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home energy management

Energy Consumers: Getting their Head in the Clouds

October 14, 2011 by Allison Eckelkamp
with 323 views
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You’ve probably seen the Chevrolet commercial in which a man calls his wife, who is boarding an airplane, and asks, “Would you mind doing it again?” From an app on her smart phone, she starts her car, generating an “ooooh, sweet” response from her husband’s friend.This is the power of the “cloud.” And the technology exists today for... [read more]

Google Searches For Key To Energy Savings

April 13, 2010 by Big Gav
with 152 views
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National Geographic has an article on Google's power meter and initiatives to make smart meter data visible to end users - Google Searches For Key To Energy Savings Deep in the dark of the Minnesota night, some appliance was kicking on to rob Ed Kohler of hard-earned cash. He'd look later and see nighttime energy spikes reported by... [read more]

TrickleStar demo’s their energy saving devices

April 7, 2010 by Tom Raftery
with 90 views
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I attended the Smart Grids Europe Conference 2010 in Amsterdam last week. One of the people displaying there was Thomas Joergensen of TrickleStar. TrickleStar are not a Smart Grid company per se, what they offer instead are devices to cut down on energy consumption in the home. As such, their clients are utility companies who... [read more]

Can Apple make Home Energy Management sexy?

January 28, 2010 by Tom Raftery
with 125 views
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Will Apple move into home energy management, and if they do, can they make it sexy and front-of-mind for everyone? I made this point in a reply to a post earlier on the IBM Global Eco Jam and I thought it could well do with being fleshed out to a full post here to see what others think. In case you were hiding under a rock yesterday,... [read more]

Home energy innovation from Direct Energy

January 11, 2010 by Lynne Kiesling
with 171 views
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Whirlpool and Direct Energy have long been two of the most forward-looking companies working in the electricity value chain. Whirlpool was the appliance partner on the GridWise Olympic Peninsula transactive network project, and have committed to all of their global products being grid friendly and transactive by 2015. Direct Energy, an... [read more]

Oregon Scientific’s elegant in-home energy monitor

January 5, 2010 by Lynne Kiesling
with 362 views
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The Consumer Electronics Show has started, and we device and gadget geeks are having fun! One thing I noticed quickly is in this Engadget post about Oregon Scientific’s new device offerings: Look at the device on the far right — it’s a wireless appliance manager “to help users keep an eye on how much energy up to eight appliances are... [read more]

Energy information devices start to go mass market

November 24, 2009 by Lynne Kiesling
with 126 views
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Tim Haab helpfully points out an article from Time about EnergyHub, a device for consumers to see more, and more timely, information about their energy consumption. I’ve written about EnergyHub here before, and honestly, they have not been among the most forward-looking or impressive of the products I’ve seen for providing consumers... [read more]

Home Energy Management System Introductions Critical to Smart Grid Success

November 23, 2009 by Christine Hertzog
with 264 views
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Technology can’t get more visible and disruptive than Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS). HEMS solutions are one of the most critical components of the Smart Grid – truly game-changing solutions that change the relationship residential consumers have with electricity and with utilities.HEMS solutions are software solutions that offer... [read more]

Home Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives: Why Do We Resist?

November 12, 2009 by Peter Troast
with 80 views
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We know that tax incentives are available and a good deal. And yet, we hesitate to take advantage of them. Why? I recently heard an energy advisor (Canadian version of home energy auditor) lament that when government incentives for home energy evaluations were at their highest, home owners snapped up the opportunity to have their homes... [read more]

Google PowerMeter and TED 5000 Bring Real-Time Monitoring Home. Smart Meter, Step Aside.

October 6, 2009 by Peter Troast
with 746 views
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Google/TED Partnership takes real-time power monitoring to a new level. In the field of energy measurement, which we deem the critical beginning of any effort to reduce energy use at home, Google's announcement that the TED 5000 will be compatible with PowerMeter is a game changer.  Now, any purchaser of the new TED 5000... [read more]

Make people responsible for their energy use to drive down consumption!

September 30, 2009 by Tom Raftery
with 160 views
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Joe Baguley wrote a fantastic post recently on the HomeCamp blog on monitoring energy use in the home. It is a really good read as Joe outlines how he first became interested in home energy monitoring and over time evolved into the “home energy enforcer” (!). He goes through the tools he employed to monitor his home energy use and how... [read more]

Energy Performance Score (EPS): Rethinking Home Energy Measurement

September 4, 2009 by Peter Troast
with 80 views
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Energy Performance Score (EPS) certificate. Image: Energy Trust of Oregon The need for effective, accurate measurement tools in home energy efficiency has never been greater. Home owners are looking to assess the value and effectiveness of efforts to reduce carbon emissions and save energy.  Policy makers and home performance... [read more]

Home energy management and home security product bundling

August 5, 2009 by Lynne Kiesling
with 124 views
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In a Cnet Green Tech article, Martin LaMonica points to some developments in an area that I’ve been pushing on for years: the potential consumer value creation from bundling residential electricity service with home security services. The potential for such bundling is one example of why I argue so emphatically for retail competition:... [read more]

Efficiency 2.0 - Energy Management Dark Horse?

July 30, 2009 by Peter Troast
with 176 views
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Joining the slew of energy monitoring programs recently launched - Google Powermeter, Microsoft Hohm, GE’s Home Energy Manager, and eMeter, to name a few - we’ve just become aware of a dark horse candidate that has for four years been quietly developing what may be the most user-friendly home energy program yet.   Efficiency 2.0,... [read more]