The Queen on the Brink of Fuel Poverty

We’ve come across a feature in the UK’s Financial Times newspaper this week concerning the Queen and her struggle against high energy bills. We only wish Her Majesty had stopped by the SmartNow office on her recent trip to Australia for some advice!

Never one to be left behind, the Queen’s five “occupied royal palaces” have been fitted with Smart Meters in an attempt to monitor and control energy consumption. Despite an initial drop in consumption there is no hope of lower electricity bills for Her Majesty with a shocking 20 per cent rise in the UK’s average combined gas and electricity costs. In fact, the Queen is close to “fuel poverty” whereby a household is spending 10 per cent or more of its income on heating the home.

Buckingham Palace is in need of various repairs and replacements to its archaic heating and electrical system. We suspect it is not the most energy efficient of homes. Whilst the article suggests that the royal household could exercise choice in its energy provider and even purchase energy in advance on the wholesale market, writer David Blair concludes the the Queen’s best option may be to turn to renewable sources of energy. Construction has begun on a hydroelectric scheme on the Thames which would enable another home of the Queen – Windsor Castle – to generate its own energy and sell any surplus back to the grid.

This is all well and good but it is the energy efficiency of the palaces themselves that should be tackled first and foremost. Insulation and overhaul of any ancient systems should be the priority as well as reviewing the lighting and seeing if energy is being wasted. We’d delighted to give her Majesty some advice or send her over an EnviR home energy monitor to get her started!

Read the full article here: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2bfc6e92-fbee-11e0-9283-00144feab49a.html#axzz1cPX25wJP

Turbulent Times for Wind Power

Instead of bringing you news of yet another blow to the struggling solar industry, today we bring you news of a crackdown on another form of clean energy - wind.

The Victorian Government is amending planning laws regarding wind farms, giving households the power to veto wind turbines within two kilometres of their homes. Turbines are also due to be banned in areas of natural beauty popular with tourists near to the Victorian coast and within five kilometres of numerous Victorian regional centres.

This will inevitably divert multi-billion dollar investment in regional Victoria interstate and is therefore seen as hugely detrimental to clean energy infrastructure in the state.

The Australian public seems to have mixed views on wind turbines and their potential impact on people's quiet enjoyment of their homes and surrounding areas. Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Matthew Warre has no doubts as to the negative impact that will have on clean energy investment in Victoria, citing the setback policy as "completely arbitrary".

To read the full press release from the Clean Energy Council click here: http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/cec/mediaevents/media-releases/August-2011/MR290811-vic-wind.html

Or to read The Age's piece on this development click here: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/baillieus-wind-farm-crackdown-20110829-1jig4.html

For further information on SmartNow and how to save money on your power bills with our home energy monitors please visit www.smartnow.com.au.

Alternative Software for the USB Data Cable

As most of our customers are aware, Google PowerMeter is due to close in September.

We’ve already brought you some updates on what Bridge users can expect when this closure happens: http://www.smartnow.com.au/2011/06/28/the-bridge-some-exciting-current-cost-developments-smart-now-home-energy-monitor/

But we know that many customers use the USB data cable to upload data from their EnviR home energy monitor.

Current Cost, manufacturers of the EnviR, have put together some very useful information regarding software options for users of the USB cable: http://www.currentcost.com/software-downloads.html

As you can see, there are plenty of options available to enable you to get the most from your EnviR, to eliminate wastage and reduce your power bill.

The Bridge: some exciting updates from Current Cost

As many SmartNow customers are aware, Google has recently announced that Google PowerMeter will be shut down as of 16 September.

In our previous blog we told you that Current Cost have been busy adding new features and functionality to my.currentcost.com which will result in the portal being even more powerful than Google PowerMeter.

Current Cost has released a short video to guide you through some of the updates that have already been made. These include the ability to:

- Register multiple Bridges to the same account and to individually name each Bridge

- Name your location

- Make your Bridge public or private in order to share you data. Clicking the "share" button brings up a page which is accessible to anyone on the internet. There are various options to embed graphs on your own blog/website etc.

To view the video please click here: http://currentcost.posterous.com/mycurrentcostcom-new-features

We will keep you posted on these exciting developments.

For further information on how the Bridge and the EnviR home energy monitor can enable you to reduce your energy consumption and slash your power bills visit www.smartnow.com.au

Another day; another price increase!

Electricity users in New South Wales are facing yet another price increase. The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) says electricity prices for the average NSW resident will increase by 17.6 per cent by July.

