Smart Home Blog

There is a plenty of ways to measure and control the power consumption in the individual houses or apartments. In my mind, the best is TED so far. But new product of Cali-based startup FutureDash called EnergyBuddy has all chances to be better. The main square box indicates the power consumption level by different colors. It has Ethernet and WiFi module to connect to your network. Power measurement is done by clips with module for whole house or SmartPlug module for specific device/appliance. Both transmit data to the EnergyBuddy using ZigBee wireless technology. Additionally to color indications you can use smartphone, tablet or PC to see different kinds of graphs and charts as well as control SmartPlug modules remotely.

The EnergyBuddy can be pre-ordered at Indiegogo. So, don’t miss a change to be one of the fist EnergyBuddy owners and help FutureDash release it in production.

[via Engadget]

GreenWave Reality launched its Z-Wave based home automation system with energy, water and gas consumption meter. It includes a GreenWave Reality Gateway, Energy Display and PowerNodes (intelligent power strips). Any other Z-Wave devices produced by different manufactures can be used as well (viva Z-Wave!). The Gateway communicates with Z-Wave devices, control them and collect energy/water/gas consumption data. The Energy Monitor grubs that information and shows it to consumer in clear way. It also can be used separately in any Z-Wave compatible system.

The Gateway can be connected to Internet. In that case the system can be managed remotely as well as update its firmware. There is no any info about price and availability yet. But GreenWave Reality system looks very promised.

[via AutomatedHome]

It isn’t enough setup sensors and measure energy consumption to reduce waste of energy. You should have a clear visual representation of those measurements.That roundup might help you to choose correct tool or at least gives some idea for that. Personally I like The Energy Detective aka TED. Because it gives you ability to use it standalone or integrate into some smarthome system. Also don’t forget Google PowerMeter which isn’t mentioned by some reason in that roundup.

So, choose right energy monitoring tool for you and be green!

QEES recently launched its new SmartGate and Open Software Platform to help consumers control their Z-Wave devices and save energy. The QEES SmartGate combines a powerful NAT router, a firewall and a telephone gateway in one appliance. Additionally it offers energy consumption monitoring and managing of Z-Wave devices.

The QEES Open Software Platform offers a cloud-based infrastructure for the large-scale installations in case of SmartGate is not enough for you. With that platform you won’t be care about maintenance of server hardware and software. Also you’ll have a high reliability, scalability and backup, of course.

Well, I’m glad to see that more and more Z-Wave devices and software are available for European consumers. And QEES is one of the most active companies in that segment.

Recently Aeon Labs introduced its new Z-Wave device – Home Energy Meter. It doesn’t need Electrician for installation and gives you a full picture of your home energy consumption. Traditionally the meter contains two parts – clip to connect to the main wire and transmitter which sends wattage and kilowatt-hours to the central controller using wireless Z-Wave protocol.

Additionally to the Home Energy Meter Aeon Labs announced another two new products – Minimote remote control to manage all Z-Wave devices in your house and Z-Stick – USB Z-Wave adaptor to use PC or some other device (ASUS WiFi router 500g, for example) as Z-Wave controller.

[via AutomatedHome]