Thinking of ways to save on your utility bills? Wanting to make your home more energy efficient? Well Smart Grid technology is something to learn about. Our nation’s power grid is getting very old. Think about the amount of energy wasted because of this. The power grid needs to be brought into the 21st century, and Smart grid technology is leading the way. Let’s explain what exactly this new technology is and how it can help you at your home or business.
Smart grid technology is a class of technology that uses computer based remote control and automation. It uses two way communication and computer processing that’s used in numerous other industries today. This is beginning to be used in our power plants today as well as many homes and business. What has been the norm for over a hundred years is that the power companies have had to send out thousands of workers countrywide to gather data and figure out consumption to get an idea of what’s being used and what’s needed. Smart Grid technology eliminates a great deal of all this. It brings a great amount of cost savings to everyone involved from the utility companies to the end user.
The use of Smart Meters is a part of this new technology. These meters have many useful features. One of which is telemetering. It eliminates the need for a utility worker to have to physically travel to your home and read the meter. With this feature it can also automatically report power outages for quicker response times. These meters also can keep track of your power usage. It can give very detailed information about your power usage by the hours you use the most electricity to the hours you use the least. How this will benefit you is that part of Smart Grid technology is the power company telling you when peak power usage is. That will be the time rates are highest for usage. You can go back and see when you use the most and adjust to save you money and balance the amount of power that is used everywhere so that there are no shortages.
All in all Smart Grid technology is a great idea and can lead to super savings for your wallet. For more information on this new technology please click here.
www.energy.gov www.smartmeters.com www.npr.org