This will come as very distressing news for many households who are already struggling to pay huge power bills.

The article quotes NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell telling of a family struggling with a $1400 power bill for a four-bedroom home. Assuming this is a quarterly bill and that they are being billed at $0.20 per kilowatt hour this equates to approximately 75 kilowatt hours per day - an outrageously high consumption of power.

There is no reason why a four-bedroom house should receive a $1400 power bill - there must be some serious wastage going on here, which if identified could enable the family to make huge savings. We have monitored large, inefficient houses in Perth who are operating pool pumps etc and are using around 50 kilowatt hours per day.

With some common sense and an EnviR home energy monitor a family with a bill as high as this should be able to reduce their usage down to at least 50 kilowatt hours per day. They could potentially cut their power bill by around one third which roughly equates to a saving of $1800 per year.

We can't control the price of electricity, unfortunately, but we can certainly control how much of it we are consuming.

To read the full article click here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/14/3191670.htm?section=justin

For more information on the EnviR home energy monitor visit www.smartnow.com.au.

Clocks go back; bills go up!

Daylight Saving ended in five states across Australia this weekend, signalling the official end to the summer. As cooler weather begins to set in, so power bills begin to rise.

Even if you're not bracing yourself for a Melbourne winter as we are at SmartNow HQ there are many factors besides just heating your home which can lead to a shock when your next bill comes in.

As the days get shorter many of us will spend more time indoors watching television and keeping the lights on. Children who may have played outside after school will be coming home and switching on the games console instead.

Now is a great time to think about what you could do to cut down power use in your home - invest in some LED downlighters, switch to energy efficient bulbs or think about how to improve your home's insulation.

Start monitoring exactly how much power you are using and how much it is costing you with a Current Cost EnviR from SmartNow. This will allow you to take control of how much you are spending and is a great way to teach kids about saving energy.

For more information visit: www.smartnow.com.au.

Being green shouldn't stop at home

We've come across an interesting article this week which shows that being green shouldn't stop at home.

The Age reported how Hilton Hotel worker, Benjamin Grimshaw, from Sydney has been nominated for a WWF Earth Hour Award having spearheaded a successful environmental policy at the hotel.

One of his first steps was to install 744 LED light bulbs in the hotel's guest corridors which is saving the hotel $30,000 a year and has reduced energy requirements by 35% in those areas.

Having formed an environmental committee, Grimshaw has also helped to cut water use by 2.3 per cent by installing sensors and restrictors in hotel bathrooms and has decreased the hotel's per capita energy use by 6.5 per cent.

The Earth Hour Award nomination is a sure indication that green initiatives in the work place are taken seriously and can reap benefits for the individual as well as for the business and the environment.

To read the full article click here: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/earth-hour/tiny-footprint-in-the-corridor-20110325-1c9f0.html

To learn how to monitor how much energy your home or workplace is consuming visit: www.smartnow.com.au.

Ben from GeekZone reviews the Current Cost EnviR from SmartNow NZ

The Current Cost EnviR from SmartNow New Zealand has just been reviewed by Ben from GeekZone. Click the link to find out what he had to say: http://www.ben.geek.nz/2011/01/review-current-cost-envir-from-smartnow-nz/

Accuracy of Wireless Home Electricity Monitors

We often get enquiries about the accuracy of wireless home electricity monitors, so here is a summary of our findings.

Almost all real-time displays available in Australia and New Zealand currently get their data from fitting a CT (Current Transformer) clamp to a cable.

The current flowing through the cable generates a magnetic field. The magnetic field subsequently generates a current in the CT Clamp, which is measured and the data is sent to the display via the transmitter.

As a result, because a CT Clamp cannot take into account such things as Power Factor and varying voltage, it can never be 100% accurate. From experiments with the Current Cost ENVI we ave found it to be 1 – 2% accurate up to 1000W, and 3-8% from 1kW – 10kW (with the accuracy decreasing as the power increases).

The Current Cost ENVI default voltage is 240V, so in areas where the voltage is noticeably different, the accuracy will decrease. However, the ENVI-R (due to be available in October / November) comes with a new transmitter that allows multiple voltages to be set (200V, 210V, 220V, 230V, 240V, 250V, 260V).

With regards to Power Factor, some people make a big fuss about this. However, most household appliances have a Power Factor of close to 1 (the assumed PF in the Current Cost ENVI and most other wireless electricity monitors). It is only in commercial environments where there are large electric motors in operation does this become a real issue.

