I blogged in April about real time access to power usage at home. At that time Google had pre-announced Google PowerMeter, a free, downloadable, iGoogle gadget that will allow you to monitor power usage in your home. To use it you will either have to buy a hardware device from a third-party company that you can connect to your fuse box, or get a smart meter from the power company, which ever comes first. According to Google, PowerMeter will be an open API which will allow third parties to develop applications.
Google has since announced that they are now working with several partners including a number of utilities and one of the largest meter manufacturers. At this point Google PowerMeter is only available to this limited group of customers, but Google plans to expand their roll out later this year. (Image Google)
Recently Microsoft has announced Hohm, which is also designed to help you save money and power, but in a very different way from Powermeter. Hohm does not monitor real time power usage via a smart meter or a third party device. Instead it uses a questionaire that you complete and which it analyzes for ways to reduce power consumption. Microsoft has not ruled out real time monitoring of power usage in the future.
Be the first to comment