Smart Energy Could save £8bn a Year

An interesting article in the BBC has hit the headlines today. It involves a great mix of bringing together a reduction in the use of energy – reducing our emissions, and benefitting home owners and businesses by a reduction in costs.

In summary, it is about the UK moving to a full-scale, “Internet of Energy”, with home appliances linked to the national grid. As their usage requirements drop when we don’t need it , the energy can be put elsewhere. All of this brings down the overall requirement for energy and allows others to use it when we don’t need it.

The article states, “Here's how it would work: At a time of peak demand, an energy firm's computer will contact your smart freezer to ask if power can be switched off for a few minutes to allow your neighbour to use some of the energy to cook dinner. Your well-insulated freezer will stay cold without electricity for a while, so it will agree to power down.” And you would be rewarded with a credit on your energy bill.

Hotel firms like Marriot are using the concept with air conditioning units. It is all referred to as ‘Demand flexibility’ and the different devices are ‘asked’ through the internet whether they need the energy at that point in time.

Presciense partners with Sercomm, who provides smart home devices. And we have an application that brings all the different devices together in one app, so that you can see your energy consumption, as well as other smart home devices in one view. This can include safety cameras, smoke detectors, temperature and more. As the industry of the ‘Internet of Things’ develops and expands, we will continue to develop the applications that tie this altogether, so that home owners can see everything in one place and manage their homes efficiently and safely.