AlertMe's edge: Tech that's 'ordinary'

Who will win the smart home-energy management stakes? The prize will go to companies that can come up with the technology that’s as close to invisible as possible for users.

Why invisible? Because making the case for energy efficiency is easy, but getting people to change their habits is hard. Getting people to change their habits and pay for the privilege (ie, by buying new and more expensive but energy-saving technologies) is harder still. It explains why, years after first coming onto the market, compact fluorescent light-bulbs are still meeting with resistance, complaints about price, humourous attacks on their “feminising” qualities … and even outright backlashes. Rest assured that if CFLs looked like “ordinary” light-bulbs (and there are new versions now that come close), much of this discussion would have long ended.

Companies that can help people save energy while keeping things looking and feeling “ordinary” are the ones most likely to make extraordinary strides in the new-energy future. And one firm on that track is the UK-based AlertMe.

AlertMe makes clever — but not too clever, in the sense of being unfamiliar or alien — devices that let users begin monitoring their home energy use and adjusting their habits as much or as little as they like. Yes, there’s a cost involved, both for the initial equipment and the ongoing service, but AlertMe makes it relatively quick and easy to set up a wireless energy home monitoring system.

One of the options that makes AlertMe’s solutions appealing is its SmartPlug, which lets users turn any outlet in their home into a real-time energy measuring and management device. It’s an excellent example of an “ordinary”- and familiar-looking technology that everyone knows how to use. What makes the device smart is that it lets users see, via a web-based interface, how much energy is being used by any appliance connected to the plug. Armed with that knowledge, users can cut standby energy drains right at the plug, controlling the device either through the web or with their mobile phones.

Another clever strategy on AlertMe’s part is equating home energy management with home security … something you don’t often see. Security does come up as an issue when talking about home area networks, but it’s the perceived lack of security that often gets the most attention from consumers: Who will be able to view my energy consumption data? How can I be certain a hacker can’t access my metering device to learn when I am or am not at home? Whose business but mine is it how much energy I use and when?

AlertMe has turned that response on its head by extending its offering beyond simple home energy monitoring to home security monitoring as well. It’s a brilliant idea, and one that can ease users into the world of energy conservation by first getting them used to using wireless monitors to track movements in the house and control lighting. From there, adding devices to remotely switch lights on and off, adjust the thermostat and manage other appliances — both for security and for energy savings — becomes easier to accept.

That type of thinking can appeal to energy consumers in a whole new way, engaging them from the start with a promise of enhanced safety rather than an admonition to stop being such energy hogs. It’s not just smart technology, but friendly technology … and that’s still something of a novelty in today’s market.