Microsoft launches free smart home energy monitor

June 24, 3:57 PMEnergy Technologies ExaminerJohnathan Martinez

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          Microsoft's "Hohm" energy monitoring service

 Microsoft announced the launch of a new online home energy monitoring service. The service is called 'Hohm' and is being released as a beta to help people lower their energy bills by giving consumers detailed reports of energy usage. The service is completely free to consumers and runs algorithms developed by the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and the Department of Energy. Although Microsoft announced the launch at an energy conference wednesday in San Francisco, it will be up and running in about a week. You can sign up for email updates on Microsoft's site. 

Microsoft's smart meter tech reads information from the user's address and sends that data to their computer for them to read. At launch, the report will give consumers detailed information about their electricity and gas usage, but Microsoft ays they will be improving the system as they get more feedback. Later, as home companies continue to incorporate the technology into their products, Microsoft plans to add water and other monitoring services.

Hohm is being developed to help people manage their energy costs and to smooth out spikes in electricity usage during peak hours. Smoothing out the spikes in the energy grid helps keep costs down, which is why utility companies are funding the development of the energy monitoring service.

Reworking our energy grid, which uses much of the same technology that it did 100 years ago, will take a big role in managing our energy future. Smart power meters like Hohm will help people save money on their energy bills but also see first hand how to be more efficient.  

The move is also a good publicity angle for Microsoft, who is trying to capture that 'green' image that so many tech companies are in a cage match for. In addition, Microsoft doesn't want to get lapped by google again, who already has the Power Meter, a smart energy usage application that helps consumers network with other power meters. Google and Microsoft both got into the search engine market together, and look who won that battle.  Either way, it's in the best interest of consumers and big companies alike to have the consumer more involved and educated in energy usage.