EcoFactor rolls out first 'smart' thermostats

[wpsedgwick]

Source: Examiner

EcoFactor, the developer of a software platform for a two-way "smart" thermostat, announced its dynamic system for regulating home heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems will be offered through a pilot project in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, metro area with Texan utility Oncor.

The startup’s service allows thermostats to modulate temperatures for comfort while simultaneously shaving energy demand and customers’ energy bills.

EcoFactor has said its program, which requires an Internet connection, can make an HVAC system 20 percent to 30 percent more efficient then a thermostat set by humans alone.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/x-42287-Chicago-Green-Technology-Examiner~y2010m7d10-EcoFactor-rolls-out-first-smart-thermostats

[Oregone]

1. "which requires an Internet connection"

Fuck that. On so many levels

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Sure, then the Chinese hackers roast us while we sleep... not

for me.... "Is it hot or did I lose my internet connection?"

[Oregone]

3. Wait till you have to hook your toilet and shower to the internet for max efficiency

[MicaelS]

4. The devil is in the details.....

But the energy savings come at a price. For its Dallas-Fort Worth program, EcoFactor will charge $19.95 per thermostat installation and offer the first 6 months of monitoring for free. Users will also be charged $8.99 per month, so it would behoove consumers to check whether the thermostat saves at least that much in energy bills per month as a result of the installation.

And you know they will heap all sorts of fees and taxes on that "service". So that $8.99 will probably cost close to $20 a month. That would wipe out a large portion of the savings a user would supposedly experience.

[drm604]

5. I'm trying to figure out why a thermostat would require an internet connection.

They can't just install the needed software in a standalone unit? :shrug:

[Oregone]

6. Gimmick so you have to pay for a service continually

I understand the notion of software updates, but you don't need a continuous hookup for that

[drm604]

7. Yeah, I get that now.

The buying public has to fight this business model and refuse to buy such things. Otherwise every damn thing we buy will require an internet connection and have a monthly service charge.

Electric mixer: 10 cents a month.
Light bulb: a penny a month.
Refrigerator:: 19.95 a month.

Screw that! :grr:

[chaska]

8. Sprinklers in the rain. Yet another technofix. Color me sceptical, as in very....

It would probably end up using more energy once manufacturing costs, added electricity costs for running the computer, having to have a computer in the first place, (the list goes on) are figured in.

And just like sprinklers that operate on a timer they will likely as not end up using more of the resource involved.

Tech will not save us. Want to do something constructive, get a vasectomy ... or a terminal disease. ...Hey, I know, become a serial killer!

[DLnyc]

9. Or, better, set your current damn thermostat to 66 in the winter and 70 in the

summer.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but this gadget sounds to me like a solution desperately searching for a problem.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Typical marketing drivel

Tstats with that kind of savings have been available for more than a decade.