresenting the savings you can make!
CFL Power Factor
Dolphin Smart Electricity Saver
Free Power Blueprint
EcoPower4 by EcoTrust Energy
KVAR Energy Controller
KVAR KEC PU 1200
KVAR PFC Unit
KVAR Power Factor Optimizer
Magnetic Generator Plans
Magniwork Perpetual Motion
Nevvus PowerGard - Scam Review
PerpetualGreen EnergySave System
Power Save 1200
Power Saver Enersonic
PowerwoRx e3 Home Energy Management System
Xpower Energy Saver
KVAR Energy Controller
There is truth in the fact that our homes have devices which consume electricity at reduced power factors. As an example we know that CFL light bulbs have a Power factor of between 55% and 70%, while incandescent light bulbs have a power factor of 100%. All electric motors, including fridges, air conditioners, fans and computers generate reactive power which will affect a homes power factor.
Based on the above information it sounds logical that a technology which corrects power factor would save money. But this is not a correct conclusion at all. Improving consumer power factor, assuming the technology works as claimed, has ZERO - NIL - NONE - ZILCH - affect on the amount of money a consumer is charged for their electricity.
We have posted a correct explanation as to why power factor correction makes no difference to a consumers electricity bill at open4energy.
In addition we have posted a correct explanation of the claims being made by the biggest offender, a business going by the name of KVAR Energy Systems, and their product called KVAR Energy Controller who have a large network of resellers operating operating under many names. Their solution may (to be validated) be useful in commercial and residential situations but it is simply bogus when it comes to consumers.
Based on the above information it sounds logical that a technology which corrects power factor would save money. But this is not a correct conclusion at all. Improving consumer power factor, assuming the technology works as claimed, has ZERO - NIL - NONE - ZILCH - affect on the amount of money a consumer is charged for their electricity.
We have posted a correct explanation as to why power factor correction makes no difference to a consumers electricity bill at open4energy.
In addition we have posted a correct explanation of the claims being made by the biggest offender, a business going by the name of KVAR Energy Systems, and their product called KVAR Energy Controller who have a large network of resellers operating operating under many names. Their solution may (to be validated) be useful in commercial and residential situations but it is simply bogus when it comes to consumers.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Energy Saving Scams
I received a call from England the other day asking if I thought a particular power correcting technology saved consumer energy bills. I know a little about power factor from an earlier assignment, which included knowing that consumers only pay for real power, and that power factor did not affect their electricity bill at all.
But as I investigated I was astounded to find the extend of the scams and blatant fraud being promoted on the internet.
Worst, I found that my own site is serving a number of Google ads for the very scams I was uncovering. This is most unfair, we cannot control what Google deliver to us, and we pride ourselves on the quality of the information we publish.
I have created a list of energy saving scams at open4energy and I hope they will prove useful to out readers!
Read posting on energy saving scams
But as I investigated I was astounded to find the extend of the scams and blatant fraud being promoted on the internet.
Worst, I found that my own site is serving a number of Google ads for the very scams I was uncovering. This is most unfair, we cannot control what Google deliver to us, and we pride ourselves on the quality of the information we publish.
I have created a list of energy saving scams at open4energy and I hope they will prove useful to out readers!
Read posting on energy saving scams
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Do CFL Bulbs Save Energy
I think that most of us, including me, do believe that compact fluorescent light bulbs save energy. So as I looked for further ways to reduce the amount of energy being used in our apartment, having exhausted all the obvious areas of turning off, etc. etc. I remembered that there were still a few bulbs (twelve to be exact - "the dirty dozen") that had not been given the "full replacement" treatment.
I have posted an article comparing our old light bulbs to the new, each being turned on in the same sequence, with 15 seconds between them .....
Read posting
I have posted an article comparing our old light bulbs to the new, each being turned on in the same sequence, with 15 seconds between them .....
Read posting
Monday, September 21, 2009
Energy Saving Tips - Home Office
If you do a Google search on the term "energy saving tips for a home office" you will be presented with 21,100,000 search results.
Assuming you are not planning to read them all, and assuming you are looking for some good tips you have an immediate dilemma? Which pages are you going to read, and how can you tell if what you read is actually useful?
The purpose of this discussion thread is to help our readers become better informed. There is good information to be found, but in our opinion it sits in the midst of much error. Some of this is simple error, some is misunderstanding, some is out of date content and some is bias of marketing promotions.
At the top of the search result offered by Google is a page from the U.S. Department of Energy. If you are like most Internet users you will open the top item in your search result. In this case it is from an accredited agency and should be worth a read?
There are 11 tips on the page. But think about these two!
