Do you ever lie awake at night thinking about new ways to cut back on your energy consumption? You'll soon be able to rest soundly, because there's a new piece of technology that can make all your dreams come true. One of the trendiest ways to save energy with your home electrical work is by disaggregation, or breaking down consumption appliance by appliance so you can easily identify where you need to cut back. Now there's a way to hack into your circuit box and make disaggregation easy. Read on to learn more.

Reading the Data from the Circuit Box

There are a few different ways to acquire the data you need on the energy consumption of your various appliances and electronics in order to make informed decisions about conservation. One is to purchase all new smart devices, linked up to the Internet of Things, that let you monitor their performance individually. If you don't want to replace all your appliances and equipment just yet, you can purchase smart plugs that monitor the electricity usage of whatever you connect them to. There are also utility companies that are piloting disaggregation programs in homes that are hooked up to smart meters.

There's at least one device available, however, that allows you to look at all your appliances at once, without having to buy new equipment or rely on your utility company. The Neurio is a gadget that connects to your main circuit panel and monitors all the electricity that goes out through the various circuits in your home. Next, it sends the data to the Neurio server, where it is broken down even further to identify which devices are using how much energy. Then the data comes back to you, where you can read it using your smart phone or computer.

Informed Decisions About Your Electrical Work

From there, you can use that data and make decisions about when to cut back on using certain devices or appliances, or to run them at different times of the day. The Neurio will let you know just how much you're spending on powering things like dryers, and also tell you how much power you're wasting due to phantom loads or always-on technology. If you keep an eye on the data, you'll get an early warning when an appliance is lagging in efficiency, and know where you can make the most impact when it comes time to replace some of your older equipment with modern, energy-efficient devices.

Installing the Neurio is a somewhat complicated affair, involving connecting it to your main panel, so your best bet is to get an experienced electrician to handle the task. If you need help disaggregating your energy consumption, or any other modifications to your electrical work, contact a qualified residential electrician today.

It might be tempting to save money by doing the job yourself, but only a licensed electrician should attempt an electrical panel change out. The panel is a critical part of your home’s electrical system, as it supplies the electricity that powers the entire structure. As such, changing one out is a very complicated process, one which should only be undertaken by a professional. Electrical work is always dangerous, and an electrical panel change out is even more so. In fact, in some cities, it is illegal for anyone other than a professional to attempt it.