General Electric and Whirlpool will soon debut smart appliances. GE says its line of smart water heaters will be available for purchase next month while Whirlpool is expected to announce on October 5 that it will have a million smart clothes dryers on the market in 2011.Smart appliances can be programmed to accept signals from the utility that instruct it to go into an energy-saving mode, or turn off, during times when demand for electricity is critically high. Consumers will have the choice to override the programming, but will likely pay more for energy during these times.
As smart appliances become more popular they could reduce the need to build power plants in the future. Consumers will save money with the energy-conserving qualities that are built in. The appliances are expected to cost about the same as other products that are marketed as being energy-efficient.
Appliance manufacturers have suffered as a consequence of the housing bust. Large appliances sold a record 47 million units in 2005 but that figure dropped to 39.7 million last year. According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, sales are down 14% in 2009.
Manufacturers are hopeful that smart appliances will encourage consumers to replace energy-wasting devices in the home. “What’s been missing from the smart grid is the ‘killer app’ that offers real benefits to consumers, said Joseph McGuire, president of the association. “We think we’re ready to provide that.”
A surge in the development of consumer products has come about as the federal government nears release of standards for the smart grid. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a 90 page document for public comment last week. In the report 80 standards were identified that will permit the inclusion of electric cars, smart appliances, and transformers into the smart grid.
The Obama administration has set the environment at the top of his agenda. The federal government has been working with utilities, developers, and vendors to get smart grid standards in place by the early part of 2010.
There are still some areas that need to be ironed out, however. For now there are standards that allow both wireless and power line communications but there has been no determination as to when one method would be preferred over the other. It is equally unclear who will dominate the development of the control systems of the smart grid network.
With standards in place, manufacturers can be more confident that their products can be integrated into the smart grid system. Competing protocols, such as Betamax and VHS, have slowed the development of an entire market in the past.
“We now have a conceptual model for the smart grid, and the barriers are falling,” said George Arnold, NIST national coordinator for smart grid interoperability.
With communications modules and supporting software built in, smart appliances can respond to signals sent out by utility companies. Home-network controllers, programmed by homeowners, could provide instructions as to how these individual appliances should respond.
Whirlpool’s dryers will account for 25 percent of the company’s forecasted production in 2011. One energy-saving mode allows for conservation when demand is high by cycling heat on and off but would continue spinning so clothing isn’t wrinkled.
Clothes dryers only use about 200 watts of electricity when tumbling clothes but use up to 6,500 watts when heat is set to maximum. Multiply that factor by a million and the amount saved equals the output of 6 large coal-fired plants.
GE’s smart water heater will be able to receive instructions from a smart meter or other control device. The units will cost around $1,500 but will be 62 percent more efficient, according to a company spokesperson. The water heaters do cost more than conventional devices and GE won’t keep them stocked in stores until there is significant demand for them.
“They’d only be beneficial where there’s tiered pricing,” said Kim Freeman, a spokeswoman at GE. “That’s where they become important.”
General Electric
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, CT 06828
http://www.ge.com
Whirlpool
2000 North M63
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
1111 19th Street NW
Suite 402
Washington DC 20036
http://www.aham.org
Appliance manufacturers have suffered as a consequence of the housing bust. Large appliances sold a record 47 million units in 2005 but that figure dropped to 39.7 million last year. According to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, sales are down 14% in 2009.
Manufacturers are hopeful that smart appliances will encourage consumers to replace energy-wasting devices in the home. “What’s been missing from the smart grid is the ‘killer app’ that offers real benefits to consumers, said Joseph McGuire, president of the association. “We think we’re ready to provide that.”
A surge in the development of consumer products has come about as the federal government nears release of standards for the smart grid. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a 90 page document for public comment last week. In the report 80 standards were identified that will permit the inclusion of electric cars, smart appliances, and transformers into the smart grid.
The Obama administration has set the environment at the top of his agenda. The federal government has been working with utilities, developers, and vendors to get smart grid standards in place by the early part of 2010.
There are still some areas that need to be ironed out, however. For now there are standards that allow both wireless and power line communications but there has been no determination as to when one method would be preferred over the other. It is equally unclear who will dominate the development of the control systems of the smart grid network.
With standards in place, manufacturers can be more confident that their products can be integrated into the smart grid system. Competing protocols, such as Betamax and VHS, have slowed the development of an entire market in the past.
“We now have a conceptual model for the smart grid, and the barriers are falling,” said George Arnold, NIST national coordinator for smart grid interoperability.
With communications modules and supporting software built in, smart appliances can respond to signals sent out by utility companies. Home-network controllers, programmed by homeowners, could provide instructions as to how these individual appliances should respond.
Whirlpool’s dryers will account for 25 percent of the company’s forecasted production in 2011. One energy-saving mode allows for conservation when demand is high by cycling heat on and off but would continue spinning so clothing isn’t wrinkled.
Clothes dryers only use about 200 watts of electricity when tumbling clothes but use up to 6,500 watts when heat is set to maximum. Multiply that factor by a million and the amount saved equals the output of 6 large coal-fired plants.
GE’s smart water heater will be able to receive instructions from a smart meter or other control device. The units will cost around $1,500 but will be 62 percent more efficient, according to a company spokesperson. The water heaters do cost more than conventional devices and GE won’t keep them stocked in stores until there is significant demand for them.
“They’d only be beneficial where there’s tiered pricing,” said Kim Freeman, a spokeswoman at GE. “That’s where they become important.”
General Electric
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, CT 06828
http://www.ge.com
Whirlpool
2000 North M63
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
1111 19th Street NW
Suite 402
Washington DC 20036
http://www.aham.org
