Cut down on home energy costs by tracking devices with Ecoisme
Ecoisme is a single piece of hardware that sends you energy usage info on all of the smart and dumb electronic gadgets in your home.
Using a Belkin WeMo Insight Switch or a similar energy-tracking smart plug has its uses, but what if you want to monitor all of the electronic devices in your home rather than just one?
Poland-based startup Ecoisme has launched a product on Indiegogo -- also called Ecoisme -- that claims to do just that.
Like Neurio and Belkin's upcoming Echo technology -- other whole-home energy management systems -- Ecoisme hooks up to the main switch in your circuit breaker. This is where the tech lingo starts to take over a bit, but the gist is that it can supposedly detect basic gizmos like your desk fan or electric kettle using power analysis. Basically, that means that it can pick up on unique identifiers based on voltage and current readings.
For more complex appliances, Ecoisme relies on spectrum analysis, a technology that's supposed to pick up on "noise" in the electrical network and use that not only to distinguish between your TV and your laptop, but also between brands within the same product category.
Ecoisme should automatically identify most of your devices, but you will also be able to add additional ones manually as needed on the companion Android or iOS app and on its Web interface. Once setup, you should be able to watch over your energy consumption from your phone or computer.
In addition to giving you a wide-angle view of your home electrical usage complete with money-saving tips, Ecoisme is also supposed to issue alerts when something seems awry. So if you accidentally leave the fridge door open, Ecoisme should notice and tell you to close it. The team also has plans to integrate with companies such as Nest , Philips and Belkin WeMo as well as solar panels.
It's interesting that Ecoisme will work with Belkin, as its upcoming Echo products will compete directly with Ecoisme's new device. Belkin has a long established channel on IFTTT, giving you plenty of options for connecting devices to a larger smart home, and its upcoming Echo system has additional functionality -- a separate device with the same Echo tech can monitor water usage after you hook it to the pipe beneath your sink. Ecoisme, then, will need to be pretty slick to beat the maker of the Insight switch at its own game.
Ecoisme's $99 device (that converts to £65 or AU$130) is available internationally and expected to ship to backers next spring. At time of writing, the campaign had raised over $45,000 of its $50,000 goal, although this is a "Flexible Funding" project, so Ecoisme will receive all of the money it raises whether or not it hits that target.