A roving sensor instead of a badly placed thermostat: CMU aims to cut home energy bills
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing a low-cost mobile sensor that moves from room to room measuring temperature and air quality, so heating and cooling can work more precisely.
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Video: YouTube · College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University · youtube.com
Heating and cooling can account for more than half of a home's energy use. A team at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh wants to reduce that share with better measurement data. The problem: a thermostat next to an exterior door reads too cold, one on a sunny wall too hot – and many buildings have none at all or are poorly insulated.
Researchers around architecture professor Erica Cochran Hameen are therefore building a low-cost mobile sensing robot that moves through a home and records temperature and air quality in every room. "A Roomba roams around your house because it knows that dust doesn't stay in one place," Cochran Hameen says. The aim is a system that lets all of a building's systems talk to each other. The device is being developed with the Carnegie Bosch Institute; classes have already been held for interested residents of Pittsburgh's Homewood neighbourhood.
In parallel, engineer Destenie Nock is studying how much energy a household needs to meet basic needs: by her estimates, a one-bedroom home of about 1,000 square feet (roughly 93 square metres) requires 600 to 1,300 kilowatt-hours of electricity depending on the heating type. Nock proposes rates with a flat access fee covering a minimum amount of energy and predictable bills, plus incremental charges on top – similar to telecom plans.