GB2465800A

GB2465800A - Utility Consumption Apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2465800A
Application number: GB0821882A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Joyce Foster
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-12-01
Filing date: 2008-12-01
Publication date: 2010-06-02
Also published as: GB0821882D0

Abstract

Utility consumption apparatus 10 comprises monitoring device 12 for monitoring an amount of gas, electricity and/or water being consumed, and display 14 for displaying an on-going cost of the consumed gas, electricity and/or water outputted from the monitoring device 12. The display 14 includes input keyboard 50 for inputting a unit cost of the gas, electricity and/or water, and calculation device for calculating the on-going cost based on the inputted unit cost. The monitoring device 12 may include a camera positioned across a display of the meter of the gas, electricity and/or water supply for imaging digits of the meter and further performing character recognition on the captured image for recognizing the displayed digits. The data being displayed by the display 14 may be automatically orientable to an axis closest to the horizontal depending on the orientation of its housing. The display includes a magnet for magnetic attachment to a surface.

Description

Utility Consumption Apparatus The present invention relates to utility consumption apparatus, particularly but not necessarily exclusively for gas, electricity and/or water supplies to a property.

Each utility supply company, typically supplying gas, electricity and/or water, provides a meter for each supply at a property. Each meter is read by the company on a periodic basis. However, this does not provide an on-going cost display to the owner of the property, which can lead to an unwelcome bill at the end of a quarter or period. It also makes it much more difficult for an owner of the property to budget for their utility supplies expenditure.

Furthermore, although there are internet sites available which allow a user to manually compare cost estimates for utility supplies, it is troublesome to gather the data required to make the comparison and to then have the time to input the data. Following this, analysis of the proposed cost savings and the proposed companies must be made by the user. All of these factors can make this task daunting, especially for first time home owners and the elderly.

The present invention seeks to provide a solution to these problems.

According to the invention, there is provided utility consumption apparatus comprises monitoring means for monitoring an amount of gas, electricity and/or water being consumed, and display means for displaying an on-going cost of the consumed gas, electricity and/or water outputted from the monitoring means, the display means including input means for inputting a unit cost of the said gas, electricity and/or water, and calculation means for calculating the on-going cost based on the inputted unit cost.

The term cost' used herein is intended to mean monetary value.

Preferable and/or optional features of the first aspect of the invention are set forth in claims 2 to 19, inclusive.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of utility consumption apparatus, in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 shows monitoring means of the apparatus when used with a gas meter; Figure 3 shows a reverse side of the monitoring means; Figure 4 shows monitoring means of the apparatus when used with an electricity meter; Figure 5 shows display means of the apparatus, when in a first condition; Figure 6 shows the display means, when in a second condition; Figure 7 shows advice means of the display means; and Figure 8 shows a generalised circuit diagram of the display means.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown utility consumption apparatus 10 which comprises monitoring means 12 for monitoring an amount of gas, electricity and/or water being consumed, and display means 14 for displaying an on-going cost of the consumed gas, electricity and/or water outputted from the monitoring means 12.

The monitoring means 12 in this embodiment includes two separate monitoring devices, one being a gas-usage monitoring device 16, best shown in Figures 2 and 3, and the other being an electricity-usage monitoring device 18, which is best shown in Figure 4.

The gas-usage monitoring device 16 is preferably battery operated and includes a housing 20, a bracket 22 for supporting the housing 20 on a gas meter 24, an imaging device 26, such as a camera, and more preferably an infra-red camera, optical character recognition software provided on imaging circuitry within the housing 20, a wireless transmitter 28, and display 30.

The imaging device 26 is provided in a rear surface of the housing 20, and may be adjustably positionable along a slot 32 in the rear surface. Preferably, the imaging device 26 firstly reads the gas meter number 34, and is then aligned with a final digit wheel of a mechanical counter of the gas meter 24 so as to increment the initially read number automatically as the final digit wheel rotates. The optical character recognition software interprets the imaged number and displays the number on the display 30. The displayed number is incremented in real-time to reflect the actual on-going reading on the gas meter 24.

