Can smart-grid energy savings be fun? Some say yes

The smart grid is often referred to as the “internet of things,” but does the comparison really hold up?

In one way, the analogy works pretty well: the “regular” internet links computers (and now smartphones, etc.) around the world with one another to create one giant, interconnected, information-based thing. In a similar way, the smart grid would network homes, businesses, power plants, transmission and distribution systems, electric cars, etc., to create one giant, interconnected, energy-based (and information-based) thing.

When you think about how each of these internets is used, though, the resemblance isn’t so clear. We rely on the server-based web for news, business, social interaction and entertainment. But the internet of things would be all about monitoring, measuring and managing energy — hardly fun-and-games-type material.

Or is it? Some smart-grid observers believe fun and games (along with game theory) hold the key to getting the most out of the internet of things. The argument boils down to psychology: when it comes to choosing long-term benefits over short-term rewards, we humans are notoriously hard to motivate, and the smart grid is nothing if not long-term-focused. While a single networked appliance, used properly, could save us, say, $30 a year or $300 over a 10-year span — which sounds like real money — that boils down to an average energy bill impact of $2.50 a month. For many of us, the resounding response to that is likely, “Meh.”

Turn that $2.50-a-month savings challenge into a game or competition, though, some say, and more of us might actually jump aboard the energy-efficiency bandwagon.

For example, Navetas — which makes a variety of home energy monitors, displays and apps — developed a game that lets users test their knowledge about which household appliances are the biggest electricity-guzzlers. Originally developed as an educational tool for schools, the online Navetas Energy Challenge can provide some eye-opening surprises, even for those who consider themselves energy-savvy. Who would guess, for instance, that, over the course of a week, boiling an electric kettle three times a day (5.25 kilowatt-hours) consumes more than twice as much energy as running the washing machine four times (2.24 kilowatt-hours)?

The goal of the game is to help raise awareness of just how tricky conserving energy can be, and how more information — especially the right information — about consumption can help lower bills. Unfortunately, that’s information many consumers aren’t regularly getting at the moment.

“Energy users are faced with electricity bills that present a total usage figure and cost, with absolutely no insight into how this breaks down at an appliance level,” says Chris Saunders, CEO of Navetas. “Our study has revealed that many consumers could be jumping to the wrong conclusion about how much it is costing them to use certain appliances and not taking into account household behavior. Without this detailed information, many attempts at being more energy efficient could be focusing on completely the wrong areas.”

According to Navetas, the government — particularly the UK government, which is currently planning a nationwide rollout of smart meters — needs to do a lot more to help make this happen.

Utility companies can play a part too. A Colorado-based tech firm called Simple Energy is targeting them with a software-as-a-service platform that supports online, community-based contests for saving electricity. Using social networks like Facebook, along with game mechanics, Simple Energy’s solution lets utilities offer real prizes for customers who save the most energy in competitions.

“People are naturally social and they like competing to win points and prizes,” says Yoav Lurie, Simple Energy’s CEO and co-founder. “This is an intuitive way for people to easily save energy.”