Google Wants To Be Your Electricity Meter

An anonymous reader writes "Google has teamed up with microcontroller maker Microchip to develop an API for a piece of software called Google PowerMeter, according this EE Times story. Why? Because Google wants to host all the details of the electricity and other energy consumption of people's homes. It wants to do this so that it can show people on their iGoogle homepages when and where they are consuming energy so that they can start to reduce their power consumption. The good news is that it is an opt-in service and free so you don't have to make Google your energy-monitor if you don't want to do so."

Microsoft too

[BadAnalogyGuy]

http://www.microsoft-hohm.com/ [microsoft-hohm.com]

Who's following who?

Now works with Tweet-a-Watt!

[sp332]

Google just announced an API for PowerMeter http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2010/03/google-powermeter-api-introduced-for.html [blogspot.com] , so Adafruit's Tweet-a-Watt can brag to your followers about your home efficiency. http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/03/04/google-code-blog-google-powermeter-api-introduced-for-device-manufacturers/ [adafruit.com]

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[account_deleted]

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Already possible

[TSchut]

There already exist devices which allow you to monitor your energy consumption by monitoring the dials in your meter box. For instance the dutch http://www.enymate.nl/artikelen/enymate_lite [enymate.nl].

Because this measures consumption by looking at the dial it is also possible to monitor gas and water consumption, and the measurements relate directly to the upcoming bill(s).

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the linked company.

ads

[danny_lehman]

they'll find a way to dynamically alter the ads we're shown using this thing now too

Want to check your consumption?

[Viol8]

Check your electricity meter.

Check it again the next day.

Subtract the 2 values.

Really , is this so difficult for some people that they need a gadget to do it for them?

Re:Totally not evil

[selven]

Has it become fashionable to not even read TFS now? It specifically says "opt in service", ie. if you find the intrusion of privacy unacceptable, you don't have to sign up. There is NOTHING morally wrong about any of this.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Want to check your consumption?

[Lumpy]

Actually yes. because your power meter is too inaccurate at small reading to give me a difference in 15 minutes. and when you are chasing down parasitic loads it's important.

I use the TED5000 (The Energy Detective) works great, is dirt cheap, and gives me an energy data aggregate that is killer in every way. Plus having a Dollar amount in our faces on the counter every minute of the day really makes you pay attention to leaving the basement lights on all day.

Re:Blah blah blah

[gtbritishskull]

What you said does not really make sense to me, and I don't know why you are talking about getting charged for amps. My power company charges me per kilowatt-hour, which is a unit of energy. Amps is just the current flow. The amount of power (and hence energy) being used depends on the voltage as well. I am not sure if what you said is actually wrong, but I am pretty sure it is.

Re:Microsoft too

[InsertWittyNameHere]

They're extremely different.

GOOGLE: "PowerMeter is free software that displays details of home energy consumption received from either a smartmeter or another electricity monitoring device."

vs.

MICROSOFT: "After signing up for Hohm with your Windows Live ID and Postal Code, you simply enter some information about your home (for example, occupants, appliances and systems) and you will receive your energy report with personalized recommendations. The more information you provide, the more accurate and relevant the recommendations will be."

Re:Blah blah blah

[voodoo cheesecake]

I talked about amps to simplify things. The ac voltage arriving at your house is pretty much a regulated constant with the exception of occasional surges, blackouts and brownouts. Every part of your household electrical system is designed to function at the voltage supplied to your house. Look inside your breaker panel, every breaker is rated in amps. The wiring in your house is rated in amps. Therefore the only thing that is a variable is how much current is drawn through the system. I assumed people would see this was obvious. Anyway, if you don't believe me, turn on everything in your house and then go outside and notice the rate at which your meter is spinning. Go back inside and flip all the breakers off in one row, leaving the other side on. Go back out to the meter and you will notice that it is spinning a lot faster.

Re:Blah blah blah

[cyxxon]

Huh? At least in Europe we have three phase running to our houses, and you even attach, say, electric kitchen stoves directly to this...