IoT Energy Management for Smart Homes’ Water Management System

Abstract

An Internet of Things (IoT) device that can automatically measure water consumption can help prevent excessive water usage or leaks. However, automating too many residences or condominiums with multiple IoT devices can lead to extra energy consumption and more network congestion. We propose controlling the energy consumption of an IoT water consumption management system by dynamically controlling its duty cycle. By analyzing the energy consumption of the developed prototype and its duty cycle variation, we calculated how much energy could be saved by controlling the antenna and the water flow sensor used in the IoT device. While controlling the antenna offered some energy savings, having some way to cut down on the water flow sensor’s consumption can have a dramatic impact on the overall IoT energy consumption or its battery longevity. Our results showed that we could get up to 69% extra energy savings compared to just putting the antenna in sleep mode. There is an observable trade-off in saving so much energy, as we can also see that water reading error rates go up alongside the extra energy savings.