Contact Information: Media Contact: Amy Neal LaunchSquad 415.625.8555 ecofactor(at)launchsquad(dot)com
EcoFactor Unveils Groundbreaking Personalized Residential Energy Management Solution for Meaningful Reductions in Energy Usage
SaaS-Based Solution Maximizes Energy Efficiency Programs for Utilities and Consumer Service Providers, While Delivering Substantial HVAC Savings to Consumers
| Source: EcoFactor
REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwire - November 3, 2009) - EcoFactor, the premier provider of
personalized solutions for managing residential energy use, today announced
the availability of its residential energy management solution -- making it
the first company to offer intelligent, automated action to optimize
residential heating and air conditioning (HVAC) usage -- as well as its
first commercial deployment. EcoFactor will participate in the "Take A Load Off,
Texas®" residential energy efficiency program sponsored by Oncor, a regulated electric utility
delivering power to more than three million homes and businesses in Texas.
The agreement with Oncor calls for EcoFactor to deliver an
efficiency-centric demand response program to eliminate the need for three
megawatts of peak power -- the equivalent of about 2,000 average-sized air
conditioning units.
EcoFactor's automated energy management service delivers real benefits to
consumers, utilities, energy retailers and home service providers. It
offers cost-effective and self-validating energy efficiency, demand
response and load forecasting to utilities and energy retailers; for
consumers, EcoFactor's solution provides an estimated 20 to 30 percent
reduction in HVAC energy usage without sacrificing comfort or convenience.
Given the fact that more than 50 percent of the average energy bill for
American homes goes towards heating and cooling, such HVAC reductions
result in significant cost savings. These benefits flow from EcoFactor's
proprietary algorithms, which analyze and act upon thousands of data points
collected throughout the day from the thermostat, local weather stations
and other geographic inputs, in order to create a continuously evolving
heating and cooling strategy for each home.
"Most HVAC energy solutions currently available -- like the 'Energy Saver'
mode on many thermostats -- follow a one-size-fits-all model. But what
works in February won't work in April, and what works in a new house won't
work in an old one," said EcoFactor CEO and co-founder John Steinberg.
"EcoFactor is a personalized approach to energy management that takes into
account thousands of data points, such as weather patterns, a home's unique
thermal characteristics and the occupant's ever-changing preferences, in
order to provide a more effective solution that is responsive to the
conditions at each individual home."
EcoFactor's participation in the "Take A Load Off, Texas" program comes on
the heels of two years of successful field tests in diverse climates,
including Minneapolis, Minn. and Adelaide, South Australia. In these
trials, the solution's accurate assessment of the thermal characteristics
and occupant preferences reduced manual thermostat overrides by up to 90
percent, eliminating the need for homeowners to constantly readjust their
thermostats with the "up" and "down" arrows, while also optimizing HVAC
usage for an average cost savings of 20 to 30 percent.
EcoFactor's optimized HVAC management service enables utilities to realize
a greater yield of peak load demand response by accurately assessing each
home's thermal characteristics and creating a customized pre-cooling
strategy. The result is an increase in available demand response by as much
as 20 percent per home, without sacrifices in occupant comfort.
"EcoFactor's approach to residential energy management represents a major
advancement in the industry," said Robert King of Good Company Associates,
a business development firm specializing in energy efficiency, renewables,
and smart grid applications. "The depth to which EcoFactor's solution
automatically generates and implements customized plans for each home
provides an important competitive edge in today's market. Service providers
are in need of solutions that lower energy usage and save consumers money
without sacrificing comfort or control. That is the future of energy
efficiency."
EcoFactor's SaaS-based solution operates with a two-way communicating
thermostat and a broadband Internet connection, and is hosted on-demand so
there is no software to install or maintain.
About EcoFactor
EcoFactor provides personalized solutions for managing residential energy
use for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). Its SaaS platform
collects, analyzes and acts upon thousands of data points relating to a
home's HVAC needs and preferences to help utilities improve demand
management, and enable consumers to lower energy costs and save money on
utility bills without sacrificing comfort or giving up control. EcoFactor
is working with leading energy and home service providers to maximize
energy efficiency programs. Based in Redwood City, Calif., EcoFactor was
founded in 2006 to provide an effective alternative to the current
one-size-fits-all residential energy management solutions. More can be
found online at www.ecofactor.com.