Current State: How Design Makes Things Better
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 02. 4.08
Maybe it's just that everything looks better on an iPhone- there have been other systems that do this kind of thing but none are so pretty. Over at Greener Grass they have designed Current State, "a real-time energy use monitoring system and timer for powered devices combined into one. The Current State system is made up of two parts, a mobile application for you cell phone, which allows you to control and monitor electricity use from anywhere, and a series of Plug-Ends that give you control over the products around your house."
How it Works
1. Order the system online, specifying the number of Plug-Ends needed.
2. Install Current State software on your mobile device.
3. Attach Plug-Ends to powered devices around your house.
4. Sync Plug-Ends to software, giving each powered device a descriptive name and confirming its location within your house.
5. Use Current State to remotely monitor your energy usage, control your devices, and set up automatic timers.
Put it all together at::The Greener Grass via ::Notcot
Umm. I want this.
Pretty cool, but no one seemed to put the link for ordering/pricing. Am i overlookin' stuff?
All of these wireless devices continually running would probably consume more energy than they would save.
@Brennan
Assume:
-You use 12 of them
-They consume 1w/h apiece
-You use them to control:
-A television (300+w/h)
-Lights, say 11 20w cfls
If these device ran 24/7/365 they'd consume:
12w/h x 24 x 365= 105,120
To save that much they would have to:
Prevent the television from being on for 350 unnecessary hours (which is only 6hrs/week).
or
Prevent 477 unnecessary CFL hours (which is only 9hrs/week)
or
Any combination of those two, which, IMO, is a very likely scenario.
Surely I didn't even think of the best case scenario.
Where can i buy this from ?????
Build it yourself using linuxmce. Currently, I'm extending my system into my wife's carpc.
Current State is still just a concept. It was created to help raise awareness about energy consumption and examine ways to help people learn about how much energy they use and how to take steps to reduce their consumption. It's not perfect yet. We appreciate all of your suggestions!
I came across this yesterday.
Looks like this product is up and running.
Finally, folks are finding ways to mitigate the real problem... us.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080205/BUSINESS/302070001