The wireless transmitter 28 broadcasts the incrementing number of the gas meter 24 to the display means 14. This is either undertaken continuously or, in order to preserve battery life, when the imaging device 26 determines that the number has changed.

The electricity-usage monitoring device 18 is also preferably battery operated, and includes a housing 36 similar to that of the gas-usage monitoring device 16. The housing 36 may also include a magnet for releasable attachment to an electricity meter.

A current sensing device 38 is connected to the housing 36. In this case, the current sensing device 38 is hard wired to the housing 36, but it may be wireless. The current sensing device 38 is attachable, typically by clipping, to an electricity cable 40, which will typically be the mains cable coming into the property. By way of example, the current sensing device 38 monitors the change in electromagnetic field around the cable as current flows. This sensed information is outputted to circuitry in the housing 36, and the current flowing based on the change in the electromagnetic field is determined.

As above, the housing 36 also includes a wireless transmitter 42 for transmitting the determined current to the display means 14, and also a display 44, in this case on one edge of the housing 36, for displaying the current or equivalent energy used in real time.

The display means 14 is separate of the gas-usage monitoring device 16 and the electricity-usage monitoring device 18, and is typically provided in a convenient location for a user, such as on the side of a fridge. To this end, the display means 14 may include a magnet to allow connection to a ferrous metal surface.

The display means 14, in this embodiment, is a single display device 46 which comprises a housing 48 having input means 50 for inputting a unit cost of the or each supply, and calculation means 51 for calculating in real-time an on-going cost based on the inputted unit cost. However, it is feasible that the display means 14 could be a local application on a computer or remote web-based application accessible by a user's computer.

The input means 50 includes a user keyboard interface 52 on the exterior of the housing 48, internet connection circuitry 54 having a wireless andlor wired transmitter and receiver 56 for connection with the internet, and also a wireless receiver 58 for connection with the or each monitoring device 16, 18. Beneficially, the internet connection circuitry 54 may include the wireless receiver 58 for the monitoring devices 16, 18.

The display means 14 also includes a display 60 on one side of the housing 48 providing selectively chosen information regarding each supply to which a monitoring device 16, 18 is connected.

The unit cost is either manually inputted via the keyboard interface 52, or obtained via the display means 14 connecting to the supplier's internet site through the internet connection circuitry 54.

The reading from the or each monitoring device 16, 18 is outputted via the respective wireless transmitter 28 to the receiver 58 of the input means 50 of the display device 46.

Once inputted, the calculation means 51 calculates the on-going real-time cost based on the units used and the price per unit. This data is then output to the display 60 and arranged in an easy to read manner, such as a column for each supply with the name of the supply, the unit cost, and the on-going total price. The displayed information can be formatted by the user via the keyboard interface 52, and the displayed on-going real-time cost can be modified depending on the desired period, for example, being weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually again via the keyboard interface 52.

Periodically, with the period advantageously being selectably set by the user, the display device 46 can utilise the internet connection circuitry 54 to interrogate any online database of utility suppliers, or their websites, in order to determine whether a different utility supplier may be offering a more attractive price for the user's service and supply. if this is the case, then the calculation means 51 outputs to the display 60 the current price being paid by the user using the current supplier for a unit of energy, the possible better price found for that unit of energy, the present on-going real-time cost for the period, and the potential on-going real-time saving for the same period. The display 60 also shows a visual alert, bringing the user's attention to the fact that a better price has been found, preferably along with the supplier's name. An audible alert may also be used.

Referring to Figure 7, it is also convenient to provide advice means 62 comprising a secondary display 64 on the housing 48 of the display device 46 which, via appropriate circuitry 65 in the housing 48, prompts a user with one or more energy saving tips. The secondary display 64, like the main display 60 of the display device 46, may be LED, LCD, or any other suitable display medium. Tn this embodiment, the secondary display 64 is smaller than the main display 60, and is conveniently positioned along one edge of the housing 48 adjacent to the keyboard interface 52.

