If you’re a regular follower of this blog, my Flickr feed or Grumpy Environmentalist column you’ll know that my family is renovating a 300-year old farmhouse in Northumberland around eco-principals insofar as possible.

Here’s another Internet of Things project that we’ve recently incorporated into the building to monitor energy usage.

It uses kit supplied by AlertMe to deliver information about electricity usage in the house to a web app, an iPhone app and Google’s energy meter. It’s a neat solution that provides an impetus for changing your energy usage habits.

The ‘always-on’ reading has made us very disciplined about turning appliances off and has prompted a rethink of lighting and white goods.

Check out the graph for yourself. You can spot the load from devices on standby and when the washing machine and dishwasher are used.

In time we’ll use the Internet and home network to remotely control electrical appliances in the house.