Smart Grid Coming, But Are Smart Homes?
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 01. 8.09
Photo via Hidesert
While smart grid research and smart meter installations are pushing forward, it looks like the idea of a smart home is falling back.
According to a study released at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, consumers have zippo interest in technology that smartens up their homes.
This doesn't mean that research and development of technologies that automate homes will stop. Rather, it's a waiting game for just the right timing - infrastructure needs to be in place, and there has to be a reason for consumers to care. That infrastructure is the smart grid and uniform standards, and that compelling reason is the savings of energy efficiency.
According to Tim Woods, a partner in the consulting firm Poco Labs and an expert in smart-home technology, the government needs to assist in getting a universal smart grid put in place, with smart meters that talk to a home device like a TV or PC so that users can easily see what their energy use is.
The thing is, all this already exists - Agilewaves is a perfect example of a program that fully automates a home. What doesn't exist is mainstream knowledge of the usefulness of these things.
If the government does help spread awareness through mandated smart meter installations and similar initiatives, then smart home technology could easily become accepted - and demanded - by consumers.
It used to be no one wanted a cell phone. Now they're considered a necessity. It could be the same story with smart home technology and energy efficiency.
Via International Herald Tribune
More on Smart Homes:
Agilewaves Shows Off User-Friendly Home Energy Monitoring System at WCG 2008 Showhouse
3,000 Smart Fridges Hitting UK Homes
Itron and Tendril Create Dialogue Between Smart Homes and Utilities
Nokia Entering Smart Home Scene with Mobile Phone Project
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I want a "smart home" as bad as I want a car seat that talks to me - as in "buckle your seatbelt, chump."
Hopefully developers will skip this garbage until the first get a focus on triple-glazed windows and ultra high insulation factors in the building envelope.
That and figure out how to make smallish, affordable living units charming without granitizing everything in sight.
I suspect most of the problem with "smart home" technology is that it seems too involved and complicated for any but the most dedicated person to bother with. And knowing most of the CES participants, their products would probably scare the average homeowner to death.
It's also worth noting that those constant monitoring systems are often just sucking down energy, without providing much in the way of service except pretty displays and colored lights.
Building smarter appliances, those that do the efficiency job so the owner doesn't have to think about it, is the smarter way to go. Let the house just provide the juice. The appliances can be taught to sip, not suck it down.
I think a lot more DIY will occur before capital gets invested. DIY enthusiasm seems to be seen as an indicator of market demand.
@Steve: Designing the home and the appliances in it to do the work of improving efficiency so that the owner doesn't think need to think about it is exactly what Smart Homes ARE about. Putting the intelligence (and effort) in the home, not the homeowner.
Having meters, sensors, and displays for them does use energy, and hopefully the homeowner takes use of the information provided. But in a truly smart home, the home would do it itself- while considering the prefences of the owner.
If homeowners are scared because they don't understand smart home technologies or think they'll lead to extra chores, that just means these ideas haven't hit critical mass in the public consciousness yet. But if they're scared away by complicated interfaces, then that means the designers and engineers aren't doing their job properly. Give the technology time to mature, and when the smart grid gets built, smart home tech will be ready for your grandmother's house.
I think a lot of people actually have a huge interest, but it is the price that deters them. Beyond a programmable thermostat (which will pay for its minimal cost in months or less since heat and a/c are the biggest energy hogs by far), you're looking at spending hundreds of dollars in equipment that might save pennies in electricity. Until the cost of pollution is actually reflected in the price of electricity, or the smart home technology becomes incredibly cheap, it's just not worth the investment
Look to Japan for the best examples of energy efficient smart homes; their 'smart' water heating services (which monitor use, so too much water isn't heated, and heat it during off-peak, cheaper times) are close to genius and the way this technology should be moving.