An 'intelligent' plug is being developed that will switch off TVs, desk lamps, and other electrical devices when they are not being used. It is part of an electrical system designed at the University of Essex in Colchester to cut household power bills by keeping watch over energy use. Home owners will be told how much power every device is soaking up, and when equipment is operating needlessly.
The system will also detect and switch off devices that have been carelessly left on in empty rooms. Researchers hope to see the plugs fitted as standard to all domestic appliances within a few years. The plug, which will look no different from a normal 13 amp one, is also said to contain an 'integrated motion sensor,' which will detect when there is little activity in a room where a device such as a TV has been left on or not. The plug will alert the central controller by transmitting the information to a central control point in the home, which can then switch the device off.
The plug is being developed with a £90,000 award from the Carbon Connections Development Fund, a green initiative managed by the University of East Anglia.
A batch of prototypes should be ready within six months and will be tested in Essex University's 'iSpace' department, where hi-tech gadgets can be tried out in home surroundings. It is estimated that the plugs would cost less than £1 each; however, with mass production this should be possible.
More on this stuff here with a pretty interesting comment made by Jimmy Richardson from Scotland.
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