Are home energy management systems ready to move beyond the early adopter phase and achieve mainstream acceptance? Not so fast, say a couple of research firms. According to consumer electronics research firm Parks Associates, only about 3.5 percent to 4 percent of households take advantage of electricity load control services if offered by their...
Even as deployments of smart grid infrastructure have accelerated in recent years, the once hyped home energy management (HEM) market has struggled to gain traction. Numerous trials have led to only a few cases of industry deployments and to anemic rates of consumer adoption. Today that is starting to change, and over the remainder...
One of the next big things to look for in green tech? Power management ICs (PMICs), says market research publisher Global Industry Analysts (GIA) in a report on the Digital Power Management ICs market. PMICs are integrated circuits that improve the manner in which power is utilized by electrical or electronic systems—and they are...
Energy management software company Eragy aims to serve whatever interest level homeowners have in seeing their energy use and saving money. The company is introducing a suite of apps that work with home control company Control4’s IP-based home control systems, from a free Watt’s On app to a $399 Pro version that allows you...
With all of the technology at our disposal today—home control systems, wired and wireless networking, streaming media, energy monitors, automated lighting and shading, smartphone connectivity—you’d think that our houses would be a whole lot “smarter” and able to manage our home lives more effectively and efficiently. That’s what, of all things, some car companies...
Want to get into selling energy management? A great place to start is with LEDs (light emitting diodes), because they can generate a return on investment much faster than other energy-efficiency technologies. This makes them a great first step to selling more full-blown energy management systems. Jim Sweeney of Hometronics Lifestyles and EcoTronics in...
A couple of years from now when you come home and plug your electric vehicle (EV) into a charger, there’s going to be a technology that sends the signal from the car to the charger and likely to a two-way smart meter provided by the electric utility. And chances are it’s all going to...
The next big thing in green tech homes could be energy harvesting. We’re not talking about solar electric systems or using motorized window shades to help heat or cool a room or harvest light to defray lighting costs. In this case, energy harvesting means self-powered devices like light switches, sensors and other devices that...
The recent Green Button initiative, in which consumers can get their energy usage information from their utility’s web sites, could spark more than a lot of cool energy-efficiency apps now being developed around the information. It could mark an inflection point in delivering energy efficiency services via the so-called smart grid, says Cameron Brooks,...
The coolest thermostat on the planet just got cooler with several new features. Five months after the launch of the Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest Labs has announced features including an Energy History and Airwave, which Nest says cuts the energy needed to cool your house to a desired temperature. These and other features are...
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