Smart home company Homey has added a new power management tab to your app to track and monitor energy usage from compatible smart devices, such as plugs, appliances, thermostats, and electric vehicle chargers. This week, the company also announced the Home Power Dongle for Europe, which can connect directly to a smart meter to monitor a home's energy consumption.
Together, software and hardware are a big step toward complete <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gridx.ai/knowledge/home-energy-management-system-hems”>home energy management system. Homey says he plans to provide support for automatic dynamic energy pricing next year, so users can set up automations to do things like charge their electric vehicle when electricity prices are low.
New Power Management Tab Available in Public Beta for Everyone professional homebody and home cloud clients, and the The dongle can be reserved for €39 if you are in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary, and shipping is expected in March 2025.
Homey is a smart home platform focused on a smart home hub, be it the powerful and local Professional Homey ($399) or the lighter Home Bridge ($69). Depending on the hub you have, Homey can connect and control a wide range of smart home devices thanks to radios for Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Thread, IR and more; There's also the option of cloud-based connections and compatibility with other bridges, such as Philips Hue. Homey is also compatible with the Matter smart home standard.
“The power management functionality works with all devices connected to a Homey setup, regardless of whether they use a proprietary on-premises/cloud API, Zigbee, Z-Wave or Matter to connect to Homey,” explained the commercial director of Homey, Stefan Witkamp, in an email to The edge. A complete list of currently supported devices It's on the Homey website.
The energy tab uses graphs to show a home's active electricity, gas, and water usage (with compatible hardware) and can provide historical data. Homey says it “can also track solar generation, monitor EV charging, and display power supply or consumption to the grid.” It supports smart batteries and can display a list of your biggest energy consumers, which is useful for determining where to reduce usage. You can enter your energy price to get cost estimates, and Homey says it plans to add support for dynamic pricing next year.
LG acquired Homey earlier this year and has said it plans to incorporate Homey's connectivity and software into its ThinQ platform. However, Homey will continue to operate independently. While LG plans to integrate its appliances with Homey, official support is still on the roadmap, says Witkamp.
Energy management will play a key role in the smart home as a compelling reason to connect all your devices. Allowing a system to automate energy use in your home could save you energy and money. Several smart home companies already offer some features here. Samsung SmartThings Energy The platform, which works with your home appliances and various associated devices, was the first platform recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as Energy STAR Smart Home Energy Management System. Others, like Home Assistant, offer some energy management features, and Apple introduced an electricity usage page in its Home app this year (although it's limited to PG&E customers).
Matter's new smart home standard just added power management to its specifications along with support for several key devices in the space: electric vehicle supply equipment, solar panel inverters, home batteries, and more. All of this shows a significant push in home energy management, and Homey's latest move is another option for people looking to use smart home technology to maximize the efficiency of their energy use and minimize their costs.
