DEHEMS Cycle 2 Equipment Has Landed!
By Martine TommisWith a change of season and the promising signs of a real summer, DEHEMS home energy monitoring equipment is ready for installation. The new equipment has a number of similarities with those which were used in the first phase. However, the new equipment is programmed to integrate a number of other energy monitoring kit. For example, we will be introducing ‘appliance level monitoring’ – where plug adaptors or plug-level monitors, will be used to measure the amount of energy being used by each individual appliance – e.g. TV, washing machine and so on. We also introducing solution to measure gas usage, but again this is still in development.
Each Living Lab will offer a limited number of plug-level energy monitors. Using these we will be able to collect accurate data about energy usage. The plugs will act as an interface between your mains socket and the appliance (e.g. TV), transmitting information to the data receiver and the information will display on the dashboard online.
The plan is for installations to be completed by the end of May by the teams at the three UK living labs and the two in Bulgaria. This includes both online help via FAQs as well as a support line to answer any queries. There will be opportunity for users share experiences and learning with fellow DEHEMS participants via the DEHEMS Facebook group as well as at focus groups. We will also be asking everyone involved to help us with an online or telephone survey.