Erick C. Jones Jr.

Projects · Lab Energy System

Hot-Water Heater and HVAC Data

Students connect the lab's water heater and air conditioner to software, so the lab can see, and eventually steer, how much energy they use.

Screen recording of the dashboard: the pointer sweeps across the energy chart showing values for each minute, the history window is narrowed from 24 hours to 6 hours and then 1 hour, the temperature switch flips the cards to Celsius and back, and the view returns to 24 hours.
Using the dashboard: reading values off the chart, changing the history window and switching units. The data are the same recorded April 2, 2026 readings of the lab's air conditioner and water heater.Screen capture of the lab's dashboard, SEAR Lab

In plain English

Water heating and air conditioning are among the largest energy uses in many buildings, yet in a typical lab nobody sees what they consume until the utility bill arrives. This project connects the SEAR Lab's own hot-water heater and mini-split air conditioner to the manufacturers' online services, so their readings are collected automatically and set beside the lab's rooftop solar output.

Students built a small Python application that checks the equipment every minute, saves each reading to a log and draws live charts on a web dashboard, including a simple net-load figure: solar production minus heating and cooling use. Some values are still estimates rather than measurements. Air-conditioner energy, for example, is inferred from whether the unit is switched on, so the team plans to label every value as measured or estimated. The next step is two-way control: adjusting temperature set points automatically, for instance when the power grid is under strain.

Main points

  • The collector reads the water heater's daily energy use and the air conditioner's on/off state and room temperature through the vendors' APIs.
  • Every 60 seconds the latest readings are written to a local log and shown on a browser dashboard with live charts.
  • A device the collector cannot reach shows as offline, with no number, instead of a made-up reading.
  • The same application also pulls rooftop solar data, tying this work to the lab's wider energy dashboards.
  • Planned next: sending set-point changes back to the equipment, the first step toward automated control.
Dark-themed web dashboard titled HVAC Lab Energy Dashboard. Three cards: Solar System marked offline with no reading; Air Conditioner powered on at 70.7°F with a 69.8°F target and 2.46 kWh estimated for the day; Rheem Water Heater in energy-saving mode, set to 126°F, not running, 0.90 kWh for the day. Below, a history-window bar set to 24 hours and an Energy Consumption chart for April 2, 2026 showing the water heater's daily total stepping up from 0.2 to 0.9 kWh.
The lab's energy dashboard replaying recorded readings from the lab's air conditioner and water heater on April 2, 2026 (6:51 a.m. to 6:21 p.m.). Solar shows offline because no real solar readings were recorded that day. Air-conditioner energy is an estimate from its on/off state; the dips to zero are stretches when the collector could not reach the devices.Screen capture of the lab's dashboard, SEAR Lab

Papers, code and materials

People

  • Erick C. Jones Jr., PhD, PEPrincipal Investigator · SEAR Lab directorin

Fall 2026 team: names to be added from the lab personnel sheet. Profiles marked in link to LinkedIn. More past and present lab members are on the SEAR Lab team page.

← All projects