Comments on: Kill-A-Watt, WolframAlpha, and the itemized electric bill http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/ Strategies for Internet citizens Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:40:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Installing TED (The Energy Detective): a tale of two cultures « Jon Udell http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-157661 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:48:08 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-157661 [...] I wrote about my experience with the Kill-A-Watt, commenters alerted me to the next level in the real-time power monitoring game: gadgets that watch [...]

]]> By: WolframAlpha and Nuclear Boy vs Anderson Cooper and Soledad O’Brien « Jon Udell http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-155841 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:46:37 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-155841 [...] Posted by Jon Udell under Uncategorized Leave a Comment  In a couple of earlier entries I’ve explored how WolframAlpha can inform public discourse involves energy literacy. [...]

]]> By: » Wolfram|Alpha Information/Science http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-133656 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:00:49 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-133656 [...] an example of how Wolfram|Alpha can be used, technology thinker Jon Udell wondered how much nine Watts actually ‘costs’ in real-world terms. Not able to perform the conversions in his head, he used W|A to his advantage. W|A will offer [...]

]]> By: Library F.Y.I. » Featured articles » Wolfram|Alpha http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-133589 Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:08:03 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-133589 [...] an example of how Wolfram|Alpha can be used, technology thinker Jon Udell wondered how much nine Watts actually ‘costs’ in real-world terms. Not able to perform the conversions in his head, he used W|A to his advantage. W|A will offer [...]

]]> By: Computational thinking and energy literacy « Jon Udell http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130972 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:10:46 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130972 [...] December 16, 2009 Computational thinking and energy literacy Posted by Jon Udell under Uncategorized Leave a Comment  One of the themes I’ve been exploring for the past few years is computational thinking. It’s an evocative phrase that has led me in a few different directions. One is my intentional use of tagging and syndication as key strategies for social information management. Another is my growing interest in the kinds of uses of WolframAlpha outlined in Kill-A-Watt, WolframAlpha, and the itemized electric bill. [...]

]]> By: Piet van Oostrum http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130894 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:03:28 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130894 In Holland the average energy consumption per household is 3500 kWh elektricity per year. Plus 2000 m³ natural gas per year.
Of course if you would have a home office + a studio it would be higher.
Our house is very much energy optimized. I just received my yearly overview and in the past year I used 3300 kWh. That is all the energy the house uses, including heating (so no gas). Besides this is all green electricity, so no carbon footprint.
I am kWh-aware because I have noted my monthly meter values most of the time I was a home owner.

]]> By: tozé http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130891 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:19:17 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130891 I suppose we keep below the national average because we use neither electric dishwasher or clothes drier and we only have a couple of laptops. Still, we use a lot of butane/propane for cooking/water heating, which brings the bill a bit down as well, and I guess the majority of Portuguese households still do, although there’s a tendency to go towards electric the last few years.

]]> By: Jon Udell http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130883 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:39:18 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130883 We know, of course, that the American lifestyle is based on conspicuous consumption of energy. But we rarely if ever make this kind of direct comparison.

It would be fascinating to compare a US to a UK or European household in a more detailed way. How much of US power consumption is related to:

- Electronics

- Aging appliances (clothes dryers, fridges) that we have too little incentive to replace

- Categorical differences. Our friends in Wales, for example, use neither a dishwasher nor an electric clothes dryer.

- Size of dwelling.

]]> By: tozé http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130880 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:42:18 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130880 Well, I double checked my calculations of my home consumption twice, and then I looked for documentation: a Portuguese household averages around 380kWh monthly (link: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://www.edvenergia.pt/xFiles/scContentDeployer_pt/docs/articleFile62.pdf&ei=3X0aS6r-LMO24Qbpkp3xAg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBwQ7gEwAg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmedia%2Bconsumo%2Belectricidade%2Bportugal%26hl%3Den), so even by USA average we are WAY lower (mine averages 275, but we make sure we save the most we can.)

]]> By: Hagen Aquarium Radiant Heater 200 Watt 15 inch | Radiant Heater http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130876 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:12:13 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130876 [...] Kill-A-Watt, WolframAlpha, and the itemized electric bill « Jon Udell [...]

]]> By: Jon Udell http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130872 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:49:56 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130872 According to WA it’s 1.3x an average US household.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(1291%2a12)kwh

Sincee we’re running my home office and my wife’s art studio on the same meter as the household, and we’re here almost all the time, it’s arguably not out of bounds.

Still, your reaction is instructive in several ways.

First, I’m certain that the average for a European household is lower, and I’d be interested to see the country by country data if anyone can point to it.

Second, I’m struck by the fact that you evidently have an intuitive sense of what 1291kWh means. I really didn’t until I went through this exercise. It seems to me that when Americans discuss our power use, we talk in terms of dollars, a somewhat loosely-coupled measure given the elastic price of power. We have not learned to think in units of power.

]]> By: Piet van Oostrum http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130870 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:43:45 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130870 Wow, 1291 kWh in one month? That certainly makes it worth killing a few.

]]> By: Jon Udell http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130866 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:35:36 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130866 I’d suspect that a similar single-output measure (instantaneous whole-house kilowatts) would have you or me scurrying around to turn off things if the number was too high

Yes, that’s what the UK devices mentioned here do. In certain cases you’d also want a per-appliance monitor — notably the fridge, so you’d know how its efficiency is decaying.

Crazy that we don’t have these yet in the US.

]]> By: Edward Vielmetti http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130864 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:06:03 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130864 Do you need something complicated to make a dent in user behavior?

Automobiles with real time gas mileage meters show one number (miles per gallon) and drive a whole world of people doing “hypermiling” to get the number as high as they can.

I’d suspect that a similar single-output measure (instantaneous whole-house kilowatts) would have you or me scurrying around to turn off things if the number was too high, and to better understand what the normal was at noon or at 11 pm. And I don’t think it has to be plugged into a 24×7 computerized monitoring system to be effective in changing behavior any more than your car has to provide a perpetual memory of its gas mileage in order for you to drive differently.

]]> By: Jon Udell http://blog.jonudell.net/2009/12/02/kill-a-watt-wolframalpha-and-the-itemized-electric-bill/#comment-130860 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:40:35 +0000 http://blog.jonudell.net/?p=2018#comment-130860 The job isn’t done when you’ve sealed your windows and switched to CFLs.

Absolutely not.

In theory, though, a citizenry that has gone through those residential exercises will be more likely to press for change in the commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors.

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