Energy-use information transfer for intelligent homes: Enabling energy conservation with central and local displays

Home automation systems, smart meters and broadband Internet connectivity provide excellent potential platforms for introducing advanced energy consumption displays (ECDs) in the home. These displays may be ‘central’ (one per home) or ‘local’ (specific to the location where an individual energy-use event takes place). Methods for motivating energy-saving behaviours and for presenting energy-use information on these two display types are discussed. Consideration is given to the energy units to be displayed, the method of display, how to display the information temporally, and how the display information might be categorised (by fuel, by appliance, by room, etc.). The facility to set goals via an energy consumption display is identified as a key method for motivating consumers. The presented information needs to be grouped effectively to encourage effective energy-saving efforts and several potential information groupings for local display are presented, based on a categorisation of user interaction with individual types of appliance.