GE Introduces First "Smart Appliance"

The Smart Grid is coming! The Smart Grid is coming! Soon to follow are smart appliances. You can now (as in right now -however its not available in IL yet) buy the new Energy Star rated GE Hybrid Water Heater.

To create the next generation of water heaters, GE rethought every aspect of this appliance from the ground up. The result is a innovative new product that can reduce water heater operating cost up to 62% and save $320 per year.* That adds up to significant savings, and you won't have to give up a single drop of hot water.

The water heater is an excellent place to start. It is the biggest energy sucking appliance after your heating and cooling system. What makes this water heater smart is its ability to communicate to an outside system that can control what mode the water heater is in. During periods of high prices, the water heater can theoretically be shifted remotely by the utility the most energy efficient settings. This would be a similar program to an air conditioning cycling program.

An article from the New York Time's Green Inc. blog, relays that it is unfortunate that most consumers would not be able to see this added benefit.

There is no monetary incentive to program the water heater to go into energy-saving mode at 4 p.m., in other words — so the “smartness” has no immediate purpose.

Again as Power Smart Pricing customers, you all are on the front line to take advantage of the newest innovations in the energy cost savings world. It's so new that this feature is barely ever mentioned on GE's web page dedicated to the water heater. The real goal would be for the water heater to automatically adjust its settings based on how the consumer wants it to react to certain price points. For the time being, smart appliances and meters will be developed with the utility in mind.

Dynamic pricing programs like Power Smart Pricing are too few and far between for developers to aim their products at the consumer. Fortunately you all have proven that real-time pricing programs work for a wide variety of households and various levels of access to latest technologies.Your successes are paving the way towards wider acceptance of this pricing method and slowly but surely the products will change and advance with you in mind. Savings will follow.

For more from Green Inc on the smart appliance, click here.
To learn more (including multiple videos) about GE's Hybrid Electric Water Heater, click here.

PSP in the Quincy News (updated w/ video)

The article accompanying the video (yet to be posted online Update: Now with video!) features Power Smart Pricing participant David Edwards who has been a happy customer for the past 16 months. Thanks for the great coverage!

Check it out here.

More Winter Saving (online version)..

There is never a limit on savings... well maybe your total bill. Over CNet's GreenTech blog they have compiled a great guide to using the online tools that are available to everyone to get some personalized energy saving advice. In most of these cases, the software will ask you to profile your home to specify some places to target for energy and money savings.

Unfortunately, Power Smart Pricing customers won't be given time specific advice to help manage some of the higher winter prices. (Keep in mind that prices are generally lower than the flat 24 hours a day, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a pattern featuring higher priced times.)

To check out their guide to energy saving webware (their word, not mine) click here.

Home Energy Saving is Relaxing, Stylish and Tasty

Sealing air leaks in windows, door and electric outlets are a common solution. So is adding insulation and raising your blinds in the middle of the day to allow for passive solar heating. But ultimately, saving energy and money is something that we do everyday without even noticing. It comes in all forms, and it has all kinds of benefits. For Power Smart Pricing customers, combining your schedule and energy saving techniques is your best choice to increase savings and lower your bills.

For example, if you are an avid runner you could run in the evening to avoid the high electricity prices between 6-8 during cooler months (even better if you have electric heat...). Maybe running isn't your thing. Do you have a dog? Put on some layers and go for a walk. Who knew that energy saving could be so relaxing?

There are so many ways to conserve energy that most of the time you don't even have to think about it. Like that ever so desirable Snuggie, one impulse buy off QVC and you got yourself some energy savings. That Snuggie might even pay for itself... if it weren't for the shipping and handling. Who knew such a "smart" purchase could look so "stylish?"

It's getting cold, and now we get to battle everyday to stay warm. How about some tea? Coffee? Warm apple cider? Hot chocolate (with marshmallows of course)? Not sure if there is a better excuse to enjoy a warm drink than energy savings... well maybe that's just me.

Energy saving isn't all that hard. The key is finding those things that you enjoy to do and actually do them. If you believe me, plan a time to run this week and come home to a Snuggie and some hot chocolate. I bet you would let your thermostat drop without even checking it. Who knew energy saving could be so relaxing, stylish, and tasty all at the same time?

11/1 Energy & Environment Links

A place known for mustard shows fine taste for conservation

The Elithis Tower, its builder says, is an office building like no other, an oval-shaped showcase for how to help save the planet on a reasonable budget.

Very Promising! Zinc-Air Battery Could Hold 300% More Energy Than Lithium-Ion

Not quite as impressive on paper as the lithium-air battery we wrote about (which claimed 10x more energy storage than regular lithium-ion), but it might turn out to be easier to take out of the lab and bring to market. ReVolt Technology, a company based in Staefa, Switzerland, claims that its Zinc-air battery can "store three times the energy of lithium ion batteries, by volume, while costing only half as much."

Microgrids: $2.1B Market by 2015

The idea behind microgrids – islands of renewable power generation, energy storage, building control systems, and a localized electricity distribution grid that can manage it all, whether connected to the grid at large or not.