Water Heater with WiFi and AI

Published on by in Technology

Water Heater with WiFi and AI

Saves on theEnergy Needed to Keep the Water at a Constant 120 Degrees, andMakesSure Hot Water is Available When Someone Needs It

As much fun as it is to connect my lights, there are plenty of less sexy appliances and items that could probably benefit more from a bit of connectivity. Such as the humble water heater, which according to the U.S. Department of Energy is thesecond largest consumer of energyin most U.S. homes, at 19 percent.

That's why theAquanta system from Sunnovationscaught my eye when it was applying to be a Garage@Connect participant atStructure Connect, which kicks off Tuesday and carries through Wednesday in San Francisco. The McLean, Virginia-based company makes a sensor that you thread into a port on your water heater. The sensor measures the change in energy caused by the continual heating and dissipation of that heat inside the tank, and is connected to a Wi-Fi module that sits on top of the tank.

From that information it can track how much hot water a home uses, anticipating when someone is likely to need hot water and getting it ready. The rest of the time, the temperature in the tank can fluctuate to a much lower temperature than generally allowed. This saves on the energy needed to keep the water at a constant 120 degrees, but it also has the added benefit of making sure hot water is available when someone needs it.

Source: GigaOm

Read More Related Content On This Topic - Click Here

Media

Taxonomy