Comments on: A Khosla-backed big data energy startup you should know about

By: Roberto

Roberto — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:34:27 +0000

Try to think about the difference between “awareness” and “control”. Awareness comes from knowledge of something and empower YOU to make better choices. No one will tell when/what to eat and where to buy, but, I guess, you would LIKE to know what food is poisoning you and what is healthy, when is better for metabolism to eat and where to buy it at lowest price.
People should learn to be AWARE so to make better choices for themselves (and not for the big corporate selling stuff and often thinking for the consumer).
Sentences like “Talk about a totalitarian state!!” in this context sound more like paranoia than the result of a logical reasoning.

By: mcg70tm

mcg70tm — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 08:08:10 +0000

hi for my degree i have developed a thermal monitoring system for a house. is equipped with 6 sensors. those are linked to a hw PCand a sw database. this system aquire data of consumption in one house. the main ideea is if every house is equipped with this, then every block, then suburb and so on we can have a country system who can give a feedback of energy consumption and behaviour. is easy for improvment of gas electrical or diesel network in order to have minimum cost with maximum efficiency. for this efficiency we need to have a data network who link this each houses. is no bulshit if you have in your home such system you can adjust your costs . let’s say you buy a barrel of 500 litr diesel in the begining of year but you consumed only 450 litr. big deal you will consume next year. right but you have 50litr in $ blocked because of that. your 50 litres add your neighbours litres and so on it is a big sum. same in other energy types. think big the economy for a country and more impact on market price and enviroment. your inaccurate insolation can increse costs but a correct feedback of consumption can help you instead waste money in fuel you invest in improve of your home. same for your gouvernment to improve energy network and less taxes. such data network is a must for the future development of world.

By: Nitin P.

Nitin P. — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 03:53:00 +0000

Really now! No one is going to turn off any appliances. Seriously, if a corporation needs more power, they an simply shut your entire block right now anyways. You have been watching too many Hollywood computer hacker movies.

By: Rudy Diedreck

Rudy Diedreck — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:01:18 +0000

What you are doing is good…I think most folks have NO idea what is costing them extra money for energy consumption.
However, I have a timely idea, let’s take 50% of the super PAC money used for anti-Obama mud slinging ads, and use it instead to subsidize purchases of energy star appliances. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of buying energy efficient products, but they were either too small, or too expensive. This includes: A/C units, furnaces, heaters, refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers, stoves, LED lights ($40+ per bulb!), and although it’s not an appliance, hybrid, or fuel efficient cars as well.

By: vdiv

vdiv — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:43:28 +0000

Stay out of my fridge!

By: notconvinced

notconvinced — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 08:24:30 +0000

My God…. 1984 is finally here. I don’t want anyone being able to decide whether or not I am using my AC unit, whether my fridge is open – which doesn’t happen anyway. I don’t need to have access to data that isn’t relative to my every day life.

This whole smart grid operation is a ruse. It only benefits the corporations. Get real!! If the utility needs to funnel more power to a corporation they will reduce our power consumption by arbitrarily turning off or down our appliance.

This is so intrusive it scares the hell out of me. If they can identify which device is on, when it’s on and whether it is efficiently using power then they can also turn it off if they believe it is inefficient. Then you will have someone knocking at your door telling you to replace the unit at your cost. .

Also, if you don’t have an appliance that communicates with the zigbe chip you will be obliged to purchase some device that you plug into the power outlet that communicates with the chip then plug your appliance into it.

Wake up people. Soon they will be telling you when to eat, what to eat and where to buy it. Talk about a totalitarian state!!

By: archonic

archonic — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:12:16 +0000

In Ontario, utilities have been installing smart meters for years. Most homes and business now have one. The peak saver program installs a quality HVAC control module which the utility can affect under high load situations. For example, in the summer, they can turn your thermostat up a few degrees for a few hours. This is a great way to avoid costly upgrades, new power stations and outages. It’s also free to residents.

At the same time, residents get a blue line power cost monitor (~$100) installed and programmed so they can see their real-time usage which updates by the second (also free). This devices uses an unobtrusive sensor attached to the smart meter and wireless connection to the reporting unit. The sensor can even read old analogue meters by looking and the spinning wheel.

My point is that seamless integrated diagnostic firmware is not a part of this setup, but the result is still seamless and favorable. Integration is tidy but it’s implementation that matters.

By: archonic

archonic — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:41:42 +0000

Within a few days of having a real-time energy meter installed in my parents home, it was giving them useful insight into their usage which allowed them to make choices to lower that usage with no additional research. When the AC was turned on, the real-time usage jumped from it’s baseline of 3-4 cents/hour to 33 cents/hour. Because of this, they now only use it on unbearably hot days and only enough to make it comfortable instead of noticeably cool. They no longer wash using hot water or use the heat dry cycle on their dishwasher because, again, they noticed the real-time usage leap upwards. Soon I’ll convince them to replace their incandescent with CFLs and LED lights and the baseline of 3-4 cents/hour will drop to less than half that.

I didn’t anticipate real-time usage having that dramatic an effect but it did.

By: Prateek Chakravarty

Prateek Chakravarty — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:02:14 +0000

Hi Andrew, I agree with one of your comments above – a meter with usable diagnostics. The best use of resources lies in embedding true data analytics (such as ours) inside the firmware of the meters and thusly have one integrated platform for both grid-side and consumer-side solutions (a much simpler and holistic solution to implement). This is indeed a big opportunity for the meter vendors and comm network providers to step up; well said. – Prateek

By: douglasshort

douglasshort — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:25:15 +0000

Hi Prateek – Great that you are keeping the focus on providing knowledge to consumers instead of data and information. We don’t want energy to be hard. And, most consumers are not as passionately interested in the details as we are!