Digital Energy Meets Smart Home and Office in a Solution Combo

How the intersection of ‘smart hub X factor’ with ‘IoT for energy’ adds lifestyle verve while taking on power bills

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA, August 21, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Australia’s record-breaking high electricity prices are driving innovation to take budget pressure off household and small business consumers by combining smart automation technologies with ‘new energy’ solutions.

That in turn is driving a budding partnership between award-winning homegrown digital energy player Wattwatchers, and the internationally-developed B.one smart hub, through its local representative B1 Hub Australia.

Now deploying Australia-wide, with a strategic focus that includes the property development and new energy services sectors, B1 has taken its cue from heightened consumer sensitivity to electricity prices.

The decision to target energy management as a frontline offering led B1 Hub Australia to seek out Wattwatchers, Sydney-based specialists in the connected monitoring and control of electricity, at circuit-level in real-time through the cloud.

By adding Wattwatchers devices and data services into its solution stack, B1 Hub Australia is going well beyond the stereotypical ‘control a few lights’ and ‘add a few security alerts’ approach to home automation.

Through its innovation focus, B1 Hub Australia is now offering a sophisticated ‘Energy Management System (EMS)’ enabled by the inclusion of Wattwatchers, with increasing levels of ‘smart energy meets smart home and office’ functionality to be added progressively into 2019 and beyond.

Use cases for smart energy include:
-Buying better and shaving bills to match individual use cases
-Integrating energy management with home automation
-Light-touch remote monitoring (e.g. ‘Did my living-on-her-own Nanna boil her electric kettle this morning?)
-Participating in demand management and local trading programs (thus establishing the building blocks for Virtual Power Plants)

B1 Hub Australia CEO Anup Raghavan said that adding advanced energy management capability was a logical move for B.One in the Australian market, given the national focus on high energy prices and the real potential to save money by managing energy better.

‘By adding serious energy management system capabilities to the B.One Hub, we’re helping homes and businesses to take on one of their biggest everyday budget challenges.’ said Raghavan. ‘Control means going beyond merely intelligent to be genuinely smart.

‘B1 Hub Australia recognises that the penetration of Wireless Home Automation and Smart Home Automation products amongst consumers are heavily influenced by price and offers two solutions: the B.One Hub, and its latest addition the B.One Mini. The B.One Mini is a WiFi and IR gateway-based Home Automation Hub that is priced under AUD$100, making it an affordable solution to an Intelligent Smart Home.

‘B.One Mini has incorporated all the advanced capabilities of an intelligent Energy Manager using the Wattwatchers devices. With a simple user interface, consumers can now program advanced rule-based decisions to maximise the investment in renewable energy generation and storage.’

Wattwatchers CEO Gavin Dietz said the B1 Hub Australia partnership was a strong step towards his company’s vision for data-enabled empowerment of energy consumers.

‘Most energy consumers in Australia are still getting quarterly power bills in arrears and have no real insight into how they use the electricity that is hitting them in the wallet, much less the ability to control it remotely,’ said Dietz. ‘When energy gets really smart, through partnerships like Wattwatchers and B1, real-time control of electricity becomes accessible, and machine learning will allow the smart hub to do it for you.’

About B.One Hub: The B.One Hub and B.One Mini have been launched in Australia by Adelaide-based Accumulus Energy Group (AEG), as B1 Hub Australia, in partnership with the international manufacturer, US-based Blaze Automation. The B.One Hub is designed for home and small business consumers who are unsure if home automation — or the Internet of Things (IoT) in general — is all it’s hyped up to be. The B.One Hub allows for the wireless control and energy consumption monitoring of devices in the home, such as light bulbs, air conditioners, and speakers via a smartphone app. It’s been customised to the local market, and targeted towards those who are not so tech savvy and living in older housing. The Hub’s open architecture makes it compatible with over 200 devices across different brands and ecosystems. Being a wireless system, the platform can be retro-fitted in homes and rental properties. Beyond just controlling smart devices via a mobile app, B.One Hub can also provide detailed insights into energy usage and wastage patterns. More information at: www.b1hub.com.au

About Wattwatchers: Wattwatchers Digital Energy is an award-winning Australian technology company focused on devices, data and communications to make behind-the-meter energy management intelligent, connected, easy to install and operate, and cost-effective. Based in Sydney, Wattwatchers develops and markets ‘IoT for energy’ hardware + firmware + software solutions to accurately monitor, analyse and control electrical circuits in real-time through the cloud. The internationally-certified Wattwatchers product suite is highly flexible, crossing over for residential, commercial and industrial, and utility use cases; and works with an expanding choice of cloud platforms, software applications and consumer interfaces. More information at: www.wattwatchers.com.au

Murray Hogarth
Wattwatchers
0417 267235
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