Energy Management
Cashing in on energy management: a new door opens wide for custom integrators
February 2010Electronic systems integrators are now facing the biggest new business opportunity since before there were electronic systems integrators. ESCs can now go beyond audio and video—beyond conventional home automation, even—to reach a larger market than they’ve ever had before.
This new market is being created by the “green” movement, which will affect ESCs in two ways. First is the mandate by electric utility companies to reduce energy demand rather than build new power plants. Second is the growing desire of consumers to conserve energy, whether for concern about the environment or simply to save money.
Home automation companies are addressing both of these efforts. Companies such as Control4 are creating new products and applications to help consumers monitor their energy needs, find ways they can cut their energy use, and ultimately save money on electrical bills.
Utility companies are rolling out new smart grid technologies, which means each home will have a smart meter to facilitate two-way communication between the utility and their customers. These new meters are now being installed in many areas of the U.S. and Canada, allowing homeowners to take advantage of low power rates during off-peak hours, and allow utility companies to reduce power consumption to prevent brownouts and blackouts.
ESCs are perfectly positioned to bring these new technologies into consumers’ homes. The ESCs’ existing client base will surely be interested in adding power-usage monitoring and control to their current systems, especially if lower consumption is mandated. The demand for these systems will also bring in an entirely new consumer who may have no interest (yet) in custom-installed audio and video but who’s passionate about cutting energy usage and costs.
Power management: How to start
Even if there’s not a single smart meter within hundreds of miles, an ESC can do an awful lot to manage a home’s power consumption using existing automation products—as well as with a few new products designed specifically for energy management.
Shawn LeMay, president of integration firm Sound & Theater in Williamsville, N.Y., is bringing energy management to his customers’ homes even though, as he put it, “New York State hasn’t even come up with a proposal for smart meters yet.”
