Technology <> Energy

I'm not a fringe lunatic because of my contemptuous belief in our future smart grid. I just question the end result...that's all. I personally believe that technology <> energy and the more technology we throw at our smart grid, the more energy we will end up consuming, both on a total basis and on a per capita basis.

Look what energy efficiency has brought your household: five TVs instead of three; two refrigerators instead of one; six wireless phone outlets to eliminate all that bothersome walking to the other room to field a call; a larger housal unit -- requiring a six ton 16 SEER AC unit instead of a four ton 11 SEER unit because your 3,360 sq ft Garage Majal needs the additional cooling.

Look what technology has brought your household: a DVR on each TV, along with a cable box or satellite receiver, or a digital converter box if you don't have either of those; plasma HDTVs that consume more power than the original cathode ray tube you had in your living room; a blue ray player and an HD DVD player 'cause you didn't know which format was gonna win; sixteen different AC adaptors to accommodate all those must-have-at-all-times electronics like Boysenberries, iPhones, and iPods.

On top of my firm belief that we will save precisely nothing through technological improvements to our grid comes this fantastic summary provided by General Electric's Smart Grid Solutions Team in the latest IEEE Power & Energy Journal:

• Smart grids are not really about doing things a lot differently than the way they are today. Rather, they are about doing more of what we already do --...leveraging existing technologies to a greater extent while driving a higher level of integration to realize the synergies across enterprise integration.

What the fuck does that mean?

You know, it doesn't really matter what it means, except that you can be assured smart grid isn't about you. It's all about expanding the role the electric provider has in providing its service to you; the role that a handful of actors, including the utilities themselves, will have in creating the technologies the electric provider will use. Google, Cisco, Control4, Trilliant-- all of them vying for their own slice of that smart pie, to own the operating system for the future Home Area Network, in-home displays for energy management, to become owners of the communication protocols required for your grid connectivity; to establish the connections for variable pricing markets that may soon be the only way for you pay for your electricity.

It's no stretch of anyone's imagination that someday you'll be able to contract for the Friends & Family Electric Plan, where you pay your own rate for charging your Palm Pilot at anyone's house who also subscribes to Your Circle. You'll get access to all your Rollover Watts, with unlimited text messaging from your home energy management device. You will be able to day-trade your kilowatts; you'll be able to buy your own power on the GridPoint spot market or arrange for bilateral energy contracting with a rooftop PV owner in Kansas. You'll be able to sell power you don't use; you'll offer decremental bids for energy via your Boysenberry while commuting into work.

And with each and every market transaction, with each on-line review of your energy usage patterns, and each time you just plug your old incandescent lamp into the wall socket -- someone's gonna fuck you out of a little more of your time and money.

SEER

Although unknown to his neighbors, my brother-in-law Marc has unbridled access to his condominium rooftop. Although I don't know, and am unsure about his personal habits...one would think that in his San Diego sun he could grow quite the killer homegrown stash.

But I digress. I was thinking about his and my sister's air conditioning unit. It's likely mounted on the rooftop, with the refrigerant line running from the roof down to his first story unit. I was wondering about the efficiency.

My house is on the precipice of a new cooling/heating system. Built in 1991, I have a few observations about my existing environmental "system". For years, we've dealt with summers of high temps upstairs, and a cool downstairs, and winters of hotter than hell upstairs, and freezing downstairs. And although I haven't calculated it, the largest portion of our home's energy usage is directly attributable to the heating/cooling needs. This is likely the same for any home in America.

I am blessed to work for SMUD. Last Thursday, I attended a presentation by a co-worker who detailed the specifics of his own home's energy usage before and after a massive investment in both energy efficient and comfort based improvements. A total EYE OPENER. EVERY issue that I have today, he had, and was able to rectify.

First -- the disparate temperature difference between rooms, as mentioned.
Second -- the long delay in getting hot water to the extremities of the house; the kitchen, and the upstairs.
Third -- Uneven room pressures when interior doors are closed.
Fourth -- High energy draw from the furnace fan.
Fifth -- Air infiltration.
Sixth -- Higher energy draw during the cooling season.

His was a 1998 SMUD advantage home (an example at the time of good efficiency) and was still able to justify $20,000 in improvements to make it both more comfortable and efficient. I am more than willing to do the same.

My 1991 home, built here in the tract-home wasteland of Elk Grove, was one of the first during the 18-year housing boom. It is closer to SACTOWN than most zip codes, where most jobs exist. But, the tract-home mentality of offering low home prices and not giving a shit about the long-term operating costs of a house were readily apparent. Several neighbors suffer from both leaking windows and leaking roofs, and I'm sure ALL of us suffer from the one-size-fits-all approach to HVAC. I personally had issue with an undersized electrical service panel, but outside of this, the issues I have are mainly creature comforts. And energy bills.

Such things might be commonplace. But I have a distinct feeling they don't have to be. Consider $20,000 on top of a $350,000 mortgage, for complete satisfaction and reduced energy bills. I am willing to try this. I spent a lot of money on solar panels to make a difference, and I thought I made decent improvements in personal energy consumption but I have a long way to go. And now I am armed with new information.

At 17 years old, and having sacrificed home improvements to pay off my mortgage, a shitload of replacements are needed in the next few years. A rundown of my home's infrastructure:

Fences -- all replaced last month. Good for the next 20 years.
Carpet -- original! And man, does it look like shit.
Water heater -- original.
HVAC -- all original.
Kitchen cabinets and countertops -- original, but likely we'll want better in 3-5 years.
Roof -- likely OK for the next 15 years.
Windows -- some mold, but overall acceptable.
Siding -- OK, I've kept up with caulking and painting maintenance.
Stucco -- just fine.

The big ticket items are the water heater and HVAC systems. And, while replacing them, I will spent the incremental difference and get a whole house evaluation and will fix all the things that need fixing to get our house to near zero energy usage from the grid. Mark my words...I will have a house that draws in the bottom 10% of all SMUD customers. I will achieve this both through personal consumption changes and through home efficiency measures.