As an example, the Graham Restaurant in Port Melbourne has an ENVI connected up. Since they’ve connected it, their power consumption has reduced from approx 440kWh per day to 260kWh per day – their monthly bill is usually within 3% of the kWh reading that the ENVI has determined. 260kWh a day is a LOT of power – the average house should be using less than 10kWh per day. http://smartnowenvironmental.blogspot.com/2010/05/turn-off-your-coffee-machines.html

However, all the points above are largely irrelevant in my opinion. If you’re after accurate measurement of power used, you’ve got to spend $thousands for an expensive bit of kit to be installed to do this. The Current Cost ENVI http://www.smartnow.com.au/current_cost_envi_store.php costs $139.95 in Australia, and is compatible with Google PowerMeter Australia and New Zealand http://www.google.com/powermeter/about/about.html. This will tell you clearly that your electric heater is drawing 200 times as much power as your energy efficient light globe, and hence turning lights off in your house is not going to have anywhere near as much impact on your bill as turning off your electric heater / excluding drafts / insulating your house.

It’s all about behvioural change – these electricity monitors provide the information people need to be able to make educated decisions about their power consumption and importantly at this time of rising prices, be able to do something about them in an informed and pragmatic fashion.

Google PowerMeter "Always On" Power Consumption with the Current Cost ENVI

A great piece of information from the Google PowerMeter is the 'Always On' consumption!

This shows you how much your house is using all the time, and what all those devices on standby are costing you.

On this screenshot we can see that this home is using 4.3kWh per day - which is over half the total of 6.5kWh per day. Just think about that - over half your power bill is being spent on keeping equipment running that you might not even be using.

www.smartnow.com.au
www.smartnow.co.nz

Google PowerMeter and www.SmartNow.com.au and the Current Cost ENVI

Just a few short weeks after the launch of Google PowerMeter and the response has been incredible. Fortunately we've got stock arriving very shortly so we can keep up with the demand!

The Google PowerMeter is a fantastic tool - the first responses we are getting from our customers are that they are amazed at the proportion of their money they are spending on their Always On - basically the stuff that's on all the time.

We are seeing people using 10 kWh a day... and their Always On figure accounts for 6 kWh! Over half the bill spent on standby!

Exciting times... www.smartnow.com.au

Google PowerMeter comes to Australia and New Zealand with the Current Cost ENVI

The Current Cost ENVI is now compatible with Google PowerMeter.

www.google.com/powermeter/about/partners.html

Here is the link to the Google Blog with the announcement!

http://blog.google.org/2010/05/largest-supplier-of-energy-monitors-now.html

This means that you can get Google PowerMeter one of two ways in Australia and New Zealand:

1) Purchase a Current Cost ENVI and USB cable from SmartNow. Plug the ENVI into your computer and upload the data to Google PowerMeter.

2) Purchase a Current Cost ENVI and a Bridge, available in August 2010 from SmartNow (Pre-order from 1 July 2010) and plug your ENVI into the Bridge into your Internet Router... this means that your power information is uploaded to Google PowerMeter without your PC being on!

For more information please see http://www.smartnow.com.au/current_cost_powermeter.html

Monitor the Power from your Solar Panels!

We've just launched a great new package to enable solar panel and micro-generation monitoring using the Current Cost ENVI.

The package includes:
A Current Cost ENVI
A Current Cost TREC
A USB Cable.

The two transmitters are installed to monitor the power the house is using and the power the solar panels / wind turbine is generating respectively.

The ENVI receives data from both displays, and sits in the study / home office and downloads the data to your PC.

The TREC sits somewhere more accessible - maybe the kitchen workbench, or next to the TV - an also receives data from both transmitters, allowing the whole family to keep an eye on their power use.

And best of all... this package saves you $30 off the cost of the individual components!

Click here for more information!

Tiny PC that draws only 10 Watts

We met Yawarra a few days ago at an exhibition. We were very impressed with their tiny PCs that draw miniscule amounts of power - 10-12 Watts when running and only 1.5 Watts in standby. I actually couldn't believe how small they were until I held on in my hand.

www.Yawarra.com.au

If we ever need a PC we'll be buying one of these in a heartbeat.... you could kit out an office with these and save a fortune in power bills.

Smart Grid time-of-use pricing put on hold

For a while we have been slightly concerned about the Victorian Smart Grid roll-out.

Basically, the customer pays for the Smart Meter, and gets none of the benefits.

