Does anyone at HAD know how to spell? Or how to use spell check? Every post has a spelling error (unless it is intentional). Sloppy journalism.

CS3651 FTW!

The concept of the hack is what we were trying to get at with this project. We also need a way to prototype the device as fast as we could, so you can definitely improve upon the design.

There are a lot of ways to make it cheaper.

This is fun, but as the first commenter pointed out, the per outlet cost is exorbitant. I wish they wouldn’t try to pass these off as energy saving. It’s obviously a false economy, both in equipment and in standby-power cost. I’m saving thousands of dollars by leaving my outlets unmodified and using the existing switches.

FUCKING COMMUNISTS!!!!

“We really liked their idea of giving power companies access to SPRIME outlets to reduce power consumption during peak hours, but sadly we don’t see it being implemented in homes any time soon. Catch a video of SPRIME after the rift.”

Yes, because I’d love to have another aspect of my life controlled. I’d love to have my power usage data logged and probably used against me in the future. I’d love it if the power company turned off my stuff whenever they wanted to. This is where personal responsibility really comes in handy.

“Gene, has been using a lot of power during peak hours, and they send him a request asking if they can turn off his refrigerator for short intervals during peak hours. This helps flatten out power production, thus lowering costs for Georgia Power and reducing their waste byproducts. ”

My fridge already has this feature built in. It’s called a “thermostat”.

If someone wants to use this system for their own personal enjoyment, that’s fine. Giving someone else control over it? Idiotic.

@Jacob “giving power companies access”

Although it looks good on paper, I’m pretty certain that this is not a good idea.

The biggest power sinks in a normal household are the ac, the refrigerator, the stove/oven, and possibly the clothes washing machine/dryer. If the power to any of these gets cut for too long, too often, or at the wrong moment the results could be pretty inconvenient.

Imagine if they cut power to your fridge for a little too long. Yummy.

If they cut power to the dryer for 30 minutes when you’re washing work clothes and taking a shower, you end up late.

An lastly, the air conditioner. The highest cooling load is also the hottest part of the day. Not sure about your ac unit, but mine works best if it turns on about 2-3 times an hour for 5-10 minutes each. When I turn it off manually the temp rises fairly quickly, then it has to run longer to get back to the target temp. In the meanwhile, I’m uncomfortable.

Also, What happens when they manage to break the system, and your ac/fridge gets power cycled 20 times in a 2 minute period? Compressors don’t like rapid cycling. Do you really think they’ll even admit to screwing up? At least when they do it now, I’ve got a whole neighborhood with the same problem.

Also, to those of you who might say I’m just being paranoid: If you are lucky enough to have a competent utility company, good for you. I am not so lucky, and neither is a large chunk of south Louisiana.

I went 2 months without power after the last hurricane, and I’ve had 15 blown battery backups over the last 2 years.

There’s no way I’m giving these idiots outlet-level control over anything.

It is call smart grid!
http://www.smartgrid.gov/

Everyone is FREAKING OUT when you talk about the principal of smartgrid and what they ultimately want them to do. It will always be a choice!

We are doing something similar for a session project.

We are controlling what are not essential to human life. There is so much ethic into this type of project.

@eldorel stop panicking! IT is not like you are going to ever see that in the near future. IT will not control your refrigaretor or your air conditioner.

Those things will start in buisness and commercial application before going into houses.

@Jerome
“@eldorel stop panicking! IT is not like you are going to ever see that in the near future. IT will not control your refrigerator or your air conditioner.

Those things will start in buisness and commercial application before going into houses.”

That is incorrect. They are starting with Residential, because the cost to most businesses for turning off power is too high. Most factories have deals with the power company where they are rebated for power outages.

Most larger building pay for power at a flat rate based on peak usage. The reason for this is simple Factories and office building or ‘steady users’ They can pretty easilly calulate and plan for that demand. What they can’t plan for as easily is residential demand.

As Eric noted Duke-Energy already offers a device that connects to your HVAC Compressor (the part that is outside, the inside fan continues to run) The power company can turn off your A/C for up to 20 minutes an hour during a peak usage time. This allows the power company to flatten out the power spike a little. As an insentive they offer your a small refund for any month in which they power cycle your HVAC.

You will find that this will become mandatory for residential “Non Essential” uses in the future. They are already manufacturing Electric Dryers that can tie to the Smart Grid to be turned off during peak times as well.

To my knowledge it isn’t mandatory anywhere yet. But the day will come.

@eldorel

Most compressors have protection against rapid cycling.

If you are blowing UPS’s. You can request your power company connect a data recorder to your meter and they will monitor for voltage fluctuations for a period of time. Normally a week to a month. You can get a copy of the report, and they will work with you to solve the problem if one exists.

The devastation caused by a hurricane can certainly cause enough damage that it can take months to restore power. First they need to rebuild the High Voltage lines, then they work out to the feeders and residential.

Here in Indiana a tornado took out power poles around my home. We were without power for 4 days. That type of devastation takes time to fix.

@deyjavont
why don’t you grammar Nazis just stfu and leave, no one cares you can point out spelling mistakes

this project would be very easy to implement in a home because you by changing some of the original components like a voltage divider instead of a hal-fax sensor to measure voltage and you can get free pic micro controllers from micro-chip you could easily build the circuit that goes in the outlet for 15 to 20 dollars tops.

Just for the record:

1) We don’t see this happening any time in the near future. This was just a class project, but it will be interesting to see how similar projects evolve in the future.

2) Yes, bluetooth is not the best way to do this. There are cheaper alternatives, but this was a simple and standardized way for us to get the prototype done.

3) Security is DEFINITELY important. We just didn’t focus on it for this project.

Thanks for your comments and thanks to HAD!

Government is progressively moving toward being able to tell you…

* What car to drive.
* Where to get your health care and how much of it you are allowed to get.
* What you can and cannot eat.
* How and where you educate (indoctrinate) your children.
* How much power you are allowed to use and how much it costs.

Why is everyone taking this laying down? Might as well put cameras in these SPRIME sockets too.

@Drone
Not everyone is taking it laying down, but far to many have already been indoctrinated through our schools and frankly don’t know any better.

@jake

We have this it is called geo-thermal. The problem is, as always, cost. The cost of the system takes many years to see ROI. This is the same problem with solar in most areas of the country. The cost of system installation far outweighs the benefits received.

@Whatnot: why mention Bush? This crap is coming from the “elite”. Do you still believe there is a difference between Democrat and Republican? If you do, I have a bridge to sell you.

You have to cut down your power use, so the rich can keep their A.C. running. If you don’t, they’ll pass a law to force you, under the guise of “being green” (which is neo-pagan nonsense)

@JB: “neo-pagan”! I love that phrase! Thanks!

i have a cheaper non-bluetooth version of this controlling my pot plants. works great, i can watch my babies while im away.

This is pretty dangerous to do. Your insurance company will do anything they can to back out of covering a fire, and if they find this in the house they have a good excuse. It is definitely in violation of building codes to do that in an outlet like shown. My advice is to just make it a plug-in box that goes over an existing outlet. This way you MIGHT have less liability if something were to happen. Please be careful guys!