I recently moved into a totally unfurnished flat. No fridge. No washing machine. No curtains. No sofa. Only a shower and a couple of recycling bins.
Like any data driven person I listed my needs to prioritise my purchases. I needed to eat, so I bought pots, pans, plates, and a fridge, so I could store food and cook it. I needed clean clothes, so I bought a washing machine and a drying rack. And I needed somewhere to sit, so I found my old armchairs, a beanbag, desk chairs and dining chairs. I had comfy seats, working seats, and eating seats. Every need I could define was met. But I didn’t have a sofa.
I knew I’d buy one someday, but I didn’t realize how much I’d miss it. A sofa may seem like just a slightly larger chair, but it’s so much more.
It’s essential living room infrastructure, allowing you to fully slouch as you rewatch the same thing on Netflix for the thousandth time. To sit alongside someone as you discuss the wonders of your app-controlled washing machine (but that’s another blog). To have friends around for films, cheese and wine nights, and so much more. A sofa is more than just a long chair.
And a smart meter is more than just a fancy meter. You might only ‘need’ six-monthly readings for billing, a basic leak alarm (which, by the way, usually won’t catch smaller leaks), and an IHM for reporting, but a smart meter allows so much more.
Like the sofa, it’s never the focal point, but it’s always the enabler.
Good smart meter data and Artesia’s algorithms and expertise, allow you to:
- Accurately measure consumption all day, every day.
- Identify leaks and continuous flows as low as 0.33 litres per hour.
- Categorise these flows into wastage and leakage.
- Better analyse customers’ responses to interventions, water efficiency campaigns, and innovative tariffs.
- Classify customers by daily, weekly, and seasonal usage patterns.
- Identify groups likely to be significantly high users and work out how to target reductions in them.
- Do so, so much more.
Used incorrectly, a smart meter is like a sofa in an empty room. It still works, but it’s a bit pointless. We can help you use it to its full potential, like a living room you never want to leave.
My colleagues listened to me moan about my lack of a sofa for months. So much so, I forgot to
mention I got engaged. This led to heated conversations at Artesia’s Christmas dinner and to my response:
“I thought more people knew! You can live without a fiancée, but not without a sofa.”
Written by Tom Nelson, Senior Data Scientist
