Posted by Sir Four at 11:56am Jul 30 '08I've long found electricity meters to be stupid things. I used to have an old-fashioned one with the spinning dials, which at least gave you an idea of how much you were using (spinning fast, using a lot; spinning slow, not so much). Now I have a digital one, but I can't make sense of the display. And it's outside, and out of mind anyway.
The only real opportunity we have to see how our energy use adds up is in the monthly bill. But this is too much of a disconnect. You can pursue vague energy conserving strategies and hope your bill goes down. But there is no real-time feedback.
What if we all had meters inside our houses that give a real-time indication of our energy use? I think this would make people more conscious of their consumption. I think it would compel more people to take steps toward greater energy efficiency. The initial cost to install the meter would probably pay for itself quickly.
The idea could be taken a step further. I recently read a suggestion that meters should indicate how your energy use compares to that of your neighbors. This way, you know if you are ahead of or behind the curve. Upon learning that one's use is greater than the average, people would likely ponder why that is and think of things they could do to lower their use.
To take the idea a step further still, this indicator (comparing your use to your neighbors) could be displayed outside, in view of the street. An interesting idea, perhaps a step too far, but one could easily imagine the social pressure against being outed as being less energy efficient than the rest of your street. It wouldn't stop you from doing it, but it would nudge you in the right direction.
The only real opportunity we have to see how our energy use adds up is in the monthly bill. But this is too much of a disconnect. You can pursue vague energy conserving strategies and hope your bill goes down. But there is no real-time feedback.
What if we all had meters inside our houses that give a real-time indication of our energy use? I think this would make people more conscious of their consumption. I think it would compel more people to take steps toward greater energy efficiency. The initial cost to install the meter would probably pay for itself quickly.
The idea could be taken a step further. I recently read a suggestion that meters should indicate how your energy use compares to that of your neighbors. This way, you know if you are ahead of or behind the curve. Upon learning that one's use is greater than the average, people would likely ponder why that is and think of things they could do to lower their use.
To take the idea a step further still, this indicator (comparing your use to your neighbors) could be displayed outside, in view of the street. An interesting idea, perhaps a step too far, but one could easily imagine the social pressure against being outed as being less energy efficient than the rest of your street. It wouldn't stop you from doing it, but it would nudge you in the right direction.