The electricity shows generally high consumption year round: * LED or other low-energy bulbs are fairly small-fry, surely? * How many computers and routers do you have on at home? The gas - heating? - is the biggy, though: * Generally,heating or cooling - depending on climate - is the major impact * If you live somewhere fairly cold in the winter - you spike in Jan/Feb - you could simply go into the attic and unroll 20cm thick layer of fiberglass insulation out; your heating bill will likely plummet

The video matching is just an extension of audio matching, as perfected by Shazam, who sold the patent to BMI (RAII fame). There was someone who implemented it recently and got a cease and desist; its a good story and a wow tech: http://www.redcode.nl/blog/2010/06/creating-shazam-in-java/