It's been a while...

Sorry folks...I know its been a while.  It's been wicked busy in the ole' household.  But I'm back!  The sad news is that Google PowerMeter is no more (see email received below):

Dear PowerMeter User,

We first launched Google PowerMeter as a Google.org project to raise awareness about the importance of giving people access to their energy information. Since our launch, there's been more attention brought to this issue, and we're excited that PowerMeter has helped demonstrate the importance of access to energy data. However, our efforts have not scaled as quickly as we would have liked, so we have decided to retire PowerMeter.

You will continue to have access to the product until September 16, 2011, after which time you will no longer be able to access your PowerMeter account. We know that having access to your energy information has helped you save energy and money. There are many options available for you from our device and utility partners. Please visit this page to learn more:http://www.google.com/support/powermeter/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1342532

We also understand that having your historical energy data is important to you. We've made it easy for you to download your data. To export your PowerMeter data to a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file, log in to your account and go to "Account Settings." More information can be found here: http://www.google.com/support/powermeter/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164264

We appreciate your understanding and hope that you've enjoyed using Google PowerMeter. If you have questions about this announcement, please visit our FAQ pages athttp://www.google.com/powermeter/about/faqs.html

Thank you,
Google PowerMeter team

© 2011 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

You've received this mandatory service announcement email to update you about important changes to your Google PowerMeter account.


Granted, this really has no effect on me.  My TED will record data just fine and I'll still be able to blog about it.  It's just I was hoping to show y'all my PowerMeter on my blog.  I guess I can ditch that effort now.  Maybe I'll have to investigate how to replicate my TED data somewhere else.  Or at least have an automatic posting of what my daily usage is.  That would be neat.  Of course, that means I need to learn some potentially complicated coding.  Bah!  But...that's what my family of computer knowledgeable people is for, right?  And my computer knowledgeable friends too.


FYI...I plan to get back on the ole' blog bandwagon a little more in the upcoming weeks.  I have a ton of pics from some of my early energy efficiency work before I had this blog...or TED for that matter.


Oh yeah....update on the dehumidifier.  It's still going on/off.  That's annoying.  But with the recent thunderstorms that has knocked out power (the dehumidifier doesn't automatically start back up), I've seen that the crawl space is now at 62% and holding.  In a previous post a couple weeks back, after another power outage it was 67%, so its lowering.  I just need to get it down to below 60% (maybe 55%?) and I'll be happy.  It's probably sucking up all the water in the wood from the many previous years of high humidity.  I may just setup the dehumidifier to run 3 hrs on/3 hrs off and I'll monitor how low it gets the crawl space to...and then how the humidity returns to.  I gotta think that the lower the crawl space gets in the 3 hrs on...the more 'mass transfer' of water there will be from the wood to the atmosphere which will be removed.  So the greater the 'delta' between air and wood, the faster the transfer.  And that'll help me get to below my humidity goal.  


Ok...that's enough...until next time...

Always on Electrical Usage

Hmmm...I think its time to tackle the always on Electrical usage. Above is a screenshot from my Google Powermeter.  Notice that my average "always on" power usage is roughly a third of my total power usage.  On some days, that power usage is over a half of my daily power usage!

Really, if you look at my power usage in my previous blog (Phantom Power Usage), by far most of my always on power usage is from my HTPC.  Looking at my schedules, my HTPC really only needs to run for at most 4-5 hrs/day.  So, why is it running 24 hrs/day?

So this weekend, I'm going to look into this.  I've played with this concept before...which works setting it manually, now I just need to get it to work automatically.

I'll keep you posted.

Day 1 of the Blog

Ok...welcome to my first blog.  So...let me get started...

Ever since I got this new TED 5000 I'm been infatuated with it. To those who are unaware...the TED 5000 is a home electricity monitor (www.theenergydetective.com).   Seriously...I'm always checking out how much power is being used followed by searching the house for what is being used when the wattage is so dang high.  Due to this almost "obsessive compulsive" behavior, my wife decide I needed to start a blog to chronicle my endeavors.  If you're reading this...then guess what?  You've just joined the 'cool-kids-club' and you get to share my joy/despair.

Ok...so this little piece of gadgetry has revolutionized how I think about my lifestyle.  As of now, I'm looking across the my TED display which is showing me a reading of 7.018 kW as my small electric convection oven is cooking some fish sticks.  I'm thinking to myself, "holy crap...where is all the power being used?"  And yes, I did just get up and check to find that the heat is on up- and downstairs, so it make sense.  Every AM, I'm checking the power usage when I walk the dog.  And then when I get to work, I go online to check my power usage.  That's right folks...I'm emphatic enough to have my TED hooked up so I can check my power usage anywhere.  I also have it connected to Google PowerMeter.  So, as you can see...I'm pretty obsessed.

Now, let me get this straight...I've always been concerned with energy efficiency.  Maybe when I get some motivation I'll post some blogs revisiting some past projects/moments....flashback style!  Anyhow, I'd like to reduce my carbon footprint and all...but truthfully, my main goals is to save money.  It's just amazing how much money I throw at utilities for their services.  I'd much rather put that money to much better use...like buying myself something cool.  So, I've put a lot of time and effort into making my home and lifestyle energy efficient.

Now, let me say...I don't just go out and buy something because it's 'cool' and 'green'.  As my wife will surely point out...I research everything exhaustively.  Seriously...I'll google for hours trying to find every last piece of relevant information.  Then, more than likely, I'll build myself a spreadsheet that calculates the life cycle cost comparing against other alternatives which I'll constantly scrutinize before I can convince myself that something is a good investment.  I'm not sure if being an Engineer is a curse or a Blessing...you tell me.