Wide Angle: Dumb Appliances Get Schooled
July 08, 2009
General Electric, with help from energy management startup Tendril, just announced that it will start selling smart appliances this year. This heralds an end to paying overtime for appliances that already clocked out.
What in the name of microwave lasagna does this actually mean? It means that the world's largest company is going to make refrigerators, washers, water heaters, dishwashers, and microwaves embedded with technology that allows utility companies to communicate with them. Your refrigerator will be able to talk to a smart electric meter that's also in touch with the local utility.
To avoid brownouts, or even blackouts during peak hours, utilities will be able to ask your appliances to power down slightly or even delay a wash cycle for a little while. Mindful that this might freak some people out, the appliances have override options. According to Tendril, these demand response appliances will save consumers hundreds of millions of dollars yearly. Now if they could just build a fridge that shouts warnings about eating too much ice cream.
Photo: Prepare for cheaper electric bills. Credit: Mike DelGaudio.
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"Now if they could just build a fridge that shouts warnings about eating too much ice cream."
Or maybe even take preventative measures. I can see it now...
Human: "You know what sounds good? Some of those vanilla ice cream cones!"
Fridge: "I'm sorry Alyssa. I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
Posted by: Greg Fish | July 08, 2009 at 05:14 PM
Me: "Just one more teeny tiny scoop..."
Fridge: "Eeeep! Eeeep! Eeeep! Step away from the fridge! Eeeep! Eeeep! Eeeep!"
Posted by: Alyssa Danigelis | July 14, 2009 at 12:15 AM