For the Smart Homes of this century, the paper gives a few hints on energy management and thereby reducing bills along with an eco-friendly environment.

1. S MART H OME E NERGY M ANAGEMENT
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SMART HOMES AND ENERGY
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Smart Home can be defined as an ecosystem of various devices set up such that
the system understands what one intends to do and helps with what one wants to
do. The benefit would be better control over various areas of the house with just a
voice, touch or a button.
Various technologies today have contributed various components of the ecosystem
like smart TVs, smart phones and other similar smart appliances along with the
interconnect system for the devices.
With the increase in the energy consuming devices, people started getting more
and more concerned about the control over the day to day energy consumption and
reducing the bills. Along with the residents, the utility companies are also finding
ways to manage energy they produce and communicate with the users on effective
ways of managing their energy usage.
One important factor, that is also playing role here is the environment. Everybody
demands latest technological comforts with eco-friendly devices.
Energy Management in Smart Homes has become a necessity now.
One can easily witness a number of examples where energy consumption is
controlled by energy-aware individuals around.
1When Katherine Smith of Hamilton, Ontario lived in England for a year, she was
impressed by a low-tech and energy free way to dry her clothes — an airer. It’s a
ceiling-mounted clothes rack that has ropes and a pulley system so it can be
lowered when draping damp clothes and raised to send them back up to the ceiling.
She and her son also started to use electricity around the house more
conservatively. “We turn out lights when we don’t need them and wash dishes by
hand; we really think about what we do.” says Katherine.
Katherine’s awareness about her own energy consumption made her save on her
bills and contribute towards an eco-friendly future.
2
Researchers are now analyzing how energy can be saved at home by simple
techniques around peak-use times. One approach is put to test by Ontario's
peaksaver program.
1. http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/dimensions/issue6/smart_technology.html
2. http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/dimensions/issue6/smart_technology.html
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2. SMART HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Smart Technologies reducing home energy use
1
“The a/c might run for 15 minutes and then be turned off for 15 minutes, even
though it hasn't reached the desired temperature. The temperature in the house will
slowly rise, but often this isn’t a hardship and it really helps with grid stability,” says
NRC's Dr. Guy Newsham.
Other techniques that could be tested include:
1. Turning on the a/c earlier in the day to pre-cool the house before a heat wave hits — to
see if it can be left on for a shorter period later in the day.
2. Turning off the heating element in clothes dryers for short periods, allowing clothes to dry
with just the air cycle until the heater comes back on again.
www.loseyourexcuse.gov 3. Using timers on devices such as dishwashers and clothes dryers, so they go on
automatically during non-peak times.
4. Installing motorized blinds on windows to reduce the need for cooling.
2
But a workable solution would involve taking individual responsibility, change our
own behaviors and consume less of the fuels and products that contribute to
climate change.
SMART TECHNOLOGIES REDUCING HOME
ENERGY USE
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Intervention of technology in the process could mean as simple as requiring that
new computers, mobile phones, or video game consoles default to their energy-
saving modes. (Some game consoles, in a default always-on mode, become
energy hogs that use more electricity than the family refrigerator.)
3
Under traditional business models, it made no more economic sense for utilities to
reduce the volume of product sold — kilowatt hours, or units of natural gas — than
it made for makers of soft drinks or shampoo to sell less of their products.
Helmut Edelmann, Ernst & Young Director, Global Power & Utilities says “Smart
Technology puts unprecedented power in the hands of consumers to manage and
control their energy use”
If people can monitor their home energy consumption, and how the price changes
throughout the day, they will change their habits to save money.
1. http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/dimensions/issue6/smart_technology.html
2. http://makeanimpact.c2es.org/climate-change
3. http://e360.yale.edu/feature/why_does_energy_efficiencys_promise_remain_unfulfilled/2367/
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3. .....
SMART HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Energy companies need to reinvent
An information-centric energy infrastructure on a larger scale is required to monitor
and control energy usage. Adding digital processing and communications to the
power grid for controlled data flow and information management gave rise to
SmartGrids.
