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In an effort to push the limits of home energy efficiency, General Electric is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy on a $5 million project to connect homes in the Western U.S. to its energy management system, LED lights, appliances and solar panels.
The purpose of the project is to research home energy efficiency and test new tracking systems. GE thinks participants will be able to save 70% on their electricity bills: 30% by monitoring and adjusting their energy usage, and 40% by installing solar panels. An average home in the U.S. pays $1,240 a year for its electricity, and GE believes the program could cut this sum by $850. Normally, these types of green energy upgrades take a number of years to pay for themselves.
The program will be implemented in the western U.S., including the cities of Phoenix, Sacramento and San Diego. Each participating house will be equipped with solar panels, energy-efficient appliances, LED lights and one of GE’s Nucleus home energy management systems to rule them all.
Read the whole article http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/24/ge-energy-monitoring-solar/
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It's not clear what if anything the homeowners need to pay towards that.
The project is funded by the DOE’s Building Industry Research Alliance, as well as several universities and utility companies.
I wonder if that means it's funded entirely by them? That would be excellent.
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I read that as meaning it is, frazzledmom. Unfortunately they aren't in my neighborhood. My electricity bill was the highest it's been in two years this month. Just NOT what I needed! What can you do? When it's scorching hot, you need to run the air.
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I know. I can't wait for Fall to come and get a break between the high AC bills of summer and the high heating bills of winter. We get about a month or two if we're lucky where we don't need to run either of them.
Lucky them! I hope this gets extended nationwide and all electricity companies take that on board. What a blessing that would be to chop 70% of your electric bill. It's our third biggest expense after the mortgage and food.
Without frugality none can be rich, and with it very few would be poor.
- Samuel Johnson