Will Interest In Power Management Finally Drive Home Automation?

from the power-me-up dept

Home automation solutions have been something of a fun toy for geeks for many, many years but are still pretty far from mainstream. However, a new force may drive new adoption: the fact that home automation systems can often track how much energy different electronics are using. Prior to this, people weren't all that sure how much energy their consumer electronics were slurping up. But with some new home automation systems, they get a much better view into what's being used and how -- and how to change usage to cut down on the electricity bill. Of course, that makes you wonder if today's obsession with big flat screen TVs (known as the SUVs of the TV world) will get a bit of pushback.
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Filed Under: home automation, power management


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  • identicon
    Freedom, 29 Jul 2008 @ 11:58pm

    Doubt It...

    As someone that has spent way too much time and money automating a lot of aspects in my home, I just don't see the real value, or that the current energy woes would cause any real change to the HA market. Don't get me wrong, I love the stuff I've done, but it would be a hard sell to a lot of folks.

    There will most likely be an upsurge in auto-timers and programmable thermostats though, but I just don't see the ROI for any involved automation systems.

    To me, what has a better chance of taking off is solar power, thermal ground energy type solutions, solar heaters, and CFLs. These actually have immediate/noticeable effect in most cases.

    Bottom line, if you could afford a real home automation system, energy prices aren't a major concern for you. Most likely any minor cost savings you'd achieved would probably be outweighed by all the new 'automation' products in place.

    Freedom

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Wallace, 30 Jul 2008 @ 5:50am

      Re: Doubt It...

      I guess for some people it's all about saving energy and not money but this smarter HA system isn't doing that anymore than a regular system. So this is targeting an even smaller group of people - geek environmentalists. The same group that already has solar and geothermal systems and now wants to get tighter control of the energy they use.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Twinrova, 30 Jul 2008 @ 3:57am

    Great, another "guilty green" product.

    Pass.

    When it comes to utilities, saving electricity doesn't reduce your payment despite all the hoopla of doing so. In fact, utility prices have increased so much in the past 5 years it's not going to save you anything.

    If you want to cut down on your electric bill (and pocket some coinage at the same time), invest in solar panels.

    Yes, I own an SUV TV. There's no way in hell I'm going back to analog TV even if it runs on $1 per month!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous of Course, 30 Jul 2008 @ 5:52pm

      Re: Great, another "guilty green" product.

      Reducing your electricity consumption always
      saves you money. When the rates increase
      conservation saves you even more money, even
      if your bill wasn't reduced. Solar panels?
      The roi is terrible.

      My home consumes less than half of the annual
      kW/hr of the average home in my part of the
      country. Yet I have only ONE CFL bulb in use,
      the rest of them are incandescent. I turn off
      the lights when I'm not in the room and use
      efficient appliances in a frugal manner. Like
      full loads in the laundry and so on... no big tv,
      no dish washer. If it wasn't for a 1200W stock
      tank heater running over the winter I'd use much
      less.

      I guess this is my SUV/flat panel TV. Keeping
      livestock is something that I enjoy but don't need.

      It's not that I'm green, or guilty. I've been trying
      to cut down my utility bills since the early 70's.
      Ok, so I'm cheap. It's also kind of a hobby. Wind
      power, solar power, wood gas, you name it, I've probably
      tried it. Conservation is by far the easiest approach
      and requires the least out of pocket expense- zero.

      What bugs me is I got a flier from the utility
      detailing my monthly electricity usage last month.
      Why? In an attempt to sell me "green" electricty
      at an inflated rate. They're mandated to provide
      a percentage of the electrricity from alternative
      sources so now they're seeking ways to make it
      profitable. In this case it's wind power. Good
      luck on maintaining a stable power grid if all
      the wind generating facilities talked about go on
      line.

      The only thing I want to hear from the utility is
      ways to reduce my bill. Like off-peak rates for
      water heating and other plans which they'll NEVER
      volunteer any information about. I read the complete
      tarriff (rate book) recently, which is thick as a
      phone book, and there's damn little a person can do
      to get a lower rate from my provider.

      Don't get me wrong, I don't live like a monk and
      don't expect anyone else to do so either unless
      it's their desire. If you enjoy driving an
      SUV or watching a big flat panel TV I see nothing
      wrong in it, enjoy. Both should (and have) become
      more efficient over time as the market demands it.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Scoots, 30 Jul 2008 @ 7:25am

    If you want to know power usage...

    for applicances, search for Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitor. Costs about $20 on average if you just have to know how much power something is sucking up when you leave it running.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Moe Rubenzah, 30 Jul 2008 @ 8:14am

    Awareness of energy costs

    Hardly a killer feature but still a good idea. Few people realize what some of the gear costs. Consider that a 150 watt media center, on 24/7, costs $473 a year if you pay 36 cents a kilowatt-hour (a rate charged for additional energy on top of your current usage in some areas); or around $150/year if you're at 12 cents/kWh.

    Worth knowing and worth making people aware. Will it make us "greener?" Probably not. But may save some folks a few dollars and will increase awareness.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Phil Goldinger, 30 Jul 2008 @ 9:54am

    Cooperation with Utilities

    In central Pennsylvania our utility company is talking about having rates change throughout the day.

    The problem with electricity is the lack of storage, so they need to generate more in the hot afternoon that at 3am. With smart appliances or control units, and rates that vary based on demand, they could cycle your fridge less during the afternoon freeing some power for the hungry AC units.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 30 Jul 2008 @ 5:05pm

      Re: Cooperation with Utilities

      In central Pennsylvania our utility company is talking about having rates change throughout the day.
      But that's not about saving energy. That's about the power company not wanting to invest in the capacity to meet peak demand.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    CSK001, 3 Feb 2009 @ 9:42pm

    Thanks

    Hi,
    Thanks for sharing your ideas and views with us. I'm a new one in this forum. Please keep updating me.

    CSK


    Flat Fee MLS

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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