Energy Source Indicating Socket

Once the novelty wears off people may become blind to it. Long term study required to understand if it really makes a difference.

Still not sure if smart meters make a difference to behavour, most homes I goto with smart meters, usage is not monitored on a regular basis.

However with the increase energy costs this might change in the foreseeable future? Or maybe we will just turn lights and appliances OFF.

I'm not sure of the logic it uses to decide whether the power available is renewable or not - the grid (at present) always has a mix of sources at any one time, and different tariffs lay claim to different sources at different times, so it seems a bit arbitrary. If used as a more generalised 'good time to use electricity' (supply able to exceed demand, prices low, plenty of renewables available) and 'bad time to use electricity' (demand high, prices high, low availability of renewables) then I can see it might have some practical use. Although a better system might be something built into  individual appliances that could compare the appliance's future need with future grid situation (over the next few half hours say) so as to use the most efficient period rather than having to make a decision on just the situation at the current instant. We already have washing machines with a built-in delay start function to enable convenient use with off-peak tariffs, applying & automating the same sort of logic to immersions and EV chargers seems worthwhile to me.

On the basis that if you can't measure it you can't manage it, it might well have some use to locate efficiency improvements - but those gains tend to be identified quite quickly, so perhaps there's less justification for installing these things on a permanent basis in that regard. With what looks like the equivalent of a raspberry pi and a relay behind each socket the power usage is likely to mount up quite quickly, so targeting the technology at a few appliances that are likely to make the most difference might be a better idea.

To my mind the big gain from smart meters is less persuading humans to change their habits, but as the first step in enabling smart appliances to optimise their usage.

   - Andy.

Not as effective as turning everything off when you go to bed and only turning it back on the next day when you actually need it.