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Clarification and Improvements please
I-measure is a great idea and many thanks to Environmental Change Institute for making it available to the public. It could be so much better as a means to monitor and regulate our behaveour.
I wonder whether anyone else finds I-measure rather cumbersome and the results graph rather misleading and unhelpful.
Very simply all the user is likely to do with any accuracy is to read his meter, go to his computer, and enter the readings. The system designer should be able to go from there. He/she should use the exact date (and time) of the entry for the x axis of the graph and the average consumption from the last reading to form a horizontal line of a bar chart. All the back corrections and adjusting to weekly consumption introduces confusion and errors.
The bar could then be annotated on inspection 'cold snap' or 'central heating on' so that the effects of our actions could be evaluated.
Then we would like it extended to record oil usage by cms on the sight glass.
I wonder whether anyone else finds I-measure rather cumbersome and the results graph rather misleading and unhelpful.
Very simply all the user is likely to do with any accuracy is to read his meter, go to his computer, and enter the readings. The system designer should be able to go from there. He/she should use the exact date (and time) of the entry for the x axis of the graph and the average consumption from the last reading to form a horizontal line of a bar chart. All the back corrections and adjusting to weekly consumption introduces confusion and errors.
The bar could then be annotated on inspection 'cold snap' or 'central heating on' so that the effects of our actions could be evaluated.
Then we would like it extended to record oil usage by cms on the sight glass.
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Inappropriate?The imeasure graph is designed to show trends in usage and as such needs readings taken at regular intervals. The corrections were an attempt to make it easier for the user so that if readings were taken late or early some adjustment could be made. The problem with taking readings at any time is that the points on the graph are plotted using the carbon values derived from the difference between the two readings. Hence a long time period would create a high reading and a short interval a low one. You would not be able to see the effect of any changes you made.
You could argue that we could make any adjustment automatic. Yes we know the date you entered the readings. But we don't know the date you took the readings. So if you took your readings on a Monday and entered them on Wednesday at the moment you need to tell the system that the readings were taken on time.
We are currently engaged in making improvements to imeasure and will certainly bear your comments in mind. Please keep taking your readings but try to ensure they are taken at roughly the same time each week.
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This short time and long time argument seems strange. If you divide consumption by time, whether the time is short or long, you obtain an average rate of consumption which applies for any part of that time period. Hence my request for a bar to represent the whole period.
Yes I do argue that you should make the 'adustment' as you call it, automatic. In the real world we do not take readings one day and want to enter them another day. We want to read and enter the same day, when we think about it, possibly when we change our behaveour.
Thanks
Malcolm -
Ah, I misunderstood what you meant.
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Inappropriate?I agree adding oil would be v.useful. Here in rural Scotland we do not have mains gas most people use oil so some form of recording oil use cms on sit glass would be ok but I would prefer turning that in to an estimaye of oil used as peoples oil tank would be different sizes also the ability to add bottled gas use (kgs of propane used ?)
All the best
Kevin
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this is one of the best points
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This is one of the best points
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If imeasure was extended to handle cms on an oil tank, how should refilling the tank be handled? I guess imeasure could request the change in level each week and the consumer has to remember to get the number of cms correct after a refill. - Julian
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Inappropriate?I prefer reading the height of the meniscus to any weekly change method because errors in the reading will be cancelled out over the longer period, as with the existing system for electricity.
The refills are not a problem. I know my refill of 500 litres lifts the meniscus by 52 cms so this information calibrates my readings for the system.
As with electricity, I would prefer the system to record the date a time of my reading and calculate average usage just by dividing consumption by time rather than expecting me to remember to read on the same day each week.
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This is one of the best points
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I am all for avoiding errors in the readings building up. However if this absolute method is used, imeasure will need a place on the form to handle a refill - unless you're contemplating subtracting multiples of (in your case) 52 before you submit them to imeasure. - Julian
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The simplest method for us (the developers) would be to have a direct entry, in this case litres. This works for everyone. If we design a system using sight glass readings we have to have a calibration factor and some way of tracking refills. And we have to be sure that all oil systems work this way.
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Inappropriate?That sounds great except I have not seen an oil tank that reads off litres, so it will not work for anyone except the occasional mathematician.
In another reply you mention you will soon be able to handle different kinds of gas meter.
"The simplest method for us (the developers)......" is of interest but we do outnumber you 2000 to 3 and do not have your skills. Don't you like a challenge?
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This is one of the best points
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It's a trade off between having a system that will work for the majority whilst still being uncomplicated to use. When I said simplest, I didn't necessarily mean in terms of code.
For example, in the new version of imeasure meter rollovers are handled seamlessly. That's the easiest way for the user, not necessarily for the developer!
If you know that 500 litres lifts the meniscus by 52 cms then you know that 1 cm is roughly 10 litres (assuming a parallel sided tank). So it shouldn't be hard for you to work out your consumption in litres.
It may be that we store a conversion factor so that people can enter the number of cms and the system will calculate the usage. We're still researching the best approach. -
Inappropriate?I've done a little more work on the oil system by putting my ideas into a spreadsheet. As a selling point you could easily include a report on how long your oil will last at the present rate of usage. This is on the spreadsheet and I found it very useful when my consumption suddenly jumped up with the cold snap.
This enables me to negotiate a good price rather than needing an emergency delivery. It could even save lives!
I also illustrate the preferred graph shape on the spreadsheet. No misleading slopes but just an accurate average consumption since the last reading. It works on Microsoft Excel but not on Open Office I'm afraid.
Please download the spreadsheet from http://u3aclimatestudy.pbwiki.com/i-m... and post your thoughts. -
Inappropriate?Building on this I run a similar spreadsheet and compare oil usage inlitres against degree days.
This allows calculation of correlation with degree days ( a measure of how cold it is) with predicted use and comparison with the before imeasure days !
For the data manipulators I calculate CUSUMs against the predicted values and the before and now situation both are done in Excel.
As for oil tank meter we use a "Watchman plus" This is an ultrasonic level device fitted in the fill point. It gives a remote readout (situated in our kitchen) so every one can see the oil level as as % of full tank. simple arithmetic gives us the weekly litres used. It has worked well for ~5 years and is battery powered
Also our oil supplier offers a regular fill service based on usage (so we should never require an emergency fill)
