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Internet of things makes old homes smarter

By: Matt Grocoff , Contributing Writer
In: Green Renovations

We're entering a new era of the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT is the idea that using current technology we can connect things like cars, appliances, water heaters, light-bulbs, thermostats, and even the electric grid to each other. Simply put, our stuff can communicate with each other to improve our lives, maximize benefit, and minimize energy use.

Old homes have a bad rep for being high on maintenance and low on comfort. Yet with the IoT we can turn even historic homes, like my century old Victorian, into efficient, cozy, high-tech, and affordable places to live while maintaining historic integrity.

Our household things are becoming wired and can help us maximize energy efficiency by crunching data previously inconvenient or impossible for humans to accomplish.

The revolution has already begun. In my home, we have several devices and appliances that communicate with each other, with us, with the installer, or with the manufacturer. Here's a few of the items in our home that perform tasks better by communicating through the internet and via radio frequency signals:

Thermostat:

Our Ecobee thermostat gets information from the Internet about the current and forecasted outdoor temperature. It uses this data to communicate with our geothermal heater and air conditioner. If something is wrong, it alerts Haley Mechanical, our HVAC contractor, and updates me via email. We can also adjust the thermostat from apps on our phone and tablet or from any computer in the world.

Emonitor:

Our eMonitor from Powerhouse Dynamics provides us live information on the energy use of every circuit on our electrical panel. We can see how many loads of laundry or dishes we've done and how much energy it is using.

Enphase Enlighten:

You can log on right now and see how much energy my house is using. Using WiFi signals, each of our 36 microinverters connected to our solar panels beams data showing live energy use and showing us if there are any problems. Check it out: www.MattGrocoff.com

Rheem Heat Pump Water Heater:

Our water heater has a screen that can read the ambient temperature of our basement as well as monitor all of the internal electronics of the heater. It has a built in ethernet port that will be able to share information with other systems in the house. We'll also be able to control our water heater and turn it off when we go on vacation and have it turn on so we can come home to hot water without having the heater run for a week.

Other cool interconnected stuff that is already available includes:

Digital door locks - http://www.kwikset.com/SmartSecurity/Electronic-Locks.aspx

Light bulbs - http://meethue.com/

Smoke detectors - https://nest.com/smoke-co-alarm/life-with-nest-protect/

Washing machine - http://www.whirlpool.com/smart-appliances/

Coffee pot - http://www.cnet.com/news/qualcomms-wi-fi-coffee-machine-high-tech-caffeinated-kicks/

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