Last week I accepted an invitation to have a Smart Meter installed to monitor my electricity usage. At pretty much the same time I got an email with an info sheet about the privacy aspects of smart meters. I learned that 'Gas and electricity firms will be able to use smart meters to collect information about how customers use energy as frequently as every half hour'.
Oddly, that week I was in the middle of an activity recommended in the book Designing Your Life asking me to monitor my personal levels of energy every half hour to help me find out what activities led me to feel at my most energetic. The authors provide a paper work sheet for this (rather than a smart-meter – but no doubt the time will come - or even, has come, when we can meter our personal energy smartly).
Exactly as the utility companies, I was measuring my top energy giving or draining activities then noticing the patterns, then asking 'What relatively accessible changes can I make to improve my energy flows?'
I did wonder whether I could compare and correlate the electricity usage with my personal energy levels to find out, for example, if boiling a kettle led to a spike in my personal energy as I then made and drank a cup of tea. But I didn't do that.