1) "An ENERGY STAR labeled computer uses 70% less electricity than computers without this designation."
Where is the data to support this claim? I encourage you to consider Energy Star labeled equipment, but please consider this posting Energy Saving for a Laptop Computer, avoid marketing claims and check the actual use for any device you are planning to buy.
2) "the transformer in the AC adapter draws power continuously, even when the laptop is not plugged into the adapter".
This is not correct at all. One of the requirements for an Energy Star rating is that the transformer does NOT do this. I encourage readers to look at our study on Understanding Vampire Power for additional information.
But the biggest issue lies in what is not included in the list.
In our study Put Your Laptop to Sleep we found that there is up to an additional 24% of energy saving to be achieved if the user will "turn the laptop off" by hand when they walk away from their desk.
There is no technology that can read your mind! This additional 24% can only be saved if users are educated and persuaded to change their behavior.
Assuming you are not planning to read them all, and assuming you are looking for some good tips you have an immediate dilemma? Which pages are you going to read, and how can you tell if what you read is actually useful?
The purpose of this discussion thread is to help our readers become better informed. There is good information to be found, but in our opinion it sits in the midst of much error. Some of this is simple error, some is misunderstanding, some is out of date content and some is bias of marketing promotions.
At the top of the search result offered by Google is a page from the U.S. Department of Energy. If you are like most Internet users you will open the top item in your search result. In this case it is from an accredited agency and should be worth a read?
There are 11 tips on the page. But think about these two!
1) "An ENERGY STAR labeled computer uses 70% less electricity than computers without this designation."
Where is the data to support this claim? I encourage you to consider Energy Star labeled equipment, but please consider this posting Energy Saving for a Laptop Computer, avoid marketing claims and check the actual use for any device you are planning to buy.
2) "the transformer in the AC adapter draws power continuously, even when the laptop is not plugged into the adapter".
This is not correct at all. One of the requirements for an Energy Star rating is that the transformer does NOT do this. I encourage readers to look at our study on Understanding Vampire Power for additional information.
But the biggest issue lies in what is not included in the list.
In our study Put Your Laptop to Sleep we found that there is up to an additional 24% of energy saving to be achieved if the user will "turn the laptop off" by hand when they walk away from their desk.
There is no technology that can read your mind! This additional 24% can only be saved if users are educated and persuaded to change their behavior.
Data Center Energy Management
open4energy has published a list of data center energy management solutions.
The list of data center energy management solutions includes a link where users can post comments about the energy they have saved by using them.
But we remind our readers that measuring energy does not save energy. It only creates an increased understanding of where it is being used. What is needed is to take this information, however it is obtained, and to make the operational changes that result in energy savings.
The list of data center energy management solutions includes a link where users can post comments about the energy they have saved by using them.
But we remind our readers that measuring energy does not save energy. It only creates an increased understanding of where it is being used. What is needed is to take this information, however it is obtained, and to make the operational changes that result in energy savings.
Home Energy Saving Devices
open4energy has published a list of home energy saving devices.
The list of home energy saving devices includes a link where users can post comments about the energy they have saved by using them.
But we remind our readers that measuring energy does not save energy. It only creates an increased understanding of where it is being used. What is needed is to take this information, however it is obtained, and to make the lifestyle changes that result in energy savings.
The list of home energy saving devices includes a link where users can post comments about the energy they have saved by using them.
But we remind our readers that measuring energy does not save energy. It only creates an increased understanding of where it is being used. What is needed is to take this information, however it is obtained, and to make the lifestyle changes that result in energy savings.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Standby Power facts
Threatening that the planet is dying, or promising wealth from home energy savings is not working. So how will we be motivated to save energy, particularly when saving energy requires us to pay attention and change behavior.
The answer is education, the only solution to achieving any long term change. But to be educated we need motivation, re-enter the temptation for threats and rewards!
I have a question? Why are we so hard to teach on simple energy savings opportunities, like standby power and power factor? And why are we so easily influenced by marketing hype?
What I used to know as standby electricity (boring) grew into phantom power (sort of boring) and is now vampire power (exciting). We learn that it "sucks" 5% (frightening) of our household energy (not true) unless we buy a smart strip (the vampire buster) and save oodles (money)
Standby power and vampire power are an area for energy savings and we should all be informed and make the savings possible. But please do not let wild product claims influence you. Smart strips do not save energy in most cases; they are costly, they require large amounts of energy to be manufactured, and they consume 1.9 Watts of energy to do little useful at all.
To add insult to injury, they distract us from the real issue which is to change our attitude. What is needed is education, and then motivation to turn devices off, unplu where necessary, and buy replacement products wisely.
