Energeno News

npower's top 5 home energy monitoring tools

Source: npower blog

Looking to cut the cost of your home gas and electricity bills? The first place to start is to monitor how much energy you use – and there are some fantastic apps, tools and gadgets you can get to help you. Just read on to find which energy monitoring tools made our top five…

 

1. The npower Home Energy Survey tool

Our Home Energy Survey tool should be the first port of call for anyone trying to make their home more energy-efficient. It’s available on the npower website and it’s free to use too.

All you need to do is answer some simple questions about your home, and we’ll provide you with a report showing you an energy rating for your home, how much your home energy costs you and what your carbon footprint is.

And, when you take the Energy Saving Survey, we’ll also provide you with some hints and tips to help you reduce the amount of energy you use – and cut the cost of your gas and electricity bills.

2. Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Monitor

This lightweight, portable energy monitor makes identifying energy-guzzling items in your home simple. Just plug it in – the socket part of the device sits between the plug for the item you want to monitor and the wall socket – and you’ll be able to see exactly how many watts of energy that item’s using, how much carbon dioxide it’s emitting and how much it’s costing you to run.

Thanks to its easy-to-read LCD screen, the Belkin Conserve Insight Energy Monitor allows you to find out which electrical equipment is costing you the most to run and enables you to see the benefits straight away when you’ve replaced your old appliances and lights with more energy-efficient versions.

3. Efergy e2 Classic 2.0

This home energy monitor has some great high-tech features and comes complete with a software package, so you can track and record your energy use on your PC for easy analysis.

Simple to set up and use, the Efergy e2 Classic 2.0 enables you to monitor your energy consumption over weeks and months, as well as see it in real time. It can to store up to 2 years’ worth of data, so it’s the ideal option if you want to see how well you’ve been doing at cutting back on your electricity use. It’s even got an alarm, which you can set to alert you when you’ve used a certain amount of energy.

4. Wattson Solar Plus

This elegant wireless energy monitor is designed for use by people who are generating their own home energy using solar, wind or water power. So if you’ve just had solar panels installed in your home, you can use this to see the benefits straight away.

The Wattson Solar Plus from DIY Kyoto shows both the amount of energy you’re using and the amount that you’re generating, and alerts you when you’re generating more than you’re getting through. It comes with its own software package, Holmes, so you can track and monitor everything on your laptop or PC.

5. The Energy Saving Trust’s Water Energy Calculator

According to the Energy Saving Trust, 23% of the average household’s heating bill is due to the cost involved in heating water, whether that’s for baths, showers, in washing machines or filling the kettle. So it pays to try and cut down on the amount of water you’re using when you’re trying to cut your gas and electric costs.

Luckily, there’s a useful Water-Energy-Calculator on the Energy Saving Trust’s website, which will show you how much water your appliances are likely to be using – and how much they could be costing you to run. It’s free to use and is a great place to go when you’re trying to work out where you can start cutting back.

 

It’s all in the monitoring

Source: Public Service Review, issue 21, page 130-131.

Realising the potential of solar power in social housing…

Solar power provides an opportunity for social housing associations and landlords to improve the long term energy prospects of tenants by alleviating fuel poverty and greatly reducing their carbon emissions. And, despite cuts to feed-in tariffs (FiTs), some of which have already taken effect, the benefits of subsidies for landlords and discounted electricity bills for tenants offered by renewable
energy will continue to transpire as inflation continues to rise and utility companies increase their
prices. However, there are other measures that photovoltaic (PV) installation owners and their
tenants can put in place to achieve the greatest benefits. 

In the following, Mark Elliott, Director of energy monitoring specialist Energeno, explains how monitoring technology and smart meters hold the key to unleashing the full potential of PVs, and how Energeno’s range of equipment can help landlords and tenants alike combat fuel poverty.

Read & Download article here

Photovoltaic opportunities

Source: Public Service Review, issue 21, page 127.

Solar PV installations can play a major role in the fight against fuel poverty, writes Energeno Director Mark Elliott…

With level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes now mandatory for new build social housing, many landlords have buildings fitted with renewable energy technologies as standard. Some older stock too has benefited from investment in renewables such as solar panels to take advantage of financial incentives such as feed-in-tariffs (FiTs).

