WattB wins second prize at Department of Energy Hackathon

By -
WattB won second place at the Department of Energy sponsored hackathon on January 25th at 1776. The winning entry, WattZ, was a working iOS application that used an address (or iOS GPS) to pull Zillow house information, then estimated electricity usage based on the Building Performance Database. We'll try to incorporate this new feature into an upcoming version of WattBuddy!

Popular posts from this blog

Do we need electricity grids in emerging markets?

By Anonymous -
Electricity grids have been powering cities across the world since the early 1900s. As the world continues to develop at different speeds, and rural areas demand more and more electricity, is the traditional electricity grid still the best option?

Providing electricity to countryside homes will likely have ripple effects on eradicating poverty and increasing the sustainable development of these areas. Kerosene lamps are main source of light at night in many rural homes in developing countries. These lamps have been known to cause injuries when broken, as the highly flammable fuel can severely burn those nearby.

Companies like d.light and M-KOPA have attempted to address this safety issue associated with kerosene lamps by developing solar powered LED lights to replace the kerosene. While these LED lamps may have a much higher upfront cost than kerosene lamps, they have very little maintenance costs and much lower life-time costs. Providing electricity to such homes not only reduces the…
Read more

Renewable Energy and the Electricity Grid

By Anonymous -
Solar and wind energy is becoming less and less expensive and more and more states are demanding to be powered by renewable energy. California, a leader in renewable energy usage, has a goal of operating on 33% renewable energy by 2020, and they will likely achieve the goal in time. Integrating renewables into the electricity grid is an important step towards sustainability. In order for the US to fully benefit from all of the energy sources that are available to it, they need to address the challenges associated with adding renewables to the grid.
One of the biggest challenges with renewables powering the grid is their unreliability. The grid was built on the idea that it would be powered by fossil fuels, requiring predictable, on demand energy generation. With solar and wind power, this isn't the case. When the sun goes down or the wind stops, there is no more electricity being produced. The grid operator no longer has the option to turn the electricity generator on or off.
The …
Read more

Will switching to a Tesla Model 3 save you money?

By Anonymous -
The short answer: yes.

If we assume you will drive 50 miles per week with a car that goes 23 miles per gallon, then you will go through 8.7 gallons of gas per month.

In Houston TX, you will pay $18.3 per month in gas.

In New York City, NY, you will pay $22.4 per month in gas.

If you were to switch to the new Tesla Model 3 the amount of money you would need to spend on the additional electricity required to charge it would be less than the amount of money you pay for gas currently.

In Houston, you would pay $7.36 per month to charge your car (saving $12.64).

In New York, you would pay $12.04 per month to charge your car  (saving $12.72).

These prices are assuming you are getting your power from the electricity grid. If you were to switch to a completely renewable electricity plan, such as powering your home through SolarCity, you would pay even less. Additionally, switching to power your home and appliances from renewables would further reduce your environmental impact as in powering and…
Read more