Green-Smart: Circuit Breakers with Digital Readouts!

[Ed Ziomek]

As mentioned ona Japanese (jref.com) website, I have previously submitted these "energy consumption management" ideas to IBM and to General Electric, with no results after several years, that I know of.

What America needs right now, on the primary architecture level, are the following power items for the home/businesses.

1. Smart circuit breakers, which sense amperage and which display a digital numeric readout for usage on that individual line, and certainly visible to the homeowner, and then down-loadable to a computer.

2. Smart circuit breaker box, with digitzed sensors placed all over the home, sending limited distance RF information down the hot or cold lead to a computerized data collection unit in the traditional circuit breaker box "CPU". This would include digitized sensor information including amperage draw, outlet temperature, water quality, air quality, air-temperature, humidity, mold, CO-2, asbestos, dust particulant, etc. etc., which could be downloadable to a remote location via a dialup sequence.

3. Smart AC outlets, all Ground control interupt, which digital-display amperage usage at that point, and maybe even a temperature readout, all transmittable in RF down to the smart box.

I know IBM dabbled in these ideas after my suggestion.

Like Jack Welsh formerly of GE said..."If I can measure it, I can manage it".

Well then, let's measure it!

The home electricity use is relatively unmeasured at this time, except on the grand total scale. If we could isolate the heavy usage points, I think we could go a long way to conserving our energy expenditures.

Readers of this website...Your thoughts?

[Travis Elmer]

ED,
Do you (or anyone) know of a "remote controlled" circuit breaker?
I remember seeing a display at a trade show years ago. The breaker had a 12 or 24 control signal that would turn it on or off. This could easily be controlled with home automation to turn off parts of a house (or business) to conserver electricity.
Thanks

[Ed Ziomek]

Thanks for your response.

I don't know of any remote control circuit breaker, but I promise you, this will be the next generation of AC microprocessor controlled Home Automation system. I believe IBM, General Electric, and possibly Toshiba are studying these technologies.

As you well know, the water usage meters are electronically monitored on the outside of buildings, as are natural gas consumption. These will all be tied into a convergent automated home monitoring system.

With some oil people telling me that $300 per barrell is guaranteed due to world demands, and even higher given an attack on Iran (yes, Rich was right two years ago). it has become a national MANDATE to conserve energies and protect people's lives.
$400 per barrell...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080628/ts_nm/iran_guards_oil_dc

This would include having a control box located at the exit door, required in the future for new constructions wherein the homeowner turns off all unused outlets when the last person leaves the dwelling.

This would include water flow restrictions for watering lawns except during low evaporation hours of 9-10, let's say.

This would include home water filtration systems at the input from the street and again at a monitored drinking tap outlet.

This would include addressable AC outlets that have the triple duty of line usage, line temperature, and a pre-selected sensory function: CO2, mold, smoke, (and maybe stray EMF...microwave)?

Having said all these things, I think it will be a foreign company who brings it to the market first, like the wireless circuit breaker. Americans do not seem seriously motivated towards engineering innvoations as much as we were in the past.

We talk-the-talk about massive energy consumption and the need to conserve, but we take the same old tired road... "build more power plants", sell more gasolene cars, build more highways. Even the blatherings of "more drilling" is such nearsighted-wasted effort, for an overpriced product deliverable in 10-15 years.

Somewhere, a high school kid in China or Japan or India will come up with a stupidly simple idea for designing a wireless home control system, and become a billionaire. All the pieces are here, somebody new will put it all together.