A lot of the discussion about the benefits of solar has revolved around FiTs but there is considerably more to the story when looking at solar as an opportunity to reduce bills and tackle fuel. The original government grants offered for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations once provided social housing landlords with a ‘quick fix’ approach to improved sustainability and a way to reduce electricity bills for tenants. FiTs then replaced these grants and have since gone some way to positioning solar PV as more of a long-term investment. Even with the existing and planned cuts to FiTs, it’s clear that the benefits of subsidies for landlords and discounted electricity bills for tenants will continue to increase as inflation climbs and utility companies increase their prices.

However, many social housing renewable energy projects were put on hold or even abandoned altogether in light of the well-documented FiTs debacle, which played out across the media earlier this year. What wasn’t so widely reported is the fact that solar PV installations still have the potential to achieve considerable benefits for both social landlords and the people who live in their properties. In October 2012, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation issued a report – ‘Renewable Energy: Getting the benefits right for social housing’ – which suggests in its findings that the full benefits of measures such as solar panels will only be realised if they are supported by efforts to encourage people to be energy efficient. The report points to the primary motivator for social landlords in installing PV schemes as fuel poverty and explained that a well-positioned PV installation could achieve significant savings of up to £220 per year. November saw the Energy Saving Trust estimate potential domestic savings even higher at £635. However, encouraging tenants to behave in an energy-efficient way in terms of timing and patterns of use for electrical appliances was significant in achieving the full financial benefits.

 

Earlier this year, a groundbreaking scheme to drive energy efficiency in homes in the Leicestershire village of North Kilworth had a dramatic impact on residents’ behaviour. A total of 80 energy monitors were handed out to residents in an initiative led by the Village Power Community Interest Company (CIC) as part of a programme of activities designed to reduce the village’s carbon footprint. After just two months, two-thirds of residents confirmed that their energy usage had changed and the same number wanted more information on energy efficiency. Nine out of 10 said they would recommend the monitor to a friend.

‘…the full benefits of
measures such as solar
panels will only be realised if
they are supported by efforts
to encourage people to be
energy efficient.’

When such monitors are used with solar installations, they glow green when free electricity is available from the PV system, enabling residents to take advantage of this rather than paid-for electricity whenever possible. By showing energy usage across different appliances, they also drive up awareness of how to reduce consumption, thereby giving residents far more control over their energy use. As well as energy monitors, we are seeing a growing number of practical gadgets that can turn appliances or water heaters on automatically when free electricity is available – helping to reduce bills. Saving energy for most people in fuel poverty is not just about insulation. Taking people to near self-sufficiency in electricity terms has to be the next goal, and monitors that give tenants the knowledge and power to optimise their free energy use are expected to play an increasingly important part inachieving this objective.

Download article here

Nuts about Eco

Wattson Classic features in Grand Designs December edition 2012! It is in the "Nuts about Eco" category, a top 9 eco-friendly must-haves this Christmas. See page here.

Source: Grand Designs

Wattson PV Sales kits now available for PV installers

Source: Electrical Portal 09/11/2012.

Energeno, the company behind the renowned Wattson Solar Plus and Wattson Professional PV energy monitors, has responded to demand for its popular demonstration kit by developing a PV sales kit that can be used by installers to increase their sales of PV systems.

"Installers have been asking me how they can get hold of my demonstration kit which I have used to sell Wattson Solar Plus for years to explain why Solar PV is such a good deal," says Richard Woods, Energeno's UK sales manager, "so we decided to offer it to them.”

The kit features buttons controlling a virtual PV array and three virtual appliances – imitating the sun shining and appliances switching on or off. The Wattson reacts in exactly the same way it does when connected to a real home, so installers can easily show their potential customers how Solar PV will generate money for them through the Feed-in-Tariff.

Mark Elliott, director at Energeno, explains: “The demonstration kit has previously proved a valuable aid for distributors of Wattson energy monitors, to explain how solar PV works and how to take advantage of the free electricity to deliver improved payback times.

“Using the ingenious colour display of the Wattson, which glows green when free electricity is available, home owners can see how they can save money on their electricity bills as well as earn money from generating electricity. 

“We are also providing some valuable hints, tips and structured arguments for installers about how to explain the hidden benefits of a Solar PV system along with some marketing material for installers to give away to their customers, so all-in-all the kit should become an invaluable sales aid.”

