What Was Found in The Fog
I have to be honest that I am quite sluggish at discovering the latest material that hits the market. A few days ago a colleague introduced me to a COTS appliance signature solution. It made me step right up, pay attention and enjoy the rather auspicious moment.
The Irish company called Veutility is now offering an appliance signature solution that enables a user to have a realtime view of their appliance’s energy consumption using only a smart meter (no sub meters). I have to stress: NO sub meters and the best thing I have heard of vis-à-vis all the talk about the value that stems out of smart metering.
By using a single plug and play sensor, the technology identifies the energy consumption of a home appliance by mapping its unique electricity consumption signature. It identifies and files the appliance-level profile signatures then monitors and reports on various appliances simultaneously via its own dashboard.
This is momentous! I will have to give this a test drive. And if it truly delivers on what it promises, the possibilities for smart meter > HAN integration are endless (at a fraction of the cost of what similar functionality would cost). Watch this space...