This snuck under our radar six weeks ago - apparently they're continuing to deploy the Smart Meters but they're not going to be used for time-of-use pricing for the time being.

www.premier.vic.gov.au

In the mean time, whilst they sort this out, you can get a Current Cost ENVI to give you the information that enables you to take control of your own energy use from us at SmartNow.

Turn Off Your Coffee Machines...

A Current Cost ENVI was recently installed in the legendary Melbourne restaurant, The Graham (www.thegraham.com.au), a few days ago.

It was discovered that between midnight and nine AM, over 100kWh had been used.

A substantial proportion (approximately half) can be attributed to fridges, cold rooms, security systems and an oven that is left on overnight to slow roast various dishes.

However, the rest of it came from the coffee machine. Over the course of the night is used 60kWh just to keep the water hot. If turned off over night it only takes ten minutes to heat up again in the morning.

Total saving per year? Approximately $3500.

Total saving over the lifetime of the coffee machine (assuming 25 year life)?
$87000.... and that's assuming that electricity prices are going to stay the same!

www.smartnow.com.au

Recalibrate your TV and save money!

I stumbled across a useful little article whilst researching something completely different...

Apparently, most TVs, when they come out of the box, are set at a very bright setting. This means that your expensive Energy Star gogglebox is sucking back more juice than it realistically needs to.

In some examples, by setting the television to the correct level, you can save an average of US$9 a year.... and in some cases, over US$25 a year (assuming that the TV is on 5 hours a day).

In some homes where the TV (or multiple TVs) are always on, this can add up to some serious cash over the lifetime of your pride and joy.

http://reviews.cnet.com/green-tech/tv-consumption-chart/

Let me know what you think... Thanks!

Current Cost TREC is now here in Australia and New Zealand

Great news! We've just received the first delivery of the Current Cost TREC!

The TREC home energy monitor is the baby brother to the ENVI, and is available from our websites at www.smartnow.com.au and www.smartnow.co.nz

The TREC is simpler and smaller than the ENVI, but realistically it only lacks the PC interface and the capability to deal with 3-phase power. It's really sleek and we're really pleased that it's arrived.

This is perfect for those who do not require the bells and whistles that the ENVI offers, or those who require a separate display for use elsewhere in their house (i.e. one in the office, one in the kitchen).

More very exciting developments on their way over the next few days. These are exciting times for the home energy monitor market as Current Cost launch their latest offerings into the antipodean market through SmartNow. Of particular importance to us is how we can offer the ENVI and TREC wireless home energy monitors to low-income households and those vulnerable to the rising electricity prices in Australia.

Current Cost Envi on it's way to Australia!

The first Current Cost Envi Real-Time Energy Monitors are about to arrive in Australia!

Over 600,000 of these amazing monitors have been installed in homes in the UK, and now it's the turn of Australia and New Zealand! As you can tell, we're rather excited about the launch. The monitors will be available from www.SmartNow.com.au as of 2nd November 2009.

These devices can save the average Australian household 15 - 30% of their electricity bills... assuming the average Australian household uses 7000 KWh per year, and that one KWh costs $0.19, that's an amazing $200 - $400 saving each year...

...and that's before the next electricity price rise....

Come visit us at www.SmartNow.com.au to see for yourself!

SmartNow Australia - New Zealand

Welcome to the SmartNow Blog!

This Blog is going to be all about how to reduce your power bills by making simple savings. However, first of all, we really need to tell you about who we are and what we do, so that will be the topic of the first post...

SmartNow is the Australian Importer and Distributor of the Current Cost range of energy saving devices, including the Current Cost Envi, and we're now open for business in Australia and New Zealand at www.SmartNow.com.au

Over 600,000 of these amazing products have been installed in homes in the UK. They are Real Time Displays - simply, they sit on your desk, or in your kitchen, or on the table beside the front door, and tell you how much electricity you are using and how much money you are spending!

It is estimated that 8% of Australia's electricity is wasted by devices left on standby - the Current Cost Envi can help you track down and eliminate these "Vampire" appliances, and help you understand where you are using your power.

It also enables you to ensure that everything is turned off as you leave the house - no more coming home to discover lights, aircon, heating, irons and hairstraighteners left on.

This saves you money, saves the environment (Australia's power generation is largely dependent on very polluting brown coal power stations), and makes sure that those hairstraighteners are not going to set fire to the carpet.
For more information, please see www.SmartNow.com.au