The kit is available direct from Energeno for £150 including VAT, or via its distribution network.

Overview of Solar Power UK by the BPVA

How I reduced my electricity bill by 60%…

Source: Low Carbon Living Blog, posted 6th June 2012

 

In the 12 months from April 2011 through to the end of March 2012 I’ve managed to reduce my electricity consumption by over 60%.  I was pretty astonished by how much I’d saved and I put the majority of it down to a little gadget called Wattson.

Wattson (Watts-On!) is a wireless portable energy monitor which shows you the electricity you are using in your home in real-time.  I used what is known as the Wattson Classic (see details here) for the first 10 months before upgrading to theWattson Solar Plus soon after I had my solar panels fitted.

There are a number of energy monitors (or smart meters as they sometimes called) on the market, however, what drew me to the Wattson was its design.  I’m a sucker for good design, particularly on gadgets which is probably why my office looks like an Apple Store!  Thankfully with the Wattson it’s not a case of style over substance as the monitor can show me the following in real-time:

• Total energy being used in my house in kWh, actual cost and CO2 emissions.
• Total energy either being used or generated in the house – again it can be shown in kWh, actual cost and CO2 being generated.
• Total solar energy being produced – shown in kWh, return from FITs and CO2 being saved.
• Total solar energy that has been generated – Again it can be shown in the previous ways

The Wattson Solar Plus emits a coloured glow which immediately lets you know how much electricity is being used or produced.

Additionally the Wattson emits a coloured glow depending on your energy usage.  If I’m producing more energy than I am using it glows green.  It also learns how much energy I use when I’m not generating.  A blue glow lets me know I’m using less than my average amount of energy, a purple glows tells me I’m using my average amount of energy whilst a red glow lets me know I’m burning way more than usual. (quick turn off those lights!)  It also features a night mode (colours only) and a clock.

Anyway, enough of the technical jargon, let me tell you how the Wattson has completely changed the way we as a family consume our electricity.  In the early days before we got the solar array it really helped by showing the amount of energy each appliance was using. (I still can’t quite get over how much energy is needed to boil a kettle!)  In particular it showed the actual cost of energy for all the items on stand by (through a process of elimination, i.e. turning things off!)  You can program Wattson (through Holmes software) with the actual costs you pay for your electricity, this showed me that having my TV, Sky Box, Amplifier and Blu-ray player on standby was costing me around £60 per year!  Cue a Standby savasocket which cost £20 (see here) and this was reduced to around £10 (I still keep the Sky Box switched on.)  The best bit is it is all controlled from my all in one remote control.  One click of the off button does it all for me.

Oh, Oh.. I’m using 609 watts of electricity here and its glowing purple… cue a panic round the house to see what’s been left on!!

The other thing that was using lots of energy was the oven .  I’d always assumed that a microwave would be more energy intensive than an oven but I was very wrong.  If we can we now use the microwave in place of the oven and I think it’s saved us hundreds of pounds.  I now have low energy bulbs in every socket in the house now and I can clearly see the savings on this via Wattson. Now most of these savings have been made prior to my Solar PV installation.  Combining the solar array with the Wattson allows me to get maximum efficiency out of the array.  At any time I can see EXACTLY how much energy is being produced from the array, and as soon as I’m in negative territory (i.e. generating more than I’m using) it is the time to switch on any electrical items I might need.  If its a few hundred watts being generated I’ll make sure that any electrical device that needs charging (laptops, phone’s, iPads, batteries etc.) can all be charged for free.  If the sun goes in you know immediately via Wattson and you can just switch it off.  You can read more about my solar array here.

In this photo through my solar array I’m feeding 2.8 kWh back into the grid. Time to do the washing, ironing, vacuuming, cooking…

This really comes into its own on a sunny day when I can be over generating by 3 or 4 kWh, as soon as we get anywhere near this its on with the washing machine, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner (these three devices are probably the highest users of electricity in our household – how do I know?  Wattson of course!)  If we’ve done a lot of washing and the washing line is full outside we can also use the tumble drier using 100% renewable energy at zero costs to ourselves.  This is only used in extreme cases though.Anyway, enough of the Wattson, I must add I don’t work for them and don’t have any shares in the company in case you were wondering!  It is just a great product that I’m really passionate about.  Probably the main breakthrough Wattson provided in my house was getting the rest of the family interested in saving energy.  My partner has literally become obsessed with it which is great and although my daughter is only 4 even she is beginning to take an interest in it.

