Building a wireless mesh networked real-time electricity metering system in an MIT dormitory

Abstract

A competitive, closed-loop information feedback system of wireless electricity meters was designed, tested, and implemented in seven MIT dormitory rooms. The meters utilized Allegro Hall Effect current sensors as well as ZigBee based mesh networking transceivers. A remote database stored energy use data for the community and implemented data and graph caching for an online web interface made available to the system users. The website displayed detailed statistics on energy consumption within the dormitory, rankings of the community members, and individualized pages with positive or negative normative feedback messages based upon a user's consumption level. Over the course of a three week test period, the average demand level of the seven rooms was 56.53 watts, which is equivalent to an annualized cost of $84.18 and emissions of 480 pounds of CO 2. The largest consumer used 28% of the total energy, while the bottom three consumers combined used only 26% of the overall energy. The seven rooms together demanded between 300-490 watts 95% of the time.