[Travis Elmer]

While I agree on turning off any unused lights/appliances etc., having a smart outlet or smart light switch (which exist now) sometimes isnt as green as they appear on the surface. let take an average household who occationally leaves the room lights on (say a 100w bulb) for 8 hours while gone for the day, now take the power factor of all the controlled outlets and light switches which could be installed. I am familiar with a smart lights switch which draws 3w for each light switch 24/7 weather the light is on or not. It would be easy for an average houshold to have 30 to 40 light switches. At 3 watts each times 40 switches is 120W! I dont know about you but I will take the occational time I forget the room lights, its cheaper than filling my house with automated switches. Now shutting off a branch circuit at a remote controlled breaker could be a different story, the breaker would only draw power while being activated or deactivated, no tiny power draw 24/7. Much more energy efficient. That just my opinion.
Travis

[Ed Ziomek]

Travis... your quote...
"Now shutting off a branch circuit at a remote controlled breaker could be a different story, the breaker would only draw power while being activated or deactivated, no tiny power draw 24/7. Much more energy efficient. That just my opinion. "

We absolutely agree. 3w expenditure per hour, times 40 outlets/switches, for 24/365, times 20 million homes, expended whether the light bulb is on or off... massively inefficient.

Questions:
Do municipalities care whose homes expend the most electricity?
Do municipalities care (yet) about power consumption of electric outlets?
Do municipalities care whose cars burn the most gas or heating oil?
Do municipalities care who uses the most clean water?
Do municipalities care who uses the most nitrate fertilizers on their lawn?
Do municipalities care who has the most garbage?

Nobody collects this data, yet.

We collectively think this is an intrusion on our personal liberties...or something, and if the individual pays his bill, nobody pays attention, yet our taxes go up and services go down.

We don't measure these consumption variables, we don't try to manage them, but everybody cries about "abuse" or "we should go Green".

In the near future, I see local governments, state governments, and building codes mandating the data collection of all these variables, because these services are not limitless, and should be managed and controlled if possible.

Your valid, spot-on opinion is what we need more of.

[Ed Ziomek]

Note: Somewhere recently I read where it was proposed to the City of New York, that all residences and commercial properties would be mandated by 2011 to install Digital Breaker Boxes, to visually display power usage for management and conservation purposes.

Two interesting projects that seem to supplement research and development in this area....

One: Integrated server for digital smart breaker box.
in category Other, proposed by David A. Insley on 20th March 2006 (accepted on 22nd March 2006)

Project Summary: To be used within the scope of a project to create a digital \'smart\' breaker box solution.

EFIKA will be used to host a web interface as well as host a database used to store/display event logs. (EFIKA - Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFIKA)

The web interface will present current system state including information on each solid state breaker and will allow the user to change settings such as automatic reset delay time.

http://projects.powerdeveloper.org/project/efika/211

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Two: Energy-smart home system
Document Type and Number: United States Patent 20030050737

Abstract:
An “Energy-Smart” Home System is described where the existing proliferation of electrical junction boxes in the typical home or building are used for a unique combination of purposes, supporting diverse functionalities that heretofore have not been combined, and enabling ease of installation with no new wiring. Typically, this system relies on powerline communication and uses electrical wiring for energy distribution, monitoring, and control as well as security, audio/video communications and entertainment, and general network communications such as file transfers and Internet connectivity. An underlying theme in this “Energy-Smart” Home System allows energy-related information to be gathered by way of EMAC (Energy Monitoring And Control) points typically installed at convenient locations such as electrical junction boxes used for power plug receptacles and wall switches. In addition to being visually displayed at the point of energy use or measurement, energy-related information—electrical and thermal—is typically communicated through a powerline data link to a centrally located intelligent device such as a PC, Residential Gateway or Smart Thermostat where it may be monitored, analyzed, profiled, viewed, and also used to enable energy-related control functions. Energy consumption can be alternately displayed in terms of cost-per-time. Energy monitoring is also added to the electrical breaker box, offering an easy way to supplement distributed EMAC points. In general, this Energy-Smart Home System creates a form of “Bio-Feedback for Home Energy”, making the consumer far more aware, enabling more effective and efficient energy usage, while at the same time creating an electrical power distribution and communications infrastructure that enables significant advancements in security, communications, and comfort, in addition to enhanced energy control and conservation.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2003/0050737.html

Examples from General Electric...
http://www.geindustrial.com/pm/enervista/viewpoint/Examples2.htm
http://www.geindustrial.com/pm/enervista/viewpoint/monitoring.htm

Lookup key words "Home automation", "power monitoring" for further advances in this area.

Progress is being made!!!