As well as watts and kWh Wattson shows you exactly how much your electricity would cost you for a year at any one time… £285 in this picture

What Wattson does is allow us to control the energy we use in our homes and its visual impact positively encourages you to look at it.  I firmly believe that this type of product will have a significant impact on not only reducing the CO2 we all burn in our households but, as I’ve proved, you can save yourself some serious money into the bargain.

I’ll dig out my last electricity bill soon which shows the energy reduction made in the same quarter the previous year.

My Electricity Bill showing my usage now and for the same period last year!!  (Note it was based on actual, not estimated readings!)

 

Wattson PV Sales Kits

Wattson PV sales kits now available for PV installers.

Source: Professional Electrician & Installer online, 22/10/2012.

Energeno, the company behind the renowned Wattson Solar Plus and Wattson Professional PV energy monitors, has responded to demand for its popular demonstration kit by developing a PV sales kit that can be used by installers to increase their sales of PV systems.

 "Installers have been asking me how they can get hold of my demonstration kit which I have used to sell Wattson Solar Plus for years  to explain why Solar PV is such a good deal," says Richard Woods, Energeno's UK sales manager,  "So we decided to offer it to them." 

The kit features buttons controlling a virtual PV array and three virtual appliances – imitating the sun shining and appliances switching on or off.  The Wattson reacts in exactly the same way it does when connected to a real home, so installers can easily show their potential customers how Solar PV will generate money for them through the Feed-in-Tariff. 

Mark Elliott, director at Energeno, explains: “The demonstration kit has previously proved a valuable aid for distributors of Wattson energy monitors, to explain how solar PV works and how to take advantage of the free electricity to deliver improved payback times.

“Using the ingenious colour display of the Wattson, which glows green when free electricity is available, home owners can see how they can save money on their electricity bills as well as earn money from generating electricity.  

“We are also providing some valuable hints, tips and structured arguments for installers about how to explain the hidden benefits of a Solar PV system along with some marketing material for installers to give away to their customers, so all-in-all the kit should become an invaluable sales aid.”

Home and Away

Source: Renewable Energy Installer online, 03.10.2012

Energeno says it has designed intelligent switches which allow access to free electricity from solar PV when you’re not at home.

According to the company, traditionally, homeowners simply check their solar inverters or look at their energy monitors in the home to optimise their appliance use – but energy bill management has proved a challenge from remote locations.

Energeno, the designers and makers of the Wattson solar Energy Monitor, has now developed two new complementary smart devices to help householders save money while they are away.

 

The Optimmersion – Energeno describes this as is an intelligent controller that when added to a solar power installation, automatically diverts free electricity to the immersion heater when the Solar PV has produced surplus power. Installed between the immersion tank and the consumer unit, it supplies variable power for hot water depending upon the excess energy being generated. Typical savings are around £55 per year for a gas boiler and £80 for electrically-heated water.

The Optiplug – The company calls this a smart socket, that learns how much energy appliances round the home are using and switches power to them only when enough surplus energy is available to run them.

Both technologies are designed to ensure that householders have greater control over their energy use when they are not at home and ensure they are not paying for expensive electricity bought in on the day from their energy provider.

“Thousands of people who have had solar PV fitted have become armchair experts on when to use the free electricity they have generated and when they are selling it back to the grid to ensure they are cost neutral.” said Mark Elliott, director at Energeno.

Energeno introduces Opti-Range of products

Source: Solar Power Portal

Energeno, a developer and supplier of energy monitoring systems including the Wattson Solar Plus energy monitor, has launched its new Opti-Range of products at Solar Power UK 2012 which is being held this week in Birmingham at the NEC.

Designed for solar PV households, the new range comprises the Optimmersion and the Optiplug. Optimmersion is an intelligent controller which, when added to a solar power installation, automatically diverts free electricity to the immersion heater when the solar PV has produced surplus power. Installed between the immersion tank and the consumer unit, it supplies variable power for hot water depending upon the excess energy being generated. Typical savings are around £55 per year for a gas boiler and £80 for electrically-heated water.

Energeno has introduced its Optimmersion and Optiplug products at Solar Power UK 2012.

