Analysis of energy data in 1100 California homes shows that residents can help prevent rolling blackouts by taking simple actions during critical evening hours

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Aug 31, 2020, 15:04 ET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sense, the leader in home energy monitoring, has analyzed energy data in 1100 homes in California to show how people use electricity in the critical evening hours from 6 to 8 pm when power generation from renewable sources like solar drops nearly to zero. Using anonymized data from the homes, the analysis examined "shiftable" versus "non-shiftable" data and found that 55% of electricity usage in the evening time frame could be shifted to other times during the day or reduced. The data was collected from July 10 to August 18.

California electricity consumption per hour

Breakdown of shiftable loads by percentage

The analysis also looked at the kinds of appliances and devices in use during that time that could be adjusted or rescheduled in order to reduce energy usage. It found that 88% of consumption came from air conditioning systems. The remainder of shiftable energy included water heaters, laundry machines (washers and dryers), pool pumps and EV chargers, all of which could be turned off or used at other times of the day or night.

To help prevent rolling blackouts, California residents can turn up their thermostats throughout the day or cool their home earlier in the day when renewable energy is abundant on the grid and then turn up the thermostat during the evening hours.

In the future, the electricity grid will be connected to peoples' homes and automatically control loads in response to high demand, but today's smart home technology, like the Sense Home Energy Monitor, already provides insights to consumers that can prompt them to reduce or shift consumption when energy supplies are constrained, reducing the risk of rolling blackouts. Sense is working with partners Schneider Electric and Landis+Gyr to build its intelligence into smarter, more efficient homes that respond to peoples' day-to-day needs while optimizing energy from the grid to reduce costs and carbon.

About Sense
Sense's mission is to make all homes intelligent by keeping people informed about what's happening in their homes, and helping to make homes safer, more efficient, and more reliable. Founded in 2013 by pioneers in speech recognition, Sense uses machine learning technology to provide real-time insights on device behavior, even for those devices that are not "smart." Customers rely on Sense for a wide range of uses including monitoring their home appliances, determining whether they left appliances running and identifying how to reduce their energy costs. Sense has received investments from two of the world's largest energy technology companies, Schneider Electric and Landis + Gyr. Sense is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. To make sense of your energy, visit: https://sense.com.

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Sense