Various studies have shown a 6%-20% reduction in residential electricity usage when homeowners are provided with real-time information regarding their consumption. This is a significant savings and an effective means of curbing unnecessary expansion of the energy grid.

The following table summarizes the potential cost savings on a using a per home basis in each of the regions of Canada highlighting the 10-20% study range.



Rising energy costs, environmental concerns and living in the wake of the wide scale blackout in the summer of 2003, energy conservation is again at the forefront of peoples’ attention. Both the government and the media are driving consumers to make energy conservation a daily goal, but the lack of understanding and instantaneous usage information has people handcuffed in this pursuit.

This hunger for conservation and the rising energy costs have driven governments to pursue supplying tools to the end consumer to allow them to make better decisions.

Energy is a universal commodity – everyone uses and needs it – but most consumers do not pay it much attention, except when their bills increase. Energy usage and costs is a complex product of energy prices, weather, equipment efficiency, system operations and individual behaviour. As such, energy consumption seems difficult to manage. While other household or business expenses receive a good deal of attention, with market forces driving efficiency and cost reduction, energy bills tend to just get paid without detailed analysis. In any event, customers receive their bills long after the energy is consumed, when alternative courses of action could have been pursued had there been usage information readily available.

PowerWatch is a real-time energy-monitoring device, which aims to educate home and business owners and empowers them to make conscious decisions regarding their individual electricity usage patterns. PowerWatch enables consumers to reduce the amount of energy consumption, enabling them to save energy, money and the environment.

Rather than having to wait for a monthly energy bill to find out whether a consumer/business has already made costly consumption decisions, PowerWatch arms them with the information they need to make intelligent decisions when they can make a difference - right now.

By providing real-time, easy to understand consumption measurements, users are encouraged to experiment with conservation strategies. How much would we save if we turned off the light in the kitchen or retrofitted the factoring lighting? How much would we save if we stopped the clothes dryer a little sooner or could accurately cost and control the machinery costs and outputs? How much does it cost us to leave the computer on all day or the equipment or other items? Until now, there was no way to find out.

PowerWatch provides an easy to understand real-time display in of overall energy usage - in dollars and cents. Turn off a light, and immediately see how much your energy costs are reduced. Shut down that computer and count the savings. SHUT OFF the baseboard heaters in the rooms not used, and keep the money in the bank.