Smart monitors that can save money on your next energy bill
After a hot summer followed by a cold winter, you wouldn’t be alone in trying to figure out a way to lower your energy bills. Thanks to the Internet of Things, tracking your energy use and learning where you’re wasting power has never been easier, with smart monitors providing enough savings to pay for themselves quickly and allow homeowners to keep their households running efficiently and cost-effectively. Here’s a look at some of the best smart monitors on the market.
Sense
Advanced machine learning allows Sense to get to know each appliance in the home individually and measures how each is performing so if there’s a sudden increase in power demand, Sense can immediately detect where the surge is coming from and alert you that an appliance is malfunctioning. That sure beats checking every plug in the house by hand. Sense also lets users set energy goals for the month and monitors how close you are, which just might be the reminder you need to turn out that light in the other room or make sure the garage door is closed.
Smappee
Smappee’s smart monitors can measure gas and water consumption and alert users to abnormal activity through the Smappee app. The Switch smart plug allows for remote appliance use, with the ability to turn appliances on and off at a touch. The Infinity stores real-time and historical usage data to track energy usage throughout the entire house and compare against past consumption. It even keeps electric vehicles optimally charged so you don’t have to worry about unplugging your car at just the right moment. Smappee can also measure the efficiency of rooftop solar panels.
Efergy
When you go over your consumption target, Efergy’s True Power Meter will sound the alarm, literally. It will also let you know when you are in peak time and energy prices are at their highest. The handheld meter will update every 10 seconds. With Efergy’s full range of smart monitors and accessories, users can check up to five circuits and solar installations, accessing their energy data any time, anywhere. The system helps users learn which rooms in the house are energy inefficient, reducing costs by 5 to 15 per cent.
Wattson
With Wattson Anywhere, solar owners can track how much energy they’ve generated and how much they’ve used, showing just how much surplus there is to be exported at a profit. When the Wattson Solar Plus smart monitor glows green, that means you’re creating more energy than you’re using, and despite the name, the system also works with wind and water power generation. If you’re using more power than you’re generating, the system will glow red, alerting you that it’s time to cut back or import some electricity.
Neurio
With its home energy controller and smart monitor, Neurio can connect to any solar inverter or any type of battery in most 1-, 2-, or 3-phase homes in the world. There’s flexible access with Neurio home energy monitoring, appliance monitoring analytics, and storage optimisation analytics. The appliance level breakdown helps identify trouble spots where energy is being wasted. With smart storage, Neurio can cut the time it takes for a battery to pay for itself by 30 per cent.
Curb
Plugging directly into breaker panels, Curb can help reduce electric bills by up to 20 per cent. The Curb app’s push notifications will let you know if you’ve left something on and let you turn it off remotely. Weekly progress reports highlight trends in your energy use and help you pinpoint where changes can be made. Curb also offers smart monitoring for electric vehicles and solar panels.
Wattwatchers
Aimed at energy services companies and facility managers, the Wattwatchers Energy Data Hub requires no comms cabling, routers, or portable loggers and requires up to 60 per cent less outlay than older solutions by linking directly to the cloud. Wattwatchers enables circuit-level switching to cut waste, and the system can be installed in new facilities or retrofitted in existing ones.
LiveHouse
Using an ethernet-connected gateway, the LiveHouse Home Energy Monitor reports instantaneous Watts and cumulative kilowatt hours wirelessly to a home automation smart monitor. Each monitor is individually calibrated with current sensors and power adaptors to minimise the effect of manufacturing tolerances.
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