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TED 5000

***Update 10/6/09 - Google has announced they are working with the TED 5000 as a device partner for their Google Power Meter software.  Follow the link above to learn about it and to update your firmware.  This is pretty big news and will no doubt send sales of the TED 5000 through the roof!

Update 7/1/09: The TED 5000 went on sale yesterday and I promptly purchased it.   I should have it y 7/2 and the blog review will come right after!

Here's the TED 5000 post.

If you've read my blog on The Energy Detective you know I'm a big fan.  So you can understand how excited I was to see that they have finally posted some information about the TED 5000 on their website and posted an expected availability date of early June!

I have to say that it looks much slicker than I expected and I can't wait to order one.  The price is $199 and I think that is very reasonable if it performs as well as the last TED.  As I mentioned in my previous blog post, my biggest concern was the last TED did not have internal memory, meaning to log data you had to keep your computer on.  Well they have corrected it in this model (from the TED 5000 FAQ page):

Q. How much detailed data is stored in TED 5000?
A. The stored data is exportable to the computer at any time, however, the GATEWAY stores 60 minutes of SECONDS, 2 days of MINUTE-data, 90 days of HOURLY-data, 24 months of DAILY-data, and 10 years of MONTHLY-data.

The data I'm most interested in seeing is the HOURLY- data, so I'll be able to get 3 months of this data stored at any one time!  Why hourly?  Basically, I would like to see how much energy my house is using when I am sleeping or away at work.  The only energy the house should be using is standby energy (keeping digital clocks on, fridge, etc.) and my air conditioner/heater in the summer/winter.

By analyzing the hourly data I can look for spikes and tell if things are running when they shouldn't be.  By looking at the hourly data, I can see how much it costs me to keep the AC running while I am at work (which I usually don't) and do different analysis to see how I should change any habits.  If you were only looking at DAILY- data, you wouldnt be able to get that specific.  You would only need to look at MINUTE-data and SECOND-data if you were concerened about individual appliances.   Basically, the HOURLY-data will give you the best snapshot of how your home is consuming energy over a 24-hr period.

Here is another cool feature that the FAQ points out:

Q. Can data be viewed remotely?
A. Yes, data can be viewed via the Internet or any mobile device.

Based on the comment that someone from The Energy Detective left on my original blog post, this means that you'll be able to view this data with your iPhone or other mobile device.  How cool is that!

So stay tuned for the official release, I'm sure this won't be the last blog on one of the best energy monitoring devices out there.  Here is a great comparison chart they have put together to compare the TED 5000 against the TED 1000.

Also, apparently the TED 5000 will have a solar/wind package available.  Interesting....