It is plainly obvious that, in order to begin to cut back on your energy consumption, you must first be aware of how, when and where you are using that energy. Once that data is in the hands of the consumer, it is proven that power use can be reduced significantly.
Here are eight apps we’ve found to help you monitor your utility usage:
1. Meter Readings on iTunes gives you a simple and easy way to monitor your electricity, gas and water usage by tracking your household utility meters. Your consumption is displayed in easy to understand graphs, with costs and savings calculated in order to help you save money.
2. An app called ‘Wotz‘ from a team of students at the University of California lets users explore and play with data gathered by the ‘Green Button’ initiative. The app provides ‘shape’ based games based on your data and uses creative ways to illustrate usage, for instance rating consumption in terms like how many cheeseburgers worth of energy you have used!
3. British Gas have hired apps developers to produce an official British Gas app that lets you upload your gas and electricity meter readings direct, leading to more accurate bills and meaning that you only pay for the energy you use. You can also gain extra Nectar points with this method.
4. TV Energy Labels is an app that tells you which makes of television are the most energy efficient but it is based on the EU regulations which assume that you watch television four hours a day everyday of the year.
5. The GreenMeter is an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that computes your motor vehicle’s power and fuel usage and works out if you are driving efficiency. It also offers tips on how to reduce fuel consumption and lower your environmental impact. It provides real time results for instant feedback and uses a novel algorithm that computes parameters over the entire speed range so does not require GPS.
6. Carbon Footprint is another iPhone and iPod touch app, this time allowing you to track fuel usage for multiple cars by entering data when you refuel. Particularly good for a two car family, you can work out which vehicle is more suited to which kind of trip.
7. Leafully is an award winning app from a Seattle-based team and it helps utility customers visualise their usage data in different ways; like the amount of trees needed to offset someone’s carbon footprint.
8. AlertMe Energy Map lets you to find out the average spend per household in your area, how much electricity and gas is used and how much carbon this creates. Energy Map shows how your borough ranks against others in the UK for energy use and CO2 emissions.
Source: GreenerIdeal