Power Monitor 101

Our reliance on power is substantial, however with the increasing demand for power comes an increasing need to build more power generating plants, many of which are fueled by non-renewable resources, create pollutants or radioactive byproducts or are extremely expensive to construct.

So it should come as no surprise that if we can save energy in our homes we reduce the need for more power generation plants, reduce the additional potential pollutants in our environment and save a little money for our own pocket.

To enable homeowners to easily start saving money and the environment they can install the Power Monitor 101 (PM101) in their homes to monitor electricity usage of all their equipment and identify areas where savings could be made.

The system comprises of the Genuino 101 as both the main controller and monitoring devices which communicate over BluetoothLE creating a personal network of power monitoring devices that communicate securely and do not require an existing wired or wireless network to function.

Phase 1:

Genuino power monitor collecting power usage information from plugged in device e.g. fridge, heater, tv. and storing for controller when polled. Also has ability to switch device on/off when commanded by controller.

Genuino Controller polls connected power monitors and serves results to a webpage via ethernet shield or over BluetoothLE to connected phone. Webpage can control status of connected devices and displays graphs of power usage.

Phase 2:

Increase capability of power monitoring by adding in timed on/off events and/or predictive timings based on user metrics.

Combine served webpage with external website (internet connection required) that analyses power usage and suggest improvements. Webpage can also take user input of device make/model and through crowd-sourced data determine best usage profile or suggest replacement equipment if cost/benefit is suitable.