Using technology helps to lower bills

A future that determines the keys on the computer, bath time for each family, the exact amount of the next portion of the dog food and the timing of irrigation of the garden. He is far? Already arrived at the house in Belo Horizonte and Vanessa Alexandre Gontijo and Giovana daughters, Barbara and Camila, residents of Bairro Tirol (Region Barreiro). He developed his own techniques, but large Brazilian companies are studying the mass deployment of similar systems. At first, the investment may seem high, but the economy as the companies' cash and the consumer's pocket promises to be even bigger.

Tired of paying hefty water bills and light, the systems analyst Alexandre Gontijo developed a program to control energy in your home handled by the Internet. "The girls came out of the rooms and left the lights and TV on. In the end, I paid more than $ 250 per month. Now, the lamps have a fixed operating time. When this period ends, they simply hang up. Even the shower is controlled. They have eight minutes to take a shower before the water gets cold, "he explains. The result was a savings of 25% in the account. Not counting the more than $ 80 that failed to pay water. "The hose also has time limit. With that, the hours of irrigation of the garden and ended up cleaning the sidewalk, "he says. Experience home has become a business and now it sells its creation in AVG systems.

The idea of measuring the consumption of each household to further control over the family budget is under consideration by major energy companies, who can install an intelligent network in homes across the country as early as next year . The U.S. company Silver Spring Networks (SSN), a leading network solutions intelligent energy in the United States, today announced a partnership with mining Axxiom controlled by Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais (Cemig), which owns 49% participation, Nansen, Leme Engineering and FIR Capital, among others. The goal is to launch in the first half of 2010 a pilot project in Brazil, with great chance of getting in Minas Gerais. The changes were many. Beginning with R $ 7.6 billion that the utility would save a year with the solution to the theft of energy, cats, according to the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel). "The economy could result, including the reduction of the account," says executive vice president of Silver Spring, John O'Farrell.

This control would be possible to exchange the meter by a mechanical code, which brings a coupled electronic board that allows connection between power utilities and their customers through a network of wireless communication. With the new equipment, which costs about $ 360, you could tell the customer, for example, what is spent on specific times and equipment, both in real and in kilowatts. "It's all radio frequency wireless. If the company realizes that you use a lot of washing to 19h can contact you and offer discount for use off-peak hours, "said commercial director Axxiom, Miguel Sarmento. He also emphasizes that knowledge about where the spending power makes decisions about where to save, how to delete a light that always stays on unnecessarily. Another feature is that the ligament or power, which now depends on the presence of the technician on site, can be performed virtually by the company in a matter of seconds.

Another step is the communication between company and client, especially in front of as blackouts occurred on Tuesday in the Itaipu hydroelectric plant which left 18 Brazilian states in the dark. According to O'Farrell, who has over 25 years of experience in the U.S. and other countries, a smart grid could have helped reduce the impact and duration of power failure. "The crash could have been isolated and the energy quickly redirected from other sources for the affected regions. For those consumers whose phones were not affected, could be sent messages (SMS) with accurate information on the blackout, "exemplified.

Standby mode, but the costs

The incessant search for Alexandre Gontijo alternatives that reduce the cost of the house may have one more ally. In the next year, the GT, a company of The Electronic Valley in Santa Rita do in the south of the state, plans to market the Econergy, a system that puts an end to the consumption of unwanted electronic devices that are in standby mode, known as stand by. The promise is to reduce by 95% in expenditure generated by the standby mode. "Today, a TV set out spend, on average, 10 watts per hour even off. With the use of Ecoenergy this expense will increase to 0.5 watts per hour. In the bill, which may have at least 15% of the value represented by consumption in standby, this share will fall to just 0.2%, "said Frederick Ferrari, director of development for GT.

Simply consumers to buy an adapter that is plugged into and connect devices that consume up to 1000 watts per hour in normal operation. The Econergy will also have an individual control signal that is connected devices there are on or at rest. "When you send the command mode, which will simulate the TV, STB or DVD were off. Therefore, there is no expenditure of energy. The consumption of 0.5 watts / hour is only the Ecoenergy "he explains. It is expected that the cost, estimated at $ 70 to $ 75, can be compensated in about seven months.

Also with the aim of increasing control of the bill, the Inoval, also located in Santa Rita do, is preparing to market the Econo $ Sensor, digital display that will inform, in Reais, the amount of energy consumed in the home. "For now the Econo $ Sensor only measures the energy used and shows the financial value to be paid in reais, but the intention is that the person be informed about is spending by the household sector or trade, is the outlet, shower and refrigerator and until it controls the leakage of energy, "said Pedro Ribeiro, one of those behind the project along with Dênio Vilela de Lima and a group of students from the National Institute of Telecommunications (Inatel). The device, with estimated value of $ 100 to $ 150, will still allow the establishment of targets and inform the consumer if the value set has already passed.

And the potential savings do not stop there. Natural gas, which is due to arrive in Belo Horizonte beginning of next year, may represent a reduction of at least 30% compared to the energy. "The gas would be at least 30% more economical to heat the same amount of water. Still be associated with solar energy to further increase efficiency, "explains Rodrigo Fiuza, adviser to the board's commercial Gasmig.

Source: AU