GERMANTOWN, Md. — A pilot energy efficiency program launching this fall in Texas from Samsung and Earth Networks, the parent company of WeatherBug and WeatherBug Home, will provide homeowners with actionable intelligence they can use to save energy, reduce their electric bills, and find the best energy service rate plan based on their personal energy use.

“We understand that homeowners want to get insights into their energy usage and lower their monthly bills, and utilities are seeking new ways to drive energy engagement and efficiency,” said DongHo Shin, advisor, DMC R&D Center at Samsung Electronics. “That’s why Samsung is working with the WeatherBug Home program from Earth Networks. Homeowners will receive a personalized WeatherBug Home virtual monthly energy audit ‘ScoreCard’ that includes Samsung Energy Insight with custom recommendations for the best energy service plan and energy bill savings. It’s a win-win for consumers and utilities.”

More than 100 utilities in 17 states offer competitive rate plans, and other utilities are rolling out time-of-use (TOU) rates. With more than 300 plans available from retail electric providers, consumers are faced with an array of confusing choices.

To help customers pick the best plan and save about 25 percent on average per year, Samsung is bringing their new technology, Samsung’s Energy Control and Optimization System (ECOS), to the smart home market. ECOS processes energy usage data to provide specific energy service plan recommendations. The recommendation system studies various tiered, TOU, and real time pricing (RTP) plans, and identifies the appropriate plan and associated savings based on the customer’s energy usage patterns.

Consumers’ energy bills are driven by their chosen rate plan, and their energy usage. Samsung notes that 50 percent of home energy use comes from weather’s effects on HVAC. WeatherBug Home taps into local, real-time weather data from proprietary neighborhood sensors and correlates it to smart meter data to provide personalized insights that help homeowners visualize and understand their energy use. Every month, homeowners in the program will receive a monthly WeatherBug Home Scorecard. The ScoreCard helps explain why their house “behaves” the way it does in relation to the weather, and reveals the biggest drains on home energy use compared to their neighbors.

For more information about WeatherBug Home, visit www.weatherbughome.com.

For more information about Earth Networks, visit www.earthnetworks.com.

For more information about Samsung Electronics, visit www.samsung.com.

Publication date: 11/3/2014

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