Energy-Harvesting Thermoelectric Sensing for Unobtrusive Water and Appliance Metering
Brad Campbell, Branden Ghena, Prabal Dutta

Citation
Brad Campbell, Branden Ghena, Prabal Dutta. "Energy-Harvesting Thermoelectric Sensing for Unobtrusive Water and Appliance Metering". ENSsys'14: 2nd International Workshop on Energy Neutral Sensing Systems, 6, November, 2014.

Abstract
Fine-grained energy metering in homes and buildings provides a promising technique for addressing the unmaintainable energy consumption levels of worldwide buildings. Metering electricity, lighting, natural gas, HVAC, occupancy, and water on a per appliance or room basis can provide invaluable insight when trying to reduce a building's energy footprint. A myriad of sensor designs and systems collect data on particular building aspects, but are often hampered by installation difficulty or ongoing maintenance needs (like battery replacement). We address these common pitfalls for water and heat metering by developing a small, energy-harvesting sensor that meters using the same thermoelectric generator with which it powers itself. In short, the rate at which the harvester captures energy is proportional to the heat production of the monitored appliance or pipe and this relationship allows us to estimate energy simply based on the sensor's ability to harvest. We prototype our sensor in a bracelet shaped form-factor that can attach to a shower head pipe, faucet,

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Citation formats

• HTML

  Brad Campbell, Branden Ghena, Prabal Dutta. <a
  href="http://www.terraswarm.org/pubs/347.html"
  >Energy-Harvesting Thermoelectric Sensing for Unobtrusive
  Water and Appliance Metering</a>, ENSsys'14: 2nd
  International Workshop on Energy Neutral Sensing Systems, 6,
  November, 2014.

• Plain text

  Brad Campbell, Branden Ghena, Prabal Dutta.
  "Energy-Harvesting Thermoelectric Sensing for
  Unobtrusive Water and Appliance Metering". ENSsys'14:
  2nd International Workshop on Energy Neutral Sensing
  Systems, 6, November, 2014.

• BibTeX

  @inproceedings{CampbellGhenaDutta14_EnergyHarvestingThermoelectricSensingForUnobtrusive,
      author = {Brad Campbell and Branden Ghena and Prabal Dutta},
      title = {Energy-Harvesting Thermoelectric Sensing for
                Unobtrusive Water and Appliance Metering},
      booktitle = {ENSsys'14: 2nd International Workshop on Energy
                Neutral Sensing Systems},
      day = {6},
      month = {November},
      year = {2014},
      abstract = {Fine-grained energy metering in homes and
                buildings provides a promising technique for
                addressing the unmaintainable energy consumption
                levels of worldwide buildings. Metering
                electricity, lighting, natural gas, HVAC,
                occupancy, and water on a per appliance or room
                basis can provide invaluable insight when trying
                to reduce a building's energy footprint. A myriad
                of sensor designs and systems collect data on
                particular building aspects, but are often
                hampered by installation difficulty or ongoing
                maintenance needs (like battery replacement). We
                address these common pitfalls for water and heat
                metering by developing a small, energy-harvesting
                sensor that meters using the same thermoelectric
                generator with which it powers itself. In short,
                the rate at which the harvester captures energy is
                proportional to the heat production of the
                monitored appliance or pipe and this relationship
                allows us to estimate energy simply based on the
                sensor's ability to harvest. We prototype our
                sensor in a bracelet shaped form-factor that can
                attach to a shower head pipe, faucet,},
      URL = {http://terraswarm.org/pubs/347.html}
  }
  

Posted by Barb Hoversten on 18 Aug 2014.
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