The Energy Detective

The Energy Detective, also known as TED, is an energy demand feedback device that promotes energy conservation by making residential consumers aware of how much electrical energy is being used in their homes.
Essentially, TED is no different from the utility company energy meter on the outside of a residence, but it is displayed indoors at a place where it can be more conveniently read, and displays some extra information of interest to a consumer. The device comes in two parts - an electromagnetic transducer that sits at the power mains to measure the total power usage and transmits it over the power wiring, and a receiver device that receives the signal and displays it to the user.
TED tracks kilowatt-hours, and optionally computes cents per hour and estimates the month's electric bill.
TED's transmitter only transmits its signal over a single phase of household wiring. Most houses have two incoming phases divided evenly throughout the house. TED's receiver usually can only receive if it's plugged into an outlet on the same phase as its transmitter. A phase bridge, such as one compatible with X10 home automation equipment, can overcome this limitation. Despite TED's ability to only transmit over a single phase, it does include the necessary equipment to properly measure power usage on both phases.
One research project by the Florida Solar Energy Center has successfully used the device to develop a protocol which can be used to inventory the electrical demand of all household appliances. This same research has installed the device in twenty households with the intention of evaluating pre/post household behavior after a year of having the device available. Research results will be available in early 2008.
The TED receiver displays power measurements with a resolution of 10 watts, and updates every 1 second. The actual measurement hardware in TED may have a higher resolution, with a granularity as low as 1 watt. All data is stored in nonvolatile memory, so there is no data loss on power outage.
On June 30, 2009 the TED 5000 was released. The 5000 model is an upgrade to the TED 1000 and has several enhancements including:
* Web based software.
* A wireless display unit.
* Up to 10 years worth of memory storage.
* Ability to transmit data over both phases (eliminating the need for phase bridges).
* Improved sensors with a 1-watt resolution.
* Easily exportable data.
* More advanced graphing and historical options.

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