Meter study
Research highlights
EPSRC project - 2015--2021
Osney reduce by 18%
Sep 2019 - Study
Osney island excelled in our energy challenge. When asked to reduce demand between 5pm and 7pm, they achieved a record 18%!
Data available for research
July 2019
A record of Meter data and documentation is kept by the UK Data Service.
BBC Radio Wales
June 2019
Breakfast radio interview on the Climate Emergency - includes some good news, too.
The (social) value of flexibility
May 2019
Talk at the 2019 UKERC conference about some of our findings on YouTube
Machine learning from daily life
April 2019
Daily life and demand - using regression techniques to understand which activities best explain our demand for different times of day. Energy Efficiency
Das METER
March 2019
METER launches in Germany. The University of Münster has developed their own electricity recorder and now uses the Meter App in German. We are excited to see how UK and German demand compare...
Free energy winner
February 2019
Luiza is the latest winner of a year free electricity. Each participant is in with a chance.
JoyMeter diary released as mobile app
January 2019 - Study
Our activity recorder is now available for anyone at JoyMeter.uk
Tea or supper?
December 2018
When we ask people to use less electricity in the evening, they cut down on hot meals and have a cup of tea instead.
16% demand reduction
October 2018
We achieved a 16% reduction in electricity use, just by asking.
The happiest activities
September 2018
Among the most enjoyable activities are sleeping, reading and socialising. These also happen to require little electricity - good news.
West Oxford Street challenge winner
August 2018
Riverside and Oatlands Road have won the West Oxford challenge by reducing their demand the most between 5 and 7pm.
July 2018
Protecting data privacy is key to a smart energy future
A collaboration with Carissa from Philosophy (!). We spell out why trust is crucial for data sensitive approaches. Read more
Innovation Award
July 2018
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Prof Louise Richardson, awarded Meter a high commendation in her Innovation Awards for our "Interdisciplinary study of energy use and activities". The overall winner is literally saving lives with Smart Handpumps
The footprint of household activities
June 2018
One cannot simply assume that certain activities lead to higher electricity use. Read why
Daily life and demand
May 2018
Dwelling and appliance variables can explain 46% of average electricity use. Can we do better? Read the paper
Flexibility, dynamism and diversity in energy supply and demand
February 2018
How can we be more flexible (and why do we need to be)? Read the paper
Another winner
January 2018
Finlay wins a year free electricity, just for taking part. Congratulations!
Aven joins the Meter team
Oct 2017
Rhodes scholar Aven joins the team as a DPhil student. With him we gain an expert in machine learning, who will help us find patterns in our activities and electricity use.
Meter Reading #3
Apr 2017
We reached 16 million electricity readings (4500 hours worth) and our participants have recorded nearly 6000 activities.
No more paperwork
Jan 2017
The new app is now in use to make recording activities easy and fun.
We have a winner
December 2016
Penny from London is the first winner of a year free electricity.
Data Scientist appointed
September 2016
Dr Marina Diakonova has joined the Meter project. Her background in complexity science will help us in analysing the relationships between activities and electricity profiles.
Meter Reading #2
August 2016
Over 6 million electricity readings and the first 1000 activities have been collected.
Jessica turn diaries to data
July 2016
Jessica has been a great help this summer coding up diaries and improving the app
Adriano optimises our devices
May 2016
Adriano joined us as an intern and made some great advances in how we configure our the devices we send to Meter participants
Meter project animated
April 2016 - Study
This delightful animation explains why understanding our energy use matters for cheaper, safer and cleaner energy.
Meter participants can win a year free electricity
February 2016 - Study
Lucky participants now have the chance to get their electricity paid for a year.
Beautiful new eMeters
January 2016
The new eMeters are ready! Much nicer and smaller design - with simple instructions for how to fit them to your electricity meter.
