October is Energy Awareness Month

Considering the Power Smart Pricing website has the current price of electricity on its homepage, you would think that we would know all about Energy Awareness Month. Apparently through presidential proclamation in 1991, October has since been known as Energy Awareness Month. This tradition continues today:

 NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2010 as National Energy Awareness Month.  I call upon the citizens of the United States to recognize this month by making clean energy choices that will help build a stronger Nation, a more robust economy, and a healthier environment for our children.

Well, there you have it. It is, in fact, Energy Awareness Month. Maybe we need an Energy Awareness Month Awareness Month. To be honest, October doesn't seem to be the best month for something like this. At least out here in the midwest this is the time of year that the outdoor temperatures are pretty close to most people's ideal indoor preference. Therefore, people's bills are low and energy usage is not to high on the priority scale. For example, the highest price for today is 3.8 cents, or roughly 2 cents below the Ameren Illinois' flat rate.

The message however is great. Saving energy saves money. The more that our friends and neighbors can learn about the best way to do this better all our communities will be. So speak up and share the savings. The Power Smart Pricing Blog proclaims this month to be Power Smart Pricing Awareness Month!

Click here to learn more about what you can do for Energy Awareness Month.

Review of Microsoft Hohm & Blue Line Energy Monitor

This review is interesting because it's not from a website that's geared toward energy saving and conservation. There is a lot of good insight in here about what your experience could be like if you decided to invest in the access to all this new energy information.

This kind of feedback allows for easy experimentation. Does opening the windows and running four fans at full blast use less power than running the AC? And if so, how much lower is it?

The article is written from the perspective of someone who likes gadgets, but is generally clueless about how much electricity all those appliances are using. Best of all, he figured out whether it was all worth it. It's one thing to invest in energy savings, but if it costs more to install everything than what you'll save on your bill, then it doesn't make too much sense.

Personally, I found the most value from the basic real-time display. Stick it in some well-trafficked spot and you're sure to see it numerous times per day, getting a decent sense of how your home's power load varies through the day and throughout the year.

As for Power Smart Pricing customers, it is even more important to know how much electricity you are using in real-time. This extra piece of information would make saving even easier. It would essentially complete the whole cost picture. And think, this all in comparison to the vast majority of customers who see a snapshot once a month.

Read the full Ars Technica review here.

More on Ameren's Free E-Smart Thermostat

The Power Smart Pricing Blog has covered the Free E-Smart Thermostat before. Ameren has since uploaded a video to its ActOnEnergy website to explain the installation process as well as the benefits.

A Guide to Free Electricity

Everyone loves the idea of free electricity. Well, here's a quick guide to build your own small wind generator. All you need is a do-it-yourself attitude and a some sophisticated tools in the garage. Just a quick note: it won't be the easiest of undertakings...

If you're not up for the challenge, the video below will at least provide a neat lesson in how wind turbines work.

Microsoft Hohm’s First Gadget

Here at the Power Smart Pricing Blog as well as through the office phone lines, we get a lot of questions about energy monitoring devices. In the past, CNT Energy offered its participants the Price Light. Despite some of their technological shortcomings (like signal strength), the Price Light was able to help people save money simply by changing color. Now some big names in technology with deep pockets have begun developing new devices, software and partnerships ushering in the next era in home energy monitoring.

The most recent unveiling belongs to Microsoft with their gadget partner Blue Line Innovations. The gadget bundle includes a sensor, in home monitor and WiFi Gateway. It allows you to view your home's energy usage in near real-time on the monitor and the data is compatible with the Microsoft Hohm website.

Early reviews from around the Internet have said that installation is easy. Earth2Tech blogger Kevin Tofel says that "Installing the sensor took me about 15 minutes and was quite simple using the included instructions." At Engadget, a popular gadget and technology blog, they wrote that "Installation is easy -- well, relatively easy at least, compared to the circuit breaker dissection required when we tested out the TED 5000 last year. Unlike then we never felt that our life was at risk, nor did we consider spending the money to call an electrician."

So now that you know its easy... you know about Microsoft Hohm, the real questions on everyone's mind are "How much is it?" and "Does it work with Day-Ahead pricing?"

The entire bundles costs $250 and if you already have wireless Internet set up your home it will be compatible out-of-the-box. This is pretty fair price, and an argument can be made that this device will save you some money and pay you back for the initial cost. Also, if you haven't toured Microsoft Hohm's website, its goal is to give you personalized energy efficiency and conservation tips based on home's profile and energy usage. Overall, a great package deal. You can even buy it right now!

The one bit a caution with the product is that I am not convinced it will work with hourly pricing. It is compatible with a Time-of-Use rates that change a couple times a day, but there is no indication that it can handle something more complicated. The information like real-time energy usage will still be very useful, but it may not be able to  We would love to get a report back from anyone who tries it. 

More info from BlueLine Innovation can be found here.

Also be sure to check out Microsoft Hohm.

From Earth2Tech - REVIEW: Microsoft Hohm’s First Gadget

From Engadget - Microsoft partners with Blue Line Innovation for Hohm-compatible monitoring device, we go hands-on