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

Google PowerMeter to Close: the Latest News

This weekend Google announced that they are to close Google PowerMeter as of 16 September. Although we were aware that Google wouldn't be developing the software any longer, we were surprised to learn that the application is to be closed completely.

Although this will come as disappointing news to users of the Bridge who currently upload their information to Google PowerMeter, we actually have some positive news to report.

The Current Cost portal at http://my.currentcost.com (the place the Bridge sends it's data to prior to Google PowerMeter) is undergoing extensive and exciting upgrades that will be rolled out over the coming weeks and months. We can't reveal too much right now but we will post more info as soon as we can.

We are confident that you will find that the new features will make my.currentcost.com considerably more useful and powerful than Google PowerMeter.

In the meantime the Bridge can still be used with Google PowerMeter and the USB cable is available on our website which can be used with various different software options. The EnviR home energy monitor is a fantastic tool for managing your energy consumption and slashing your power bill, however you choose to upload your data.

We will release further information as soon as we have it so keep checking www.smartnow.com.au for further updates or visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SmartNow/114000321953472

NSW Solar Scheme Stabalised

A few weeks ago we blogged about the Solar Rally taking place in New South Wales to demonstrate against the Government's decision to retrospectively change the feed in tariff rate for 120,000 NSW households from 60c per kW/h to 40c per kW/h.

It seems that the efforts of the Australian Solar Energy Society and its supporters have paid off - these plans have now been dropped by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell after failing to get the backing he needed to pass the law, and after an audit showed the cost of the solar scheme to be lower than originally forecast.

This is fantastic news for supporters of the solar industry. In fact it means 40,000 planned solar installs that were previously hanging in the balance can now proceed and those who signed up to support green energy and have these panels installed will not lose out. Many participants in the solar scheme had borrowed money to buy their solar panels and risked losing thousands of dollars if the feed-in tariff was cut.

The campaign doesn't stop here, however. Solar supporters are now urging the NSW government to put in a fair price going forward for electricity produced by solar panels.

The industry remains in crisis with one of Australia's largest solar panel retailers, Clear Solar, going into receivership this week and more predicted to follow.

Today The Age warned of rising power prices as electricity retailers are required to increase their contribution to the solar scheme.

One thing is for certain, solar will remain a hot topic as the future of the scheme is debated in the weeks to come.

To maximise the return on your solar panels invest in a Solar Monitoring Kit from SmartNow. You will receive an EnviR Home Energy Monitor and everything you need to monitor the energy consumption of your home and the generation of your solar panels. To learn more visit www.smartnow.com.au.

Power Bills: the Only Way is Up

There was an interesting, if somewhat hard to follow, piece in The Age recently warning that power bills are to double within six years.

On top of rising fuel and gas prices, TRUenergy - one of Australia's largest home and business electricity suppliers - has warned that uncertainty over the implementation of a carbon tax could reduce investment in the power industry and lead to energy shortages.

Whilst we don't know the fate of the carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme, there is little doubt in anyone's mind that prices are only going one way: up.

A great way to ensure you are not spending more than you should be on power bills is to invest in a home energy monitor from SmartNow. The Current Cost EnviR is a simple device which enables you to see exactly how much energy you are using in real time and what it is costing you, empowering you to take control of your usage. There has never been a smarter time to start using a home energy monitor.

To read the full article in The Age click here: http://www.theage.com.au/environment/energy-smart/warning-of-power-bills-to-double-within-six-years-20110522-1eym0.html

To visit our new website and learn more about the EnviR home energy monitor click here: 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.

The Green Thing

We’ve just come across a thought provoking piece on being green and whether it is really such a “new” idea. It makes for some interesting reading and has got us feeling rather nostalgic!

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn’t have the green thing back her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right, they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But that old lady is right. They didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Author unknown.

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.