The Future of Power Meters
When Janice presented her company–Energy Aware’s product, The PowerTab, it reminded me of a similar device at home.
A majority of homes are now built with this monitor, they control/monitor a variety of things around the house:
- alarm
- heating
- lighting
- sprinklers
- security cameras etc.
My first thought was, what keeps electricity usage meters to be built into these monitors?
The answer: nothing. That’s why I’m concerned for the future of The PowerTab.
In addition, BC Hydro will install new “Smart Meters”, replacing current power meters.
The concept of displaying power consumption in these built in monitors is already on its way (See 1:03)
I don’t know too much about The PowerTab and products alike, but if they engineered the device to be compatible with traditional meters, then would the implement of Smart Meters make their products obsolete?! How difficult would it be to redesign?
Its great that Energy Aware has a market in other countries, meaning the Smart Meter would not impact them too significantly. But what if other countries also innovate in technology? Would the company be able to adapt?
No doubt The PowerTab has an appealing design and a purposeful function, but with new technology in power meters and growing competition, the future of The PowerTab is a blur.