Please read our article on vampire energy and standby energy in which we discuss the effectiveness of smart power strips.
The answer is education, the only solution to achieving any long term change. But to be educated we need motivation, re-enter the temptation for threats and rewards!
I have a question? Why are we so hard to teach on simple energy savings opportunities, like standby power and power factor? And why are we so easily influenced by marketing hype?
What I used to know as standby electricity (boring) grew into phantom power (sort of boring) and is now vampire power (exciting). We learn that it "sucks" 5% (frightening) of our household energy (not true) unless we buy a smart strip (the vampire buster) and save oodles (money)
Standby power and vampire power are an area for energy savings and we should all be informed and make the savings possible. But please do not let wild product claims influence you. Smart strips do not save energy in most cases; they are costly, they require large amounts of energy to be manufactured, and they consume 1.9 Watts of energy to do little useful at all.
To add insult to injury, they distract us from the real issue which is to change our attitude. What is needed is education, and then motivation to turn devices off, unplu where necessary, and buy replacement products wisely.
Please read our article on vampire energy and standby energy in which we discuss the effectiveness of smart power strips.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Vampire Power - Charging your BlackBerry
How much electricity does your BlackBerry (insert your PDA here) really use each year? To answer this question we need to understand and measure three components of energy use.
The first component is the electricity consumed by the charger to recharge the battery. This will depend on how much the BlackBerry was used. I chose a Friday, where I had been somewhat busy, and the BlackBerry showed 50% charge remaining.
The second component is the electricity consumed by the charger doing trickle charging. This depends on how long the BlackBerry is left connected to the charger once charging is complete. If you are like me you plug the BlackBerry into the charger when you get home and leave it there until you set out the next day. I did ask a few friends if this was a typical use, and it was. There was one surprising answer "I am cheap he said, I only charge my BlackBerry at the office". I did wonder if this "being cheap" was worth the effort?
The third component is the electricity consumed by the charger while plugged into a live wall socket during the day. This phantom electricity (known as vampire effect or vampire power) can be observed by feeling the warmth of your charger. My wall socket is under the desk so I tend not to reach down and unplug it after use! I am surely a pinhead for this. If not for the wasted energy, for being so idle!
Equipped with this understanding of the 3 electrical components I plugged in my half charged BlackBerry Curve and began measuring.
Charging commenced at 6/7 watts Real Power (Power Factor was 58%) and dropped progressively to 1 Watt as the battery approached its full charge. The time taken to reach fully charged was 61 minutes. The total electricity consumed was 8232 joules.
During trickle charge the charger consumed approximately 1 watt, which is 3,600 joules in an hour.
With the BlackBerry unplugged the charger consumed approximately 0.75 watt, which is 2,700 joules in an hour.
Using the typical consumer energy rate of $0.15 per kilowatt-hour (see Wikipedia for details) I was ready to calculate the costs.
Cost to re-charge BlackBerry: 0.034299 cents per day.
Cost of trickle charge (assuming left for 11 additional hours): 0.165 cents per day.
Cost of phantom power (assuming left for 12 hours): 0.18 cents per day.
Well there you have it, 12.5 cents per year for charging, and $1.26 (10 times as much) for being a pinhead.
Now you may say "so what", and to the cost of $1.26 you probably have a point. But it is in this attitude, multiplied by all the devices, multiplied by our population of vampire power hogs that the real issue becomes clear!
Here is a table showing the phantom power used by most consumer devices.
I have started this series of articles looking at our smallest computing device, a typical PDA. I hope that like me, you will examine your attention to these energy losers. Yes I am looking down at an unplugged BlackBerry charger! There are 27 million small businesses in the US. Over the next months we are going to explore different components of Green ICT, and see how much energy we truly are "attituding" away!
Please see the top right column of this page energy attitude and share your opinion in the simple poll we have!
The first component is the electricity consumed by the charger to recharge the battery. This will depend on how much the BlackBerry was used. I chose a Friday, where I had been somewhat busy, and the BlackBerry showed 50% charge remaining.
The second component is the electricity consumed by the charger doing trickle charging. This depends on how long the BlackBerry is left connected to the charger once charging is complete. If you are like me you plug the BlackBerry into the charger when you get home and leave it there until you set out the next day. I did ask a few friends if this was a typical use, and it was. There was one surprising answer "I am cheap he said, I only charge my BlackBerry at the office". I did wonder if this "being cheap" was worth the effort?
The third component is the electricity consumed by the charger while plugged into a live wall socket during the day. This phantom electricity (known as vampire effect or vampire power) can be observed by feeling the warmth of your charger. My wall socket is under the desk so I tend not to reach down and unplug it after use! I am surely a pinhead for this. If not for the wasted energy, for being so idle!
