According to an Information Week article, there is a test going on in Washington and Oregon to use real-time pricing data to let people make smarter choices about energy use.
The GridWise Initiative, led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is testing dryers, thermostats, and water heaters that are wirelessly connected to a server, which uses a broadband connection to fetch prices. Homeowners also can set monthly energy budgets and monitor in real time whether they’re sticking to them. In another experiment, 50 dryers are equipped with a chip that will respond to instability on the power grid and shut off the heating units on the dryers for a few minutes. Spread across millions of homes, this program could provide a shock absorber in the grid, giving producers the few minutes needed at times of peak demand to bring new power online.
While the idea of “networked appliances” has been around for a long time now, they have always flopped because they never really addressed a need. With the possibility of saving money on utility bills, they might start making more sense.
I wonder if combining them with the Zero Energy House would actually make you money?
Tags: costs, Eating, voluntary peasantry
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