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This is great! Last year, I worked on a project during a hackathon to build an energy meter and gamify saving electricity by building a game where the user is f

This is great! Last year, I worked on a project during a hackathon to build an energy meter and gamify saving electricity by building a game where the user is fighting vampires. The more electricity users saved in the real world, the more virtual energy they built up in the game to be able to defend against waves of vampire attacks. Once products like this become mainstream, it'll be nice to see developers work on more polished ideas that use energy usage data in interesting and meaningful ways.

typicalbender 14y ago
One thing that I like that the Nest (http://www.nest.com/ http://www.nest.com/) has done is they give you a green leaf if you set the temperature at an energy saving level. Then each month or so they email you how many green leaves you've accumulated and how you are doing compared to the average in your area. While this is not a full blown "game" it definitely triggered my competitive side and I've tried to turn down the thermostat to get as many green leaves as possible.
- scampcat 14y ago
  Rather than seeing what kind of punishing temperatures one can endure to please their thermostat, other options are available that I consider more intelligent. An attic fan, thicker insulation, whole-house fan, window maintenance, sealing air gaps, etc. While there is the demographic that has an empty house while they're gone at work, most have a family, pets, etc. that should not be subject to varying extremes of temperatures. Instead of focusing on when to adjust temperature for human conditions for the sake of saving energy (and money), the house should probably be sealed better to retain the temperature with minimal machinery involvement. The Nest is a cool gadget, but very limited in actual value in its current implementation.
  - typicalbender 14y ago
    Very true, It would be like trying to pump more blood into a bleeding patient and calling it good when the rate you are pumping in matches the rate at which its exiting the gaping wound. I live in an apartment building so the relatively small space and little bits that I can do to increase insulation make the Nest perfect for my application. Also being able to turn my heat on while I'm driving home is a huge win.

typicalbender 14y ago

One thing that I like that the Nest (http://www.nest.com/ http://www.nest.com/) has done is they give you a green leaf if you set the temperature at an energy saving level. Then each month or so they email you how many green leaves you've accumulated and how you are doing compared to the average in your area. While this is not a full blown "game" it definitely triggered my competitive side and I've tried to turn down the thermostat to get as many green leaves as possible.

scampcat 14y ago
Rather than seeing what kind of punishing temperatures one can endure to please their thermostat, other options are available that I consider more intelligent. An attic fan, thicker insulation, whole-house fan, window maintenance, sealing air gaps, etc. While there is the demographic that has an empty house while they're gone at work, most have a family, pets, etc. that should not be subject to varying extremes of temperatures. Instead of focusing on when to adjust temperature for human conditions for the sake of saving energy (and money), the house should probably be sealed better to retain the temperature with minimal machinery involvement. The Nest is a cool gadget, but very limited in actual value in its current implementation.
- typicalbender 14y ago
  Very true, It would be like trying to pump more blood into a bleeding patient and calling it good when the rate you are pumping in matches the rate at which its exiting the gaping wound. I live in an apartment building so the relatively small space and little bits that I can do to increase insulation make the Nest perfect for my application. Also being able to turn my heat on while I'm driving home is a huge win.