SMARTGRIDS
The “Smart Grid Dictionary” (Hertzog, 2011) defines Smart Grid as follows:
A bi-directional electric and communication network that improves the reliability,
security, and efficiency of the electric system for small- to largescale generation,
transmission, distribution, and storage. It includes software and hardware
applications for dynamic, integrated, and interoperable optimization of electric
system operations, maintenance, and planning; distributed energy resources
interconnection and integration; and feedback and controls at the consumer level.
Smart Meters available around us today are one of the by-products of Smart
Grids.
1Conventional SmartGrid perception reflects power sector thinking, ignores end-
use servicers, and energy system features like co-generation. A system's view on
SmartGrid helps better to identify end-use oriented and cost-effective options.
http://www.smartgridindia.net/ Policy makers and utilities must widen options for building smart energy
infrastructure (easing addiction to power grids and smart gas pipelines) suggests
Morten Boje Blarke, Assist. Prof., M.Sc. Eng. PhD. Sustainable Energy Planning.
ENERGY COMPANIES NEED TO REINVENT
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A report by Ernst & Young (October 2011) says Energy Companies must reinvent
themselves.
The introduction of smart technology in energy market has brought a number of
utility companies to compete and thereby forcing the energy companies to change
in order to sustain the relationship with their customers.
Edelmann concludes, “Smart technology puts unprecedented power in the hands of
consumers to manage and control their energy use. In time, this will fundamentally
shift the balance of utility customer relations. It seems the era of a one-way
relationship — where a utility delivers energy to domestic consumers, end of story
— is over, power and utility companies need to adapt and now”.
http://smartgrid.epri.com/
1. http://censeps.soe.ucsc.edu/sites/default/files/2011-blarke.pdf
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4. SMART HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT
eCommander - A smart energy manager
At a basic level, a smarter grid means that a meter can offer consumers real-time
information about electricity costs, which tend to soar at times of peak summer
demand. But, says Elliott, “We’ll start seeing the real benefits when we start putting
smart meters on smart homes filled with smart appliances.” R. Neal Elliott, director
of research at ACEEE
When will energy companies stop telling me to save energy and start helping me do it?
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/quotwhen-will-energy-companies-stop-telling-me-to-save-
energy-and-start-helping-me-do-itquot-2124208.html
One of the initiatives taken by SLS and Echelon for making the homes energy
efficient lead to the invention of eCommander - A Smart Energy Manager
SLS Energy is a division of SLS that is geared towards developing and deploying
products that bridge the SmartGrid and SmartHome worldwide using Powerline and
WiFi communication that interoperate with SmartPhones and Tablets.
ECOMMANDER - A SMART ENERGY
MANAGER
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eCommander is a smart energy manager that utilizes the smart grid and smart
metering technology from Echelon. It makes the consumer aware of the energy
usage and helps you reduce its cost with just a touch!
• It shows the daily, weekly and monthly consumption in terms of cost as well as
energy. This way one can be watchful about energy utilization.
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SMART HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT
eCommander - A smart energy manager
• One can set up their own targets for energy consumption. This way one can
save money, reduce the carbon footprint and ultimately help protect the
environment.
• One can receive weather forecasts for the entire week.
• It can also allow to manage the energy remotely via smart phones and tablets as
they easily sync with eCommander.
• One can schedule the appliance turn off when you are away from home.
• One can know when the energy prices are lowest and so can run high power
consumption appliances like washer, dryer, dish washer during those low cost
periods.
• One can track your energy usage for 1 year and see how much you saved!
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6. SMART HOME ENERGY MANAGEMENT
eCommander - A smart energy manager
Real-time feedback, with the help of devices like eCommander, from electricity
consumers will mean utilities can more accurately fine-tune supply to demand.
1The two-way interaction would mean that a utility can offer customers incentives to
agree to participate in trimming peak demand by, say, allowing the utility to remotely
cycle down a household’s central air conditioning for a short time or using a
dishwasher in off-peak hours.
For more information, visit http://www.slssmarthome.com
REVISION HISTORY
November 2011
1.0 - First Release
December 2011
1.1 - Modified Introduction
Copyright© 2011, System Level Solutions. All rights reserved.
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1. http://e360.yale.edu/feature/why_does_energy_efficiencys_promise_remain_unfulfilled/2367/
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