Data Visualization Helps Make Wise Energy Choices

This data visualization from Ben Fry of Fathom Information (and GE) lets users see how much energy is used over different time periods, per appliance: Refrigerator (red); range (dark green); dishwasher (purple); blue (plugs); and lights (pale green). Shown here is a summary by day and hour and for each weekday.
Select figure to enlarge.

The idea is simple: Show people real-time household energy usage, along with usage history, so they can make informed decisions about when to use appliances. This lets a consumer decide, for example, whether to delay the start of a dishwasher so it runs when utility costs are low. In that regard, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in January witnessed the display by General Electric (GE) of several new “ecomagination” products focusing on ways consumers can more efficiently use energy.

One of those products, Nucleus, is a home energy hub that connects devices such as appliances to smart meters and zooms in on consumption habits. Nucleus shows real-time (kW) and long-term (kWh) data on power consumption and reveals historical trends over as much as three years.

Appliance energy usage by time of day for one 24-hour period. Data may be visualized by clicking on a specific hour and appliance type. Here the dark gray areas denote energy use in the kitchen. The light gray areas denote the level of energy used in the entire household. Red, blue, purple, and green areas show energy use by the refrigerator, wall plugs, dishwasher, and range respectively.
Select figure to enlarge.

In conjunction with Nucleus, GE is developing a line of smart appliances with what it calls Brillion technology. Brillion's strong suit is the way it lets consumers visualize energy consumption data. Brillion technology lets consumers access smart-meter-enabled appliances via computer or mobile device. The visualization was originally developed as a touchscreen application but now it can be had as a Web version to show how appliances in a sample home consumed energy over the course of a month. To generate the data, GE tracked five major sources of kitchen energy use — refrigerator, range, dishwasher, wall plugs, and lighting — in a typical American household for one month.

For more information, visit http://www.gereports.com/ben-frys-powering-the-kitchen-data-viz-debuts-at-ces-2011/