Cooperative Living February 2016 - 12

Currents | by Tom Tate, Contributing Writer
Conservation Gadgetry: The Scoop
on Whole-House Energy-Use Detectors
H
ere's a subject that is near and dear
to my heart. Why? Because I am a
conservation and gadget addict.
Whole-house energy monitors allow me to
indulge both passions and help me operate
my home more efficiently. And today it is
easier than ever for anyone with similar
interests to do the same.
These systems provide you with near
real-time energy-use readings for your
home. I say " near real-time " because there
is a few-seconds delay between sensing use
and getting it to your display. The typical
system has a sensor to pick up energy use,
a transmitter and a display to show you
the use and other statistics.
Whole-house monitors come in two
variants. One uses a sensor that is attached
to the electric meter. As utilities, we don't
recommend these. First of all, they are
hard to align properly, especially as electric
meters go digital. Second, they interfere
with our techs' ability to service the meters.
The sensors have to be removed for the tech
to work on the meter. More than one has
arrived on my desk from the meter techs
asking what they should do with them.
The second type of whole-house
Put your monitor where
everyone can see it.
Turn on different
appliances and systems,
one at a time, so you
can see their impact on
your electric use.
10 | Cooperative Living | February 2016
monitor uses clips called current
transducers (CTs) that fit around the
power lines inside your electric panel. The
advantage of this approach is that it is all
inside your home. If taking the electric
panel's cover off to install the CTs makes
you nervous, get a contractor or an
acquaintance who is competent in such
matters to lend a hand. I have done it
several times without incident.
Once your system is operational, it is
time to put it to use. The first thing to do
is determine a " base load " for your home.
This is the minimum amount of energy
needed for things like the refrigerator and
freezer. The best time to determine this is
after everyone has gone to bed. My current
home's base load is about 400 watts.
Put your monitor where everyone can
see it. Turn on different appliances and
systems, one at a time, so you can see
their impact on your electric use.
Eventually you will be able to tell exactly
what is running. This is a terrific tool for
teaching kids about how much electricity
things like game consoles and PCs use. It
also shows them the impact of turning
stuff off when they are not using it.
Diagnosing problems is another
benefit. If your electric bill seems higher
than you expected and you can't
correlate it with weather or a large family
gathering, use the monitor. One evening
my system showed an unexpected
increase in use. I was home alone
working on my PC, so I started
eliminating suspects. Off went the PC.
Nope, not it. Checked the water heater.
Not running. Pulled the plug on my
chest freezer. Not it. Finally, it occurred
to me that it might be the defrost cycle
on my refrigerator. I looked up the
information online and sure enough, that
was the culprit.
You might find out that a compressor
on your refrigerator has hung up and is
drawing way too much power or a well
pump is always running. Whatever the
cause, having the ability to sleuth around
is invaluable. Over time you can trim the
fat from your energy use and instill
lifelong conservation habits in everyone.
This is a great tool and to help you
select one for your home, I have put
together a small table of systems
(opposite page) that strike my fancy. I
use the Envi and have been well pleased.
Give one a try and see if it doesn't help
you reduce your electic bill. 
Tom Tate writes on cooperative issues for the
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association,
the Arlington, Va.-based service arm of the nation's
900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric
cooperatives.
www.co-opliving.com
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living February 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living February 2016
