Smart Appliances Respond to Utility Pricing Structures

Do you live in a place where your energy costs vary throughout the day based on your energy company’s peak hours? This is increasingly common. It costs utility companies more to produce power during the busiest "peak use" hours of the day than during other times when fewer consumers are using electricity. Many utility companies pass that savings on to customers by offering lower rates to people who use their energy during the hours when it is costing the electricity company less.

The problem that a lot of people have encountered with this situation is that they don’t really know how to take advantage of the lower cost. It just seems like a hassle to try to remember to turn the washing machine on during the time that you know is supposed to cost you the least. Frugal consumers do this. However, the average person might want things to be a little less complicated for them. Now, thanks to "smart appliances", things can be simpler.

Smart appliances are a line of new appliances produced by General Electric. These GE energy efficient appliances are designed to react to pricing signals from the utility company. They are set to work during the times when energy will be at the lowest price for you. For example, you refrigerator will wait until the cheapest possible time to use the excess energy needed to defrost. And your laundry and dishwasher can be filled but then set to not become active until the energy cost goes down later in the day. Even your microwave will be affected; a smart microwave powers down during the costliest energy-sucking times of the day.

In addition to being a great method of saving energy and money for consumers, "smart appliances" have benefits for the energy industry as a whole. As more consumers use them, the system will make it possible for utility companies to manage their energy demand much more effectively. This can prevent the need for building extra power plants and make the nation’s energy system more efficient as a whole. Plugging into a smart grid like this is certainly a way of the future and it’s increasingly looking like the smartest move to make today.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/smart-appliances-help-consumers-get-smart-about-energy-costs-2010-05-26?reflink=MW_news_stmp