After the guest lecture about Shell and their technologies, one could wonder how Shell extends their capabilities with respect to energy consumption to consumers. One of their recent contributions is led by Shell Technology Ventures and Energy Impact Partners. Shell Technology Ventures decided to invest in ‘Sense’, which is a device that could collect and indicate energy data all over your home. In fact, it goes a step further and shows real-time information about what light or device is turned on (John, 2016). The most fascinating feature? Probably the ability to show that even your garage door was opened and at what time.
What makes Sense even more popular is the easy installation. There are no difficult smart meters or installation equipment required. An electrician could install it within 30 minutes by connecting it to the electric panel and Wi-Fi. Hereby, it measures the electricity one million times a second. Even though there might be ‘unknown devices’, you just report the device and this will automatically change. To make it even better, everything can be managed through an app for android or iOS. What distinguishes Sense from similar devices is that it is able to provide real-time information, measure whether a ‘non-smart’ device is turned on and the newest feature that is able to monitor home solar PV system production. All with all, a promising device if you are interested in what devices are turned on at home.
So, it sounds fascinating what Sense could offer, which comes at a price of 299 dollars. However, is it really worth it? The best it could offer you in terms of cost savings is to shift the consumption to off-peak hours. Why would someone want to know when and what light is turned on? Assuming you forgot the light on when leaving your home, are you really going to turn back to turn off the light? Obviously, there are also some benefits. For example, with the increased use of smart doors and locks, the locks are easier to hack. When you see that a door has been opened, indicated by a push message at 3:00am, Sense becomes more like a security device. Additionally, when you are not at home and expect your child to come home from school, the push message that a light has been turned on functions more like a confirmation your child came home (or less favorable, a burglar has entered your home). This is also the limitation of Sense, it shows the energy use and what is turned on and off, but does not provide additional information about who or why.
In short, for 299 dollars you could install a security system which provides all but the energy consumption features of Sense. Competitors like the Google Nest or Toon might also be cheaper alternatives, although Sense provides more details. These energy disaggregation technologies that are quite new to the market can be viewed as disruptive. More and more variations of these devices enter the market, with Sense being one of the most detailed and accurate. However, one could wonder why consumers buy those devices. Do you think the advantages and features compensate for the price? Or more generally, do you think it makes ‘Sense’?
References
John, J. S. (2016, September 01). Startup Sense Raises $14M for Super-Accurate Home Energy Disaggregation. Retrieved September 25, 2017, from https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/startup-sense-raises-14m-for-super-accurate-home-energy-disaggregation
Shell. (n.d.). Shell Technology Ventures. Retrieved September 25, 2017, from http://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/innovating-together/shell-technology-ventures.html
I honestly don’t think that it really makes “Sense”. You raise interesting points, which I totally agree on, e.g. going back home to close a light when you see it in real time.
I think for this price you don’t get much. You only get the data of the amount of energy that you are using and which devices are using it. There are already many other energy companies who provide you with the amount of energy that you are using. I believe that knowing about all the lights in your home, in real time, will be over kill, especially because you cannot engage with it in any way.
Interesting post, Yasin. Thank you for sharing! In my opinion, ‘Sense’ is a promising development. However, for me, ‘Sense’ would currently not be worth $299, -. From what I have read in your article and in other user reviews, the product provides some interesting information about energy usage of different devices in your house. From a sustainable point of view, this could be very useful.
However, in my opinion the usage of the ‘Sense’ could be more user friendly. After purchasing the product, you will first have to call an electrician, to install the device. Furthermore, the device will automatically analyse the electricity usage of different devices in your house. According to different user reviews, this installation process can sometimes take around 5 or 6 weeks, before, for example, a fridge is found. If your Wi-Fi connection is not very good, it could even happen that devices in your home cannot be found. In my opinion, this problem should be overcome before I would be willing to purchase the ‘Sense’.
The mobile application of ‘Sense’ which provides the information of electricity usage of devices looks decent. In your blog, you stated that you can see on the application whether a light is still on in your house. This can be seen trough the application. However, for me, it would be the most interesting if I could switch the light of immediately as well, by using the application. Currently, there are enough mobile applications (such as ‘Samsung Smart Home System’ or ‘Turn of the Lights’) which are able to switch of lights, start washing machines or program dish washers. This would make ‘Sense’ a very interesting product. Again, Yasin, thank you for the post. With some serious improvements, the product would make sense for me.