Making energy use visible
A lot is being done for energy conservation by way of smarter, greener building, and product design is getting smarter. For most people, though, there remains a disconnect in the way they use their energy, and how they want to use their energy. It’s too hard to see.
But it’s not invisible. For one thing, we get that bill every month.
We see how much energy we used when we get that bill, and how much it cost, but it’s not enough. We need to know how we’re using energy moment by moment. We need to know how much it’s costing, right now. We need immediate and simple feedback, like we get from a speedometer: we need to know how fast we’re going, and we need to know when to slow down. A monthly electric bill can’t do that.
On the dashboard of most hybrid cars there’s an example of the kind of feedback we need – real-time display of miles-per-gallon (or KM/L). Up until recently, most gauges on the dash were there because “driving blind” would put us needlessly in danger of breakdowns or traffic tickets. But because the dangers of overconsumption are no less real, we’re beginning to see a new kind of design that’s going to change the way we use our energy, by making our energy use visible.
An interesting thing about the MPG display is that it’s not coming from new data; it was there all along. We could always calculate our fuel efficiency, except that it was a little like those monthly electric and heating bills. We can get a very broad idea of our energy use, but we can’t connect it to what we’re doing very well. When we receive instant feedback, we’ll start connecting our experiences with the energy we’re using.
Prius energy consumption dashboard (Creative Commons photo by geognerd on Flickr)
One thing that strikes me about the Honda Prius energy dashboard, though, is that it’s not very clear, at least at first. There’s a lot on the screen, and since I don’t drive one, I don’t know how it responds in real-time, while driving. My best guess is that the dashboard pictured is showing one trip that’s lasted 25 minutes. After about 15 minutes the driving conditions changed, and fuel efficiency dropped. Even if that’s right, I don’t see why the minutes are plotted from right to left. Convention usually has an x-axis moving from left to right.
If a Prius owner comes along, I’d love to hear an explanation of what this stuff means, and what they think of it.
No related posts.
Sun 2 Mar 02008
The Toyota Prius fuel consumption screen works in real time. Actually, there are two screens. The one pictured shows a 30-minute graph with average fuel economy plotted in 5-minute increments. The bars on the right are the most recent. The reason the fuel economy is lower in the past is because those bars were at the beginning of the trip. The temperature was low at the time, so the gas engine was running more then normal to warm up as well as provide heat to the passenger cabin. Where it says “Current” on the right side of the screen is where the instantaneous fuel economy is shown. The car was stopped when this photo was taken, hence 0mpg. When the car is moving, a bar will come up and will show the car’s fuel efficiency at that moment. This has an impact on how you drive. If I see I am achieving 70mpg while going 35mph in a 40mph zone and no one is behind me, I am perfectly content going below the speed limit because my fuel economy may drop if I speed up. Actually, if I am going 35mph on level terrain, I would be using the electric motor and the display would indicate 100mpg. The second screen related to fuel consumption shows a diagram of the engine, motor, and battery. It lets you monitor which system is powering the car and it also gives you an instantaneous fuel economy reading. You can toggle between the two screens.
Mon 3 Mar 02008
Hey, thanks for stopping by!
So, if I understand correctly, the smaller bar that is between 25 & 20 was located between 20 & 15 five minutes before the picture was taken. If that’s true, that makes some sense, though I still wonder why the designers chose a right-to-left orientation rather than left-to-right.
I found a page that has a good breakdown of how the other screen works, including comparison with an older design:
http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-how.htm
This screen is toggled on by tapping “Energy” on the Consumption screen.
I also notice that little car symbol in some of the time intervals, with the legend (under “Consumption”) indicating that “[car] = 50Wh Regenerated.”
What is the significance of regenerating 50Wh? Is the idea to indicate how much energy you are making, alongside what you are using?
Fri 7 Mar 02008
A friend recently pointed out to me that timelines are neaerly always designed with a right-to-left orientation; the present is on the right while time recedes to the left. This is a clear example of a timeline…
Sat 8 Mar 02008
I’ve been driving a Prius for the last year. I started out mostly watching the diagram screen which gave me a good feel for what actions engaged the motor and what actions recharged the battery. Now I mostly use the trend screen to watch my efficiency.
In Seattle I lived in an apartment that had its meter just outside the door and I would peek at how fast or slow it was spinning based on having my computers and stereo on versus having everything shut down. But the specific metrics on that meter didn’t tell me much beyond the obvious that my toys use a lot of juice.
I think it would be interesting to put this raw, live consumption data into something that the average person can understand. Perhaps something that could at a glance show current consumption against a monthly “budget”.
Sun 9 Mar 02008
Hi Michael – this is great – g
Mon 17 Mar 02008
Hey tonx, that energy screen for your home exists. It’s called a TED which stands for The Energy Detective. It consists of two units. The data collector gets connected to your electric panel and transmits a signal to the display unit. All you do is key in your per kw/hr rate and the date you typically get your electric bill. From there, the unit is able to display all kinds of neat data, such as real-time energy usage, daily usage, month-to-date usage, and my favorite, projected monthly usage. There is a button that allows you to toggle between watts and cost. The unit has more than paid for itself over the past 1 1/2 of ownership. Instead of CFL bulb rebates I think the electric company along with federal incentives should make this devise free for all Americans. Why it isn’t more popular is probably due to underfunded marketing. Do a google search.
Mon 17 Mar 02008
Hey Joe and Tonx –
There are quite a few devices like this on the market (though, mostly in Europe, so far) and in R&D. We’re going to talk about as many of them as we can, here on the blog. One of my goals here is to look at these new types of information appliances and encourage a conversation that will lead to more, and better.
Definitely feel free to write up cool things you have found, along these lines, here.
Here’s the device Joe writes about:
http://www.theenergydetective.com/index.html