All Products Filed in Energy Management

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Honeywell is one of the most popular security equipment manufacturers in the world of residential electronics and recently the Melville, N.Y.-based company introduced its latest home security product the LYNX Touch 5100 control interface.

The LYNX Touch 5100 is an interface solution that incorporates Wi-Fi and an alarm radio that communicates with 2G, 3G and 4G networks to ensure reliability. With the 5100 interface as part of a complete LYNX Touch security system homeowners will have at their disposal an array of convenience and security features that provide energy efficiency and safety to their lives. Honeywell builds in compatibility with Z-Wave thermostats, door locks and lighting systems to enable homeowners to own a complete home automation/security system at a reasonable cost.

Honeywell adds the LYNX Touch 5100 also includes the company's Total Connect technologies that allows homeowners to access options such as remote camera viewing, weather, news and traffic information from their smart phones.

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Home Automation, Inc. (HAI) is one of the most diverse and aggressive manufacturers in the custom installation market. Adding to its line of convenience products the New Orleans-based company recently introduced its new MicroControl (part #81A00-2WHZB) stand alone remote control that can be used by property owners to lock and unlock ZigBee enabled door locks and to control other wireless devices.

HAI says that it has verified the MicroControl's operation with Black & Decker's Kwikset SmartCode locks, but it adds that the remote should work with other brands of ZigBee enabled locks. In addition to its ZigBee lock capabilities, HAI points out that property owners can also use the remote to coordinate their wireless energy management products that include thermostats, load-control modules that regulate compressors, generators, water heaters, pumps, fountains and chillers.

The remote can also be integrated into the company's Omni or Lumina control systems and HAI says the remote also provides users lock statuses for each lock to support improved property security.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

For many homeowners the winter time months mean a significant increase in the amount of energy used to heat their homes. The Chatsworth, California-based company Venstar has two new products that can help homeowners affected by the cold weather of winter to better manage their energy consumption.

Venstar's new FlatStat line of residential thermostats are engineered to help homeowners efficiently manage their home's energy consumption through the ability to schedule their HVAC on seven-day cycles. The line comes in two models: T1000FS and T1100FS, and the company says the thermostats are designed to install and operate easily.

The California manufacturer says the thermostats' industrial designs are engineered to complement a variety of home interiors and some of the user options included in the products include Venstar's All-in-One two-stage heat, two-stage cool functions with gas/electric, heat pump, electric and hydronic heat systems. In addition, they incorporate an Auto Changeover feature that automatically switches from heating to cooling; a security feature that allows only authorized individuals to adjust set points, and non-volatile memory that holds the units' programming.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

There are many people that under estimate the impact of how their homes' shades can be used to help manage energy, while adding natural light to a room during key points in the day.

Manufacturers such as Lutron however have devoted a lot of time, money and other resources to the topic. Lutron's newly released battery powered Sivoia QS cellular shades fill a need for a small, but growing amount of homeowners that are learning about the benefits of shade management. The shades took the company years to develop and they enter the shade market at price points that will enable a broader group of consumers to purchase the products than what was previously available.

The shades incorporate Lutron's Triathlon battery life technology, which it says helps the batteries to last up to three years. Lutron offers the shades in stand alone and automated versions, and they are available in a variety of sizes. In addition, the company offers the shades in a choice of fabrics and colors. With the shades homeowners can control the amount of light that enters their home at specific times and they can add a convenient means of privacy.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

With the stock market behaving more erratically than a toddler, unemployment still raging at more than 9 percent and consumer confidence waffling, the public is looking for any means possible to save money.

The New Orleans-based manufacturer Home Automation, Inc. (HAI) is providing some relief to homeowners that are interested in curbing their utility expenses through its new energy management solution. HAI is now shipping its Standalone Wireless Energy Management System MicroControl (8100-2WHZB) unit. According to the company, the ZigBee-based device serves as the heart of its Energy Management System and it facilitates a homeowner's ability to run time-based schedules for their home's temperatures, water heaters, fountains, lamps and other components.

