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.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Amy Neal LaunchSquad 415.625.8555 ecofactor(at)launchsquad(dot)com