Electric vehicles have been around for a long time, but what the Prius did for energy efficient cars revolutionized the industry and allowed the concept of energy efficient cars to hit prime time. What was is it that allowed the Prius to achieve such success? Well, for one, the makers of the Prius knew that a gas-electric hybrid would be the way to go to gain worldwide acceptance, largely because of driving range. You must be able to go for a cross country trip, or at least drive a few hundred miles nonstop. Entirely electric vehicles, have only until recently been unable to drive beyond 100 miles on one charge. The near term solution; the gas-electric hybrid. Ok, so the gas-electric hybrid was the functional key to the idea gaining worldwide acceptance, but that alone would not be enough. Being such a new technology, the Prius had to have some way for the driver to easily understand what the car was doing and how it was achieving such high levels of efficiency. So, they designed the Prius with the ever so attractive dashboard tells you when you are running off of the batteries and when you are running off of gas. It also tells you what your usage is (miles per gallon) and when your braking is charging the batteries. It’s easy to understand and allows the user to be in control over their usage. If you want the power, you can step on the gas and be just like any other fuel efficient car, but you always have the option of conserving.
Energy efficient homes are a similar animal. Most home buyers, if you ask them, would tell you that they would like an energy efficient home, but don’t know how to tell the difference between an energy efficient home and an energy hog. Programs like Energy Star and Earth Advantage have helped this dramatically by offering third party certifications and construction assistance..etc. However, home buyers have yet to put this as a prime reason for selecting an energy efficient home. Why is that? I think that a primary reason for this is that they don’t understand it and they don’t feel in control. There’s nothing showing them in real time that this home IS being energy efficient. They can’t see insulation, the air sealing, the duct sealing..etc. and they haven’t lived in the home yet to experience it. Even after you live in an energy efficient home, the benefits are fleeting. So what we need is a smart home with systems that:
- Prove to us that this home is in fact energy efficient with some graphic, real time information
- Have systems that give us control over our usage
- Is easy to use and understand and even fun
Systems that meet these criteria are widely available, but I have yet to see them implemented in a new home or renovation. Systems such as the Energy Detective (screenshot below) is a simple system that monitors real time electricity usage, logs it and allows users to be in control over their usage. It also has a graphically pleasing dashboard that is easy to understand.
Ok, so this is the pleasing, easy to understand, graphic part, but only us energy geeks will spend much time looking at this dashboard on our computers. So, load this on an ipad and mount it under the kitchen cabinet. There you go; a simple, functional, easy to understand, graphic interface that gives the user control.
Of course, this could be the tip of the iceberg if one so chose. The second piece that I would add to this system would be a thermostat that met all of these requirements. Heating and cooling can be responsible for up to 50% of our home energy usage and a properly configured thermostat can be very effective at optimizing the right heating system. However, the thermostat has been due for a makeover for a very long time. Of course, programmable thermostats are available, but who understands how programmable thermostats work? Not many of us. Studies have shown that at least 90% of programmable thermostats are programmed incorrectly. There failure is largely due to the complexity and lack of flexibility, not to mention that they just aren’t fun or cool at all. A company called Nest has changed all of this and developed a programmable thermostat that is easy to use, graphically pleasing and very flexible. You can even change the settings from your iphone or remotely on your computer from anywhere.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCJ1PnVlzIE[/tube]
Of course, these items do not replace the importance of high performance insulation, air sealing, energy efficient windows and doors, high efficiency heating and cooling systems, lighting..etc. These are all of the systems that allow a truly efficient home to be efficient, and are beyond the scope of this article, but done right and paired with the graphic interface and smart simple and user friendly controls, I think that we are beginning to discover the Prius of Homes.
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