"Smart Meters" Outsmarted! - Isis Project No 2871

A new utility metering device helps consumers identify the use, or more appropriately misuse, of appliances in the home and work environment.

Market Opportunity

So-called “Smart Meters” are currently available to measure electricity supply but only provide information on total consumption in half-hourly periods. By altering behaviour when using electricity the consumer can significantly reduce their consumption, save money and reduce their CO2 footprint. The question remains for the consumer “How do I easily identify exactly where I’m wasting electricity?” Until now, there hasn’t been any easy and readily available response for the consumer.

The Oxford Invention

A new prototype electricity meter, the Geni-e™ Meter, has been successfully tested within the Engineering Department at the University. The single-point monitoring Geni-e™ interrogates mains supply to the building of interest. Then, by identifying changes to the power drawn from the supply and recording time dependent (both short-term and log-term) characteristics can accurately identify the type, or even the individual appliance being used. The Oxford Geni-e™ meter does not need satellite-monitoring devices (for example on each plug socket); it can identify hard-wired appliances (cookers or immersion heaters) and could easily be linked to a PC. The PC or other user interface could analyse the data supplied by the Oxford Geni-e™ meter to identify appliance use/misuse and direct the consumer towards behavioural or process changes that results in significant reductions in utility use. The Geni-e™ meter uses acquired data including waveform, time of day use and length of appliance operation to determine probabilistically what the appliance is. In this way the Geni-e™ meter incorporates a learning mode and can independently identify appliances when they are used for the first time. As the device could also identify appliances operating outside of their normal modes of electricity consumption, the Geni-e™ could help identify malfunctioning appliances. To summarise the Oxford Geni-e™ meter delivers:-

• Specific information to consumers, helping them make informed decisions about appliance use that can directly save electricity,
• A single-point interrogation of the mains supply into the building providing building-wide information on appliance use or misuse,
• Can clearly identify short and long terms savings by analysing the captured data,
• The theory behind the Geni-e™ electricity meter could also be applied to both gas and water metering.

Geni-e™ - The Genius Meter? Why of course, it is from Oxford.

Patent Status

This work is the subject of a patent application, and Isis would like to talk to companies interested in commercialising this technology. Please contact the Isis Project Manager to discuss this opportunity

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Request Further Information: Project Number 2871 "Smart Meters" Outsmarted!