New Technologies that Help Track Energy Usage

New technologies have been making energy tracking easier than ever. Most homeowners worry about having the most efficient light bulbs, but there are plenty of other technologies that can save money at home. Computers are cheaper and smarter than ever. Appliances are now being installed with wireless communication and processing. Outlets can have brains. There are even dashboards on your computer to track all of the important data. With a flood of new devices on the market, there are plenty of reasons to start upgrading your home.

Electrical outlets are commonly ignored, on the exception of a new faceplate every now and then. The old outlet you may be plugging into has already been improved. The Modlet is a device that can enhance any standard outlet. The Modlet is designed to plug directly into your existing outlet, controlling what is then plugged into it. A mobile app allows the outlet to turn on and off from anywhere. The device also shuts off the outlet to avoid vampire power. Modlet also offers a computer interface to track energy usage with the outlet.

New technology has also spurred the creation of Smart Grid systems for residential housing. Suppliers are now installing smart meters in certain areas. These new meters allow better tracking of energy, and can show valuable information about energy consumption. Information can be accessed via a website, making it easy to see how much that meter is spinning.

Smart Grid approved appliances attach to the grid and give energy information over a home network. This can be appealing to homeowners who want to track individual appliances. There are also incentives for using power at certain times of the day. Using electricity on non-peak hours can cost less. Some new appliances can be programmed to run during these hours. A washer or dryer can activate via an app as well.

Buying new outlets or appliances can be expensive. There is an affordable device that can also help regulate and track the electronics you use at home. Electric usage monitors can track a plugged-in device real-time, and some will calculate consumption over a period of time. You may be surprised which electronics are the worst. You can also track vampire power with the device turned off.

Technology will continue to improve our quality of life at home. Buying more electronics may seem counterproductive at saving energy, but new technology can save. Keep an eye out for these technologies in your area. You may knock a good chunk of change off that energy bill.

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Guest article written by: Mark Joseph currently runs efficientdiy.com, a site for responsible home improvement. He has a background in commercial and residential construction, and has migrated to computer programming. If he is not behind a computer screen, you can find him hiking or attempting to cook. You can find more ways to save energy at home here.

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Guest article written by: Mark Joseph currently runs efficientdiy.com, a site for responsible home improvement. He has a background in commercial and residential construction, and has migrated to computer programming. If he is not behind a computer screen, you can find him hiking or attempting to cook. 

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1 thought on “New Technologies that Help Track Energy Usage”

  1. Nice post Didn’t knew many of them but now I know them thanks will follow some of them thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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