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The following guest post was written by Lyn Chapman, the General Manager of Energy Monitoring Systems Canada (based on Ontario), a manufacturers rep for the Efergy energy monitor. Lyn has been vocal in his support on the Efergy monitor, especially on our Efergy E2 energy monitor post, so I asked him to write a guest post to discuss why he got involved in energy monitoring and why he chose to represent the Efergy units.

Lyn's intro is a great read on the importance of real time power monitoring.  With all of our posts on the TED 5000 and other monitors, I'd like to give space to the other options that are out there, and since I haven't personally tried the Efergy unit, I'll let a trusted source discuss them.  I would like to hear if any other readers have tried the units and their thoughts.

Lyn was an electrician by trade.  In the past few years he has been a certified PV grid tie systems designer and installer as well as a licensed alternate fuels technician related to power plants for automatic standby power systems. For the past 9 years he has operated his own business installing a variety of power systems both on and off the grid.

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(Lyn's post)

In the summer of 2009, I had occasion to stumble upon mapawatt and made an immediate decision to subscribe. I could not help but take notice of the many challenges facing both power authorities and governments to deliver clean, sustainable electrical energy. The many perceived problems with smart meters were just taking hold along with customers crying foul over the introduction of time of use pricing for electricity. In Ontario Canada, home of the single largest utility in North America, the clock is ticking on nuclear reactors that are approaching the end of their short service life along with a government that has issued an order for all fossil fuel generation plants to cease operation by 2014. One thing that all experts agree upon, is that the smart money is on pursuing the conservation of electrical energy and energy management systems as opposed to building more cost prohibitive, environment polluting power plants.

The bottom line in all of this, is how much do we as a society rely on government to solve these issues for us in comparison to what we can accomplish ourselves as individuals. After what has seemed like a lifetime in the standby power business, I began to seek out information on the most cost effective manner which people could use to reduce their consumption of electrical energy. Many of the conventional suggestions offered by utilities and governments were of little value in a downturn economy. The prospect of people upgrading to new washers, gas dryers, energy star appliances, central air conditioners, or ground source heat pumps was simply not an affordable option for most.

It was not long before I was drawn to real time energy monitoring as a cost effective method that people everywhere could use to empower themselves to save both energy and money in their everyday lives. Numerous scientific studies around the globe have determined that people who have access to real time energy monitoring displays in their homes, on average, consume from 5 - 20% less electrical energy than homes without the displays. The emphasis here being on real time, instant feedback, on a display in the home, not access to information from a remote location on a computer screen.

I decided to go out and purchase every make and model of energy monitor I could find in Canada, the United States and England. I examined how much each product cost, how they operated, the information they provided, their accuracy, how difficult they were to install, how difficult they were to program and operate, outcomes from studies using the various products, right down to regulatory approvals and availability.

When all was said and done, there were many reasons why I chose efergy (efficient energy) energy monitoring systems, namely,

- their products have a proven track record with outstanding energy saving results including 200,000 units in service in the province of Queensland where government statistics report average annual energy savings per household of $460.
- both the efergy elite and efergy e2 deliver outstanding value for every dollar spent
-efergy monitors are both rugged and reliable with excellent quality control during their manufacture
- efergy monitors are classified as "plug and play" devices so their systems may be installed by anyone without the added expense of an electrical permit
-efergy monitors meet all regulatory approvals for installation anywhere in North America
- their monitors use a proven wireless communication system so they are easy to configure first time, every time.
- the respective models of efergy energy monitors offer an array of useful information to the homeowner
- the computer software used by the efergy e2 is like the rest of the system, intuitive, easy to install and easy to use
- the displays for both models of monitors are wireless and update every 10 seconds. (homeowners can go throughout their home turning loads on and off and view the change on the display)
- the large digital displays are meaningful, easy to see and easy to understand
- all models now permit the programming of up to 4 tariffs, allowing customers to see what they are paying for energy right now and over time

Today, I have the privilege of representing efergy in Canada and I am looking forward to empowering Canadians everywhere to save energy through the use of efergy real time energy monitoring systems. For further information on our efergy products, I would invite your Canadian readers to visit our web site at www.energymonitoring.ca In the United States, efergy energy monitors are available through Energy Monitoring Technologies at www.energymonitor.com or www.smarthome.com.