The display device 46 is particularly beneficial for use with gas, electricity and water supplies, but can also be used with other supplies, such as a wind turbine generator, geothermal or solar so that a comparison can be made. The display device 46 can be configured to display one, more or all of the inputs from the monitoring means 12.

A further beneficial feature is the automatic orientation of the information displayed on the screen. Orientation circuitry 66 is provided in the display device 46 so that the displayed data is automatically oriented to the X axis or the Y axis, depending on which is closer to the horizontal.

It is also possible for energy, such as power, generated by a generator, such as a solar panel or other renewable source, to be monitored and inputted to the display means. A unit cost can then be inputted, calculated and displayed as above. The amount of energy being fed back into a mains power grid can be displayed, and the monetary saving being made by the use of the generator can also be calculated by the calculation means and displayed. The displayed monetary value may be the reimbursement made by feeding electricity back into the grid, or the net saving or cost when taking into account the out-going cost of one or more of the other utilities, such as the electricity supply to the property.

Although the display means is provided as a single integrated display device, it is feasible that the display could be provided in spaced relationship.

It is thus possible to provide utility consumption apparatus which can simultaneously monitor in real-time a plurality of utility supplies, and provide on-going real-time costs for a period of time. It is also possible to provide such apparatus which will periodically check costs from other suppliers and compare those costs with the present cost to determine if savings can be made. Consequently, a user can more effectively budget, and change supplier in order to save costs.

The embodiments described above are provided by way of examples only, and various other modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

Claims 1. Utility consumption apparatus comprises monitoring means for monitoring an amount of gas, electricity and/or water being consumed, and display means for displaying an on-going cost of the consumed gas, electricity and/or water outputted from the monitoring means, the display means including input means for inputting a unit cost of the said gas, electricity and/or water, and calculation means for calculating the on-going cost based on the inputted unit cost.
2. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the monitoring means can simultaneously monitor the consumption of at least two utility supplies from a range of at least gas, electricity and water.
3. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the monitoring means can simultaneously monitor the consumption of at least three utility supplies including at least gas, electricity and water.
4. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means can also display the amount of gas, electricity and/or water being consumed.
5. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring means is wirelessly communicable with the display means.
6. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means includes internet connection means for connecting to the internet, and comparison means for comparing costs of utility supply providers via the internet with the said unit cost and/or the said on-going cost.
7. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring means monitors consumption at or adjacent to a meter of the gas, electricity and/or water.
8. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring means monitors the total gas, electricity and/or water supplied to a property.
9. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring means is a dedicated monitoring device which is spaced from the display means and which is connectable directly to a meter of the gas, electricity and/or water supply, or to a mains inlet of the meter.
10. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the monitoring device includes a wireless transmitter for connecting to the display means.
11. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein one said monitoring device includes a camera for imaging a movable digit of a meter of the gas, electricity and/or water supply.
12. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in claim 11, further comprising character recognition means for recognising a newly displayed digit on the meter.
13. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein one said monitoring device is positionable across a display of the meter.
14. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means is a display device which is spaced from the monitoring means.
15. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the display device includes a receiver for receiving a transmission from the monitoring means.
16. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in claim 14 or claim 15, wherein the display device includes a display for outputting information for a user, and a housing in which the display is mounted, data displayed by the display being automatically orientable to an axis closest to the horizontal depending on the orientation of the housing.
17. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means includes a magnet for magnetic attachment to a surface.
18. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means includes advice means for outputting energy saving advice to a display.
19. Utility consumption apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring means includes monitoring an amount of energy generated, and the display means includes displaying an on-going cost saving calculated by the calculation means based on an inputted unit cost.
20. Utility consumption apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.