Equipped with this understanding of the 3 electrical components I plugged in my half charged BlackBerry Curve and began measuring.
Charging commenced at 6/7 watts Real Power (Power Factor was 58%) and dropped progressively to 1 Watt as the battery approached its full charge. The time taken to reach fully charged was 61 minutes. The total electricity consumed was 8232 joules.
During trickle charge the charger consumed approximately 1 watt, which is 3,600 joules in an hour.
With the BlackBerry unplugged the charger consumed approximately 0.75 watt, which is 2,700 joules in an hour.
Using the typical consumer energy rate of $0.15 per kilowatt-hour (see Wikipedia for details) I was ready to calculate the costs.
Cost to re-charge BlackBerry: 0.034299 cents per day.
Cost of trickle charge (assuming left for 11 additional hours): 0.165 cents per day.
Cost of phantom power (assuming left for 12 hours): 0.18 cents per day.
Well there you have it, 12.5 cents per year for charging, and $1.26 (10 times as much) for being a pinhead.
Now you may say "so what", and to the cost of $1.26 you probably have a point. But it is in this attitude, multiplied by all the devices, multiplied by our population of vampire power hogs that the real issue becomes clear!
Here is a table showing the phantom power used by most consumer devices.
I have started this series of articles looking at our smallest computing device, a typical PDA. I hope that like me, you will examine your attention to these energy losers. Yes I am looking down at an unplugged BlackBerry charger! There are 27 million small businesses in the US. Over the next months we are going to explore different components of Green ICT, and see how much energy we truly are "attituding" away!
Please see the top right column of this page energy attitude and share your opinion in the simple poll we have!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Waxman Markey & Data Centers
I could not help wondering how the upcoming legislation might affect small business and their data centers energy efforts? "Obama pushes Senate to act on climate measure" more --->
On June 19th Mike Manos the recognized energy guru wrote in his blog "As an industry, we have been talking about it for some time. Some claimed it would never come and it was just a bunch of fear mongering. Others like me said it was the inevitable outcome of the intensifying focus on energy consumption .... This is no longer a drill. more --->
For tools and information to create an energy baseline for your data center. click here --->
On June 19th Mike Manos the recognized energy guru wrote in his blog "As an industry, we have been talking about it for some time. Some claimed it would never come and it was just a bunch of fear mongering. Others like me said it was the inevitable outcome of the intensifying focus on energy consumption .... This is no longer a drill. more --->
For tools and information to create an energy baseline for your data center. click here --->
Monday, June 22, 2009
Save Paper & Energy
Tired of printing web pages only to find your printout is full of ads, empty space and other junk you don't want? Tired of feeling bad that you once again wasted part of a tree, never mind the toner and energy to produce this mess.
Later as you relax to read the "offending printed copy" - oops, you have everything you never wanted to know on a "will not rip you off credit card", you have the 1,2,3 of avoiding identity theft, but you do not have the article!
We can make a choice here!
a) Curse loudly and promise to print 3 copies of all the pages next time?
b) Think that the conspiracy has struck again?
c) Thank God for the opportunity to practice patience?
Continue reading this story ==>
Later as you relax to read the "offending printed copy" - oops, you have everything you never wanted to know on a "will not rip you off credit card", you have the 1,2,3 of avoiding identity theft, but you do not have the article!
We can make a choice here!
a) Curse loudly and promise to print 3 copies of all the pages next time?
b) Think that the conspiracy has struck again?
c) Thank God for the opportunity to practice patience?
Continue reading this story ==>
Thursday, June 18, 2009
No Case Studies?
There is no shortage of rhetoric on green IT amongst our esteemed muckety-mucks, but do a search on Google for a serious case study and see for yourself what is actually going on.
Google has an impressive track record, see solar panel project. But with 100's of thousands of servers you would hope they were doing something. And take note, the solar project has a 7 year cost recovery, and a 25 year pay back. For most of us smaller businesses, ROI is this week, and remaining employed next month is long term planning.
As a 7 times serial entrepreneur, this all seemed like the perfect opportunity to investigate further.
Continue reading this story ==>
Google has an impressive track record, see solar panel project. But with 100's of thousands of servers you would hope they were doing something. And take note, the solar project has a 7 year cost recovery, and a 25 year pay back. For most of us smaller businesses, ROI is this week, and remaining employed next month is long term planning.
As a 7 times serial entrepreneur, this all seemed like the perfect opportunity to investigate further.
Continue reading this story ==>
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