power monitoring
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Belkin adds WeMo Insight Switch to the home-automation tool family
The Belkin WeMo family of home-automation tools grew by one yesterday with the introduction of a new member -- the WeMo Insight Switch (US$59.99). The Insight Switch one-ups its older sibling, the WeMo Switch ($49.99), by being smarter and skinnier. While the WeMo Switch provided a way for iPhone users to turn lights and appliances on or off from anywhere they were on a network by using the WeMo app, the Insight Switch adds a new trick -- being able to monitor power usage. Like its older sibling, the Insight Switch has its own IFTTT.com channel to provide even more intelligence to the seemingly simple task of turning something on or off. For example, you can set up the WeMo Insight Switch to monitor a plugged-in device -- let's say an electric space heater. If that power-hungry appliance has been on for a certain amount of time, you can tell the switch to shut it off. Likewise, if the daily cost of using the space heater to keep your toes warm rises above a pre-set level, you can shut it off. You could also use the Insight Switch to tell you something like how long a window-mounted air conditioner has been running and send that info in a text message. I mentioned how the Insight Switch is smarter than the old WeMo Switch in being able to monitor energy usage, but I also said it was skinnier. The new switch is much smaller than its predecessor, making it much more likely for design-conscious homeowners to adopt the Insight Switch. The WeMo app also received a redesign yesterday, adding support for the new switch, getting a new iOS 7-friendly look and providing faster response than the old app. In addition, WeMo is now supported on the Android platform. TUAW will have a full review of the WeMo Insight Switch in the near future.
Google PowerMeter comes to Blue Line Innovations' PowerCost Monitor
Energy conservation isn't just good for the environment, it's also good for the family budget. Being aware of your energy consumption can help you cut costs by as much as 5 to 15 percent, according to some estimates. One product that can help with real time power monitoring of your consumption habits is the Power Cost Monitor, a device we got to spend some quality time with over the summer after Blue Line Innovation kicked off a partnership with Microsoft HOHM. The partnerships are expected to widen today when BLI announces support for Google's competing PowerMeter web monitoring solution. As such, owners of the $249ish PowerCost Monitor WiFi Edition kit will have yet another method for measuring their carbon footprint from a PC or smartphone -- and that's a good thing. Update: We have the official PR after the break.
Ambient Orb power-usage hack reduces energy consumption by 40%
We've seen some interesting uses for Ambient Devices' various "thin data" products, but Mark Martinez, a Southern California Edison power station manager, has probably hit upon the most interesting application we've seen: by reprogramming the device to reflect energy usage and costs, customers in his 120-person test program managed to reduce their energy consumption by 40 percent. Martinez chalks the results up to the "sentinel effect," saying that ""It's nonintrusive. It has a relatively benign effect. But when you suddenly see your ball flashing red, you notice." Ambient Devices actually sells a similar product called the EnergyJoule, and we've seen some other monitoring attempts before, but we think we like Martinez's hack better -- it brings a little mod flair to living green. Hopefully he'll let us know how he did it soon.[Via Inhabitat]
DIY Kyoto's Wattson
If you haven't been conserving energy like any good citizen of the world -- carpooling, turning lights off when you leave the room, keeping your defibrillator unplugged -- perhaps it's about time you took your energy output into your own hands. We've seen juice-monitoring solutions before, but the Wattson definitely takes the cake for style and simplicity, showing a running total of wattage output represented in a digital readout or ambient light -- it can also connect to your PC and record usage patterns. Unfortunately you're going to have to spend £350 ($600 US) to get one, and that's if you're lucky enough to snag one of the limited run of 250 they manufactured. Elementary, my dear... ahem.[Via Inhabitat]
