Energy consumers get more insight into consumption

As part of this effort, individuals and companies are working together to make more efficient use of energy by collecting, storing and analysing detailed energy-usage information in real time from homes across the UK.

The Hildebrand monitoring system enables real-time analysis of electricity usage for households, or even for individual appliances, to help people make better decisions about energy efficiency in the home and minimise their environmental impact.

Hildebrand received funding from the Seventh Framework Programme for EU Research (FP7) for a 30-month research project that would allow stakeholders from local authorities, private businesses and universities to study energy monitoring and its effect on human behavior.

The Hildebrand project involves installing small, low-cost energy monitoring devices at groups of homes in five European cities: Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester in the UK, and Plovdiv and Ivanovo in Bulgaria.

Each of these groups form a ’living lab,’ giving the researchers access to real-world energy usage data, and allowing them to study the behaviour of individuals and their attitudes towards energy management.