HAI adds the MicroControl can act as a ZigBee Interface Module (ZIM) to allow the unit to integrate into the company's whole-house control and automation systems.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Home Automation, Inc. (HAI) is one of the most aggressive companies in the entire custom installation market. With a vast product line that covers many categories and a research and development (R&D) staff that consistently updates those products the company positions itself to dealers as a state-of-the-art company with affordable products.

Reinforcing its reputation in the market are product releases like its new Snap-Link USB for Windows with Access Control, Audio, Humidity and User Settings update. The solution (product number 1120) is a USB key that plugs into a PC to allow users to access their Hi-Fi 2 whole-house audio systems, as well as their access control systems, dehumidifier/humidifiers, and user settings that include irrigation and wake-up times.

The New Orleans-based company adds that homeowners can also control their lighting control systems, their security systems, their HVAC systems and IP surveillance cameras.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

While it may be more important in some parts of the country than others, air conditioning is a home amenity that nearly everyone values.

Adding to its ever-growing list of control and automation options, the New Orleans-based manufacturer Home Automation, Inc. (HAI) has recently introduced its new CoolMaster VRV/VRF air conditioning system adapters. HAI says the CoolMaster products provide connectivity to air conditioning solutions from Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Sanyo, Fujitsu and Daikin. HAI also explains the newly launched adapters support multiple indoor units and each thermostat in a Omni or Lumina control systems can be setup so each thermostat can be assigned to corresponding a CoolMaster adapter.

HAI adds that the CoolMaster adapters employ a single set point for heating and cooling, and that homeowners that change their heating or cooling systems' temperatures will control the CoolMaster's set point. The adapter work with HAI Omni and Lumina control and automation systems running version 3.8 firmware or later.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Eragy, Inc. has announced its MyEragy family of energy services for homeowners and professionals.

MyEragy Pro is an energy monitoring and management tool available for utilities, solar installers, energy efficiency and weatherization contractors, and other service providers. MyEragy Pro provides a scalable platform for monitoring and managing home energy usage and verifying the performance of installed energy saving systems while giving homeowners an easy way to monitor and view their energy savings, including whole-house energy consumption, individual appliances and individual circuits.

It can also monitor the energy generated by solar, wind, gas generators, and other renewable energy sources. The system includes a database of utility rate plans and supports flat rate, tiered, demand, time-of-use, and even complex combinations of these rate types. It also includes a number of alerts and notifications via email and text/SMS messages.

The MyEragy platform is hardware agnostic and supports a number of Internet-enabled power sensors, including Energy Inc.’s TED5000 family and the eGauge from eGauge Systems, with future support for the CurrentCost Envi.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Not resting on its laurels, Lutron has recently updated its brand new RadioRA 2 line of lighting and home control solutions.

The RadioRA 2 system can be setup by professional installers to wirelessly control and automate up to 200 devices, and homeowners can control their systems with their Apple iPads. Following the long Memorial Day weekend the Penn.-based manufacturer released several updates for the Radio RA 2 system that are headlined by the introduction of the system's new v4.2.10 programming software that now enables installers to activate functions in Lutron's seeTemp Thermostat to allow homeowners to set temperatures from their keypads and create temperature schedules. Lutron has also added support for its Sivoia QS wireless Venetian Blinds with Intelligent Tilt Alignment, as well as an expanded selection of non-system accessories and the ability to program phantom buttons to activate security full/flash mode, which eliminates the need for a VCRX interface.

Lutron has also updated its Home Control+ app with the release of version 3.1, which adds full functionality for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices, seeTemp Thermostat support, Venetian Blind support, Pico wireless control support, RadioRA 2, HomeWorks QS and HomeWorks system support.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Since the initial debut of its g system a couple of years ago, Elan has been steadily bolstering the line with subsequent product releases to ensure its viability within the custom installation market.

The latest additions to the product line address the management side of control and automation, and Elan says the new products--the HC4 and HC8--can be used by installers for residential and light commercial installations. Elan says the two new controllers are built to facilitate easy installations, and they are designed to combine control, automation over a variety of electronics systems. The HC4 incorporates four ports, streaming audio capabilities, an on-screen display, IR, relays and sensing inputs. The HC8 offers eight serial ports, two audio streams, IR, relays and sense inputs. The HC8 also includes a 500GB hard drive that allows homeowners to store security video, photos, music and video.

