There is a large potential by closely monitoring the energy consumption of your appliances in a comprehensive overview. Being aware of the largest energy consumers and the general energy demand over the day, one can optimize his/her household to reduce power consumption or to shift consumption to a daytime where the demand/supply situation is better.
However, what is the motivation to do so?
As it can be seen in other situations (like riding a bike vs. taking the car, etc.), saving a few bucks might not be enough motivation to effectively change the consumers' behavior.
Austin Montgomery, University of Waterloo gives a possible solution to this problem in his video "Making the Smart Grid Smarter with Social Media": make it a competition on social networks!
By the way, this is my favorite video from the IEEE SmartGridComm 2011 video contest. Check http://www.ieee-smartgridcomm.org/video.html for the other nominated clips.
I still haven't finished the video. But we all need to do our part to conserve energy. Engaging yourselves in an environmental awareness activity is really an act that should be shared with others. It is a good deed indeed for many of us inhabitants of the planet earth. I hope lots of people will mirror this act and also share it to youngsters.
ReplyDeleteHaley
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