Optiplug is a smart socket which collates data on how much energy appliances around the home are using and switches power to them only when enough surplus energy is available to run them.

Both technologies ensure that householders have greater control over their energy use when they are not at home and ensure they are not paying for expensive electricity bought in on the day from their energy provider. This also means that in the majority of cases they are not affecting the revenue they generate from the Feed-in-Tariff.

The two devices, which work through intelligent RF sensors and are linked to clever switches that calculate the excess electricity being generated, are part of a larger suite of home automation products being developed by Energeno to access free energy produced by solar PV panels. Other products in the range will be launched later in the year and during 2013.

“Thousands of people who have had solar PV fitted have become armchair experts on when to use the free electricity they are generating.” said Mark Elliott, Director at Energeno.

“However, people also have jobs to go to and cannot always be at home to make the calculations to access the free electricity. This is where smart technology comes to the fore because the devices make the calculations for you whether you are home or away,” he added.

 

Thank you for visiting us at Solar Power UK

It was great to see everyone at the show and to introduce our new range of products.

Here are a few snaps taken at the show of the Energeno team in action.

 

The BPVA pavilion with our stand ready to greet visitors.

Chris ready to demo the Wattson Professional remote monitoring service for installers

L-R Emily, Richard, Mark and Chris on day 1

Jon and Ilias, the Wattson technical experts, can answer any questions about Wattson Solar Plus.

When Wattson glows green - shown here by Richard W - it diverts all the spare electricity to the immersion heater, thanks to the clever proportional controller- held up by Richard S.

Richard and Emily displaying part of the Wattson PV Sales Kit

 

 

PV Monitoring Special Report

Source: Professional Electrician and Installer, September 2012.

Professional Electrician discovers how contractors can maximise business through remote monitoring of Solar installations.

Read article

Energeno now offering PV Sales Kit

Energeno have recognised the real need for installers to educate homeowners on the concept of PV and how they can benefit from it, allowing them to sell more PV kits in this very difficult market.

A live sales demonstration with the right tools helps potential customers mentally picture what having Solar PV in their own home would be like, helping them make the decision to buy it.

We have therefore created the Wattson PV Sales Kit, a compact and standalone sales tool that installers can take to the homes of potential customers to increase their chances of making a sale.

The Wattson PV Sales Kit contains everything needed to give a demo anywhere, anytime and installers can very easily help their potential customers see how using energy generated through Solar PV will:

• Generate them money through the Feed-in-Tariff.
• Allow them to make additional savings
• Reduce their payback time

The Wattson PV Sales Kit includes a simple box with buttons controlling virtual appliances and a virtual Solar PV array connected to a Wattson Solar Plus display. Switching appliances or the array on or off causes the Wattson display to react in exactly the same way as it does when connected to a real home. When the Wattson glows green it shows them how much spare electricity they could be using but are currently losing to the grid. The kit also includes PV Sales tips to get the message across effectively and material to leave at the customers about Wattson Solar Plus.

If you are interested in ordering the Wattson PV Sales Kit for your installers, please contact your usual point of sale, or sales@energeno.com.

Come see us at Solar Power UK

The NEC Stand A30 BPVA Pavillion, in front of the main entrance. Tuesday 2nd October 9.30am - 5pm Wednesday 3rd October 9.30am - 6pm Thursday 4th October 9.30am - 4pm Floor Plan Register for free now How to get there Only one week to go! Energeno is exhibiting at Solar Power UK next week. Located on the BPVA pavilion opposite the entrance, we are launching our new range of Home Automation products Opti-Range as well as demonstrating Wattson Solar Plus and Wattson Professional live on the stand. We look forward to seeing you there! Kind Regards, Emily Poulton Wattson Solar Plus Glows green when spare free electricity is available.   Opti-Range Make the most of your solar energy by using it when it is free.  follow on Twitter |  forward to a friend | I'm attending

View online: http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3187f2877b692f0129870c98d&id=c01cea1690&e=8f5d2df5df

Wattson at the London Design Festival

Wattson Solar Plus was chosen to monitor both electricity generation and consumption for the launch of INACHUS, the first floating home of the Urdaimonia Project.

Part of the London Design Festival, 14 September - 23 September, the floating home was designed with sustainability in mind, hence the need to monitor and display the efficiency of the Solar Panels installed.

For more information, visit the project's official page.