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Control4, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, uses technologies such as ZigBee, WiFi and Ethernet standards and Linux to increase integration of existing systems  |
A collage of Control4 controls © Control4
| and to reduce the overall cost of ownership.
“Digital households are overflowing with feature-rich gear and media that should work together but rarely do,” says CEO Will West. By developing standards-based products instead of proprietary, Control4 provides home automation solutions that tackle the problem of too many remote controls and disparate digital gadgets with no connectivity standards.
Evolving Market
Koenig says that among solutions starting to manifest in the marketplace are products in the area of time of use, which allow homeowners to schedule power usage. Typically, electric use peaks in the morning when everyone gets ready for work and again in the evening when everyone returns home and turns on their televisions. He says one marketplace solution is a home battery that can draw its power during non-peak—and less expensive—periods and supplement a home’s needs during more expensive peak hours.
HAI is also working in this area. It has pilot projects under way with select utilities, such as Alabama Power near Birmingham, to offer customers smart meters that measure the amount of electricity flowing into a home in real time. “We want the consumer to be able to have devices that let them automatically take advantage of utility rates when they are lower. Consumers could select the cycling of their heating or cooling systems, setting them back or even turning them off,” says HAI’s McLellan.
Home monitors also are of interest. Control4’s 4Sight Internet Service gives homeowners the ability to securely monitor and control their home from any Internet connection. It includes email alerts for events that a person may want to monitor in their home such as a garage door left open or a water leak in the basement. HAI plans to introduce a device that will detect HVAC factors that might otherwise go unnoticed and alert the homeowner. HAI’s McLellan says that often “people might think that an increase in their utility bill is just related to higher prices. But it could be something as simple as a small freon leak, coils that need to be cleaned or a filter that needs to be changed.”
CEA’s Koenig says, “It’s a nascent market that is evolving rapidly. Home controls and content distribution were limited to new construction with dedicated runs. Now that is all changed with wireless and scalable solutions.”
Read other Green Homes Special Series articles here.
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Text by Maureen Blaney Flietner
© 2008 BobVila.com
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