Doug Houseman’s 30-year career in the power industry includes a lead role in the IEEE Power and Energy Society’s Intelligent Grid Coordinating Committee, helping develop the National Institute of Science and Technology’s smart grid framework model. Doug is vice president for technology and innovations at EnerNex LLC, and as an IoT subject matter expert discusses opportunities around automatic monitoring and control in the home and how it can benefit the electrical grid.
Question: Homes are full of devices that never really completely shut off – televisions, computers and other media devices, for example. How can the Internet of Things help manage their energy consumption?
Doug Houseman: Between nine and 14 per cent of the power that comes into your home goes for standby, and you’re not getting any value out of it. And, the more technical you are, the younger you are, the higher that percentage gets because you have more computers, more large screen TVs and more cell phones. As you move further and further into the digital, always-connected world, you’re using more and more of your energy just to be ready to do something. For example, IoT can allow a simple text to be sent to the house from one of the kids leaving school, so when they arrive home their media stack and computers are all warmed and ready to go, but otherwise they are completely turned off during the night or when no one is home. This reduces electricity bills.
Question: So what happens as homes get even more technologically advanced with smarter appliances?
Houseman: There are companies now that offer IP-enabled breakers for both household and commercial electrical panels, so instead of having to turn off every little device, you can actually sit down and program the panel. You can also log into the panel from anywhere in the world on the Internet and be able to reset any of the devices. Not only that, you can look breaker by breaker at what’s going on in a panel and understand where you might have a short circuit or another problem. Not only can you save electricity with IoT, and customize your electricity use to suite your lifestyle, but you can detect potential safety issues that might not manifest themselves for several more years.
Question: Are there applications that have been around for a while that are a precursor to the IoT applications we are starting to see in smart homes, smart buildings and across electrical grids?