Energy management has been the talk of the town as of late, and as more homeowners express interest in the prospect, manufacturers and other smart home professionals have begun to sign on in kind. While the ultimate goal for many rests in whole-home intelligent energy automation and control, Ikea has taken its initial steps towards that goal.
Having been in the DIY smart home space for some time, the Swedish furniture giant recently launched an Energy Insights feature on its app in addition to announcing plans to launch an energy-monitoring smart plug “Inspelning” in October.
By using a plug as the monitor, Ikea makes it so that users can monitor energy use for just about “any device” so long as the Inspelning is connected to Ikea’s Dirigera smart hub.
The Energy Insights feature will be limited to Sweden at launch as part of a pilot program, which the company says will help gather information as to how the feature can be deployed into other markets.
According to Ikea, Energy Insights will offer real-time data on energy consumption and electricity spot prices and compare a home’s usage to similar households, leaving the matter of correction still in the hands of homeowners.
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The company does note, however, that it plans to introduce its own insights and guidance on reducing energy consumption at later date, in addition to recommending products and services (from Ikea) that may help curb usage.
“While the launch of Energy Insights is currently a pilot in Sweden, it represents a significant step in our strategic initiative to explore smart energy solutions,” said David Granath, Range Manager at Ikea of Sweden.
“This is a small beginning of our journey to support our customers in saving energy and making informed decisions around their use of electricity.”
The Energy Monitoring can also work without the smart devices, according to Ikea. By providing the app with details about the client’s home, it will provide data and comparisons based on general energy usage information and electricity spot prices.
More data can be gleamed by giving the app access to energy data from a smart meter as well.
Earlier this year, Ikea also added beta support for Matter, which more recently added energy monitoring capabilities to its 1.3 update in a growing trend of smart home products being developed with energy monitoring and broader energy management in mind.
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