Home Energy Devices and Applications

The ability to drill-down and see what energy we are using, and what it is costing us, will be very significant. And will definitely be one of the more powerful mobile apps, in terms of saving money.

There are a number of home energy tracking devices on the market. Many of them are compatible with web- and/or mobile-enabled energy monitoring tools that allow you to view your home’s energy consumption from anywhere online, or your mobile device.

For example, check out: Current Cost which provides a simple, easy-to-use energy monitor and other complementary products. EnergyHub has several unique features including a home base console, appliance granularity, web and mobile apps, and utility facing metrics. The Energy Detective (TED) provides simple real-time aggregate energy usage data. Also, it’s worth checking out Talking Plug, and the associated web-app ZeroMeter.

Although some of the devices promise a little more than they presently deliver, a ‘home energy dashboard’ with associated web and mobile apps is clearly a critical component in gaining more power over the energy we consume, produce, store and sell. And having real-time electricity usage profiles for our homes and offices on our iphones is just plain cool, not to mention the efficiencies we can achieve by measuring and monitoring granular (appliance-specific) energy usage data.

One important question remains: how do energy management devices know what electricity tariff is applicable at a given time for a given customer in a given geographic area? The growing complexities in applicable electricity pricing for residential and commerical energy consumers presents a considerable barrier to devices that aim to deliver total transparency. A good place to check your energy plan options right now is through our consumer-focused website, Whatsmypower.com.

We also just opened up our API and electricity pricing database. We make it simple for any energy monitoring device developer (and any other app developer) to use the most accurate energy pricing data, and integrate that data into any energy analysis. Check it out here. You may even want to become part of the Genability Developer Network. In fact, any developer can build our comprehensive & accurate data into their apps. We encourage it!