Power Bill payers/ Parents

I am doing a design project for a class at university, its to do with a power system to replace the current analogue power meter thats found in the fuse box. the power company is after a modern system and is prepared to add many features into it to benifit the user, (since it costs more for installation than for building the thing, so they want it to be good)

the survey is kinda long, but please don't let that discourage you, copy the whole thing and answer questions one at a time, add coments if you wish.

OK thanks people
here come my questions. (these are not going to be used for any purpose other than my personal understanding, for my assignment. if you think any of the questions are confidential then you can PM me the answers)

section 1

1) Are you a Parent, Billpayer, or both?

2) How old are your children if you are a parent
2a) How old are You if you are not a parent

3) how many other people in your house? do they share the paying of the bill? (i.e. in a shared house situation)

4) does your power company have a set price per Kw, or do they charge based on peak and off peak usage?

5) how do you pay your power bill?
a) mail
b) direct debit (from bank acocunt)
c) internet
d) bill pay, post office...



SITUATION

A power company has approached my university, they are undergoing a project to create a replacement for the current analouge metering systems which are accurate to only 4%

As part of their project to outfit the entire country with this new technology they are wishing to install new features that do not cost them much more, but have benifits to both parties.

They are asking my class to create and design the power system that surrounds this new technology. (from a user power company interaction perspective)

Their interests are:
Spreading the load of power between peak and off peak times to avoid new power stations needing to be built

They will acheive this by changing the prices on a 30 min - hour, or peak/offpeak time basis. meaning that the User/ bill payer will need to be able to know these changes in price via a device or interface within the home.

please give the following answer a 1-5 rating
1)i like(5) or dislike(1) the idea of the power companys changing the price of power over the day, week, month, year.

1a) however with variable prices definatly coming in,
would you prefer a set price for a base quantity of electricity, with anything over the threashold being charged at spot prices(users pay more for excessive use),
or all electricity being charged at spot prices nomatter how much or how little you use (costs of electricity are shared between all users equally)



This system will definatly have these properties:
-Real time power usage monitoring.
-Real time price display.
-a way to educate the user on ways to reduce power usage based on their own trends.

These following options i can add based on my choice. please rank each in order of importance to you. 1 means, you don't care. 5 means, you would appreciate it.

--------Users--------

1a) being able to have multiple bill payers within the house, (for example a flat mate, each has their own power usage monitored, and each pays their own share directly to the power company, few hassles.

1b) being able to have virtual users, their usage is monitored by the bill payer, but they do not pay the bill themselves. i.e. kids, grandmother living at home.... usefull perhaps to educate wastefull members of the household about poewr usage.

-------appliance features--------

2a) being able to tell what appliance is using power and how much its using. i.e. the dryer, the tv....

2b) being told via a method (txt SMS cell phone message, email, tv... anything) that it would save you money to use wastefull appliances during different times, or that turning them off at the wall would save you money. (reminders/ usefull info)

2c) being able to set price limits that appliances will work at. i.e. limit the washing machine/dryer to only work during off peak times. or limit the hot water heater temperatures during peak times.

2d) being able to remotly control appliances... i.e. turn them on/off from another room, the office....

----------parental features------------

3a)parental control: (being able to allocate time for children to use the playstation, tv, computer... before the system will shut it off automatically)

3b) parental monitoring: (being able to tell what your kid uses, i.e. 6 hours on the playstation, 10 hours with the tv on....)

-------home power production features------
(relivant to people with solar panels, wind generators...)

4a)being able to monitor and watch power production of your home system

4b) being able to sell power to the grid selectivly during peak times (to maximise return)

4c) being able to donate the excess power being produced to other people, friends, family... by reducing their power bill in proportion to the excess you produce.

------- payment features---------

5a) being able to pay in advance and know how much you have left in your account.

5b) being able to pay when you wish, having access to the bill at all times.

5c) being able to pay via the internet.

5d) having home produced power automatically deducted off power bill (if supplying to the grid)

---Budgeting features--------

6a)being able to set power budgets, your system monitors usage and estimates whether you are under or over budget

6b)Being able to know estimations of future usage so you can paln your money

6c) the system being smart enough to take action to maintain lowest power usage. i.e. turning the tv off when it notices its in standby, dimming all the lights in the house slightly if your budget is approaching its limit. lowering the temperature on the hot water cylinder by a few degrees when the budget is getting close?


--------interface features------- (rate in order of your preference, for billing and/or info from the company)

Mail (regular billing method)

TV
-during 'your' power company adverts, it redirects your tv to an info screen untill the ad is over.)
-interactive, you can select options via your remote...)

Computer
-email
-power control software
-widgets (on desktop)

Power meter/ 3rd party product
-screen device built into house, like fuse box, or another thing power companies would add.
- small devices positioned by major electricity using appliances (such as the dryer, in the kitchen....) to simply show you the current price level (might be a changing coloured light, or a physically displayed price)


What information do you want to know about your power bill

Your usage against the average usage of people in your situation?
Your usage in relation to your averge




Rewards.

with a sytem like this, can you think of any rewards, over and above a more efficient home that a user could be given, in order to encourage users to reduce power consumption (especially in peak times?)


are there any other features you wish to have in the home that relate to smart home technologies, or power consumption. the power company would be paying for the installation, so you can think of anything you want.



on a scale of 1-10 how worried would you be about your power company knowing this real time information about your usage? 10 being "get me my tinfoil hat"



what information do you want yourself, (for your own pruposes) that you don't want the power company knowing. i.e. do you only want the power company knowing what your house usage is. or do you not mind if they know how often your dryer is used? do you not want them to know the usage of any of your sub users (who are not paying bills but you are monitoring, i.e. children)?


thanks very much for your time everyone, i appreciate the help.

i would also love any coments, thoughts, ideas, crit... on any of it that is not mentioned in the survey.

Alltaken

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