With the introduction of these controllers, the g line of solutions now includes a choice of four, six, eight and 12 port models and control options that range from keypads and touchscreens, to Apple iPhones and iPads.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

From an economic perspective consumers are under siege. Unemployment remains high, the commodity market and weak value of the dollar are driving the cost of oil to near-record levels and in turn affecting the price of gas, food, airline travel and many other goods and services.

One way that consumers can ease their financial burden is through the implementation of energy savings products in their homes. Lutron's newly released RadioRA 2 is a system that installers can offer that provides energy savings opportunities through its ability to manage a home's consumption of electricity and other utilities. Adding to the conservation potential of the RadioRA 2 system is the just launched RadioRA 2 thermostat.

Lutron says its new thermostat features a three-part design that includes the seeTemp users interface, a wireless temperature sensor and an HVAC controller. As part of the RadioRA 2 system homeowners can control as much as 60 percent of their homes' energy use from a keypad, mobile device or Apple iPad.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

It's been one of the most under publicized developments within the custom electronics industry, but now through recent announcements such as ihiji's new alliance with Control4 and ZigBee, the concept of remote services is becoming easier to implement for installers.

The Austin, Texas-based electronics services company says the new partnerships extend the ability of installers to reduce customer service costs, while increasing installers' recurring revenue streams through ihiji's new compatibility with Control4 control and automation systems, and ZigBee wireless devices.

Using the newly upgraded invision cloud-based, two-way communication remote monitoring and support system from ihiji, installers can monitor, revise and update their clients' electronics systems without having to pay third-party software licensing fees.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Whether its made-made lighting control or natural lighting control, Coopersburg, Pa.-based Lutron Electronics provides homeowners with a means of energy-savings lighting control.

Adding to its product line recently, the company introduced its latest natural light control product: Venetian Blinds with Lutron's proprietary Intelligent Tilt Alignment technology. Lutron says the blinds are an attractive and effective way to manage the flow of natural light into a room while ensuring homeowner privacy.

The company adds that its Tilt Alignment Technology provides users with independent lift and tilt control to support the adjustment of the blinds as the sun changes position, and they provide access to a window without affecting the blind's tilt position. Aesthetically, Lutron points outs out that the technology enables homeowners to maintain uniform tilt and lift positions across multiple blinds, and to support its daily usage, the blinds can store and recall predetermined height and tilt angles for single and whole groups of blinds.

Lutron offers the blinds with a choice of more than 50 hardwood slats with wood stains, and with a choice of designer paints and brushed aluminum choices. Other color and finish choices include 30 optional decorative tapes, four valance styles and home interior color matching options.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Now that millions of Americans are adopting green-friendly, energy conservation products and practices, the engineering/manufacturing sector is stepping up to deliver products to support these initiatives.

ICM Controls, a manufacturer of HVACR products has just introduced its SimpleComfort Series of programmable, communicating thermostats (PCT). Included in the line of products is the SE5000 smart thermostat, which features an in-home display (IHD) coupled to a residential themostat that enables users to have direct HVAC load control by utility companies that offer smart grid services to their customers.

The thermostat also incorporates ZigBee's Smart Energy (SE) profile for communications with smart meters to provide functions such as monitoring, control and automation, and other user convenience features that include a 7-day programmable, multi-stage heat/cool control option with adjustable controls for each stage.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Energy management has been an up and coming technology trend for quite some time and now custom installers can offer these services through Panamax and Furman's BluBOLT version 1.2 firmware update.

The new update allows CE Pros to input energy rates specific to components and their locations. With this information the companies say, the newly updated BlueBOLT technologies will calculate the energy consumption of the products plugged into the BlueBOLT-enabled power conditioners. The technology platform will then report this information in real time, log the information and provide data that can be viewed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

In addition, Furman and Panamax say that users can set the information to be viewed as kilowatt hours or dollars.