Uit de Meterkast

Measuring energy use in the living space.

This project is now archived and was part of DDW22

This project is part of
Isola Design Gallery

This meter box displays energy use

Rosalie Apituley

"Uit de Meterkast" consists of two lamps, an animation and a redesigned meter box. Each object attempts to make our daily energy use more visible. The project forms a manifesto for a prepaid system for daily energy consumption in order to get back the feel for quantities that we have lost.

Meterbox

This redesigned elektricity box is meant as a provocative object. Each disk displays a house number from a particular street. The disks are turning and are directly linked to the electricity meters in people’s houses. They form a reference to the old fashioned analogue electricity meters. This way the community around the street can be aware of each others electricity use behavior. When you are using more electricity, the disk turns faster. When the household is not using any electricity the disk is standing still. When the household is owning solar panels the disk turns backwards when energy is being generated.

Watthour Table Lamp

The design of this lamp is inspired by an egg timer and emphasizes on interactivity. By turning it anti-clockwise, it turns on. By looking at the line s at the base of the lamp, you can decide exactly how many Watt hours of light you want to receive. After turning it on, the lampshade turns back. The lamp has a flow meter that measures the amount of energy that goes through, so when you mount an old fashioned halogen bulb, it turns back much quicker, than with a LED.

Watthour Cable Lamp

By pulling the handle down, you can decide exactly how many Watt hours of light you want to receive. Directly after pulling, the light switches on and then it will roll itself back up on the speed of the amount of energy it consumes. The lamp has a flow meter that measures the amount of energy that goes through, so when you mount an old fashioned halogen bulb, it moves much quicker, than with a LED. *This work is produced in collaboration with TextielLab, the experimental lab attached to the TextielMuseum in Tilburg