Feb 9 2016
Comcast announced today a partnership with Earth Networks’ WeatherBug® Home optimization software that will help Xfinity Home customers further reduce energy use and lower costs.
Xfinity Home’s EcoSaver to leverage WeatherBug Home offerings to automate home energy use and reduce consumer costs. (Photo: Business Wire)
WeatherBug Home will provide the data and analytics that power Xfinity Home’s energy saving tool – EcoSaver – which learns the heating and cooling patterns of a home and makes automatic, incremental adjustments to the thermostat.
“Smart home controls are not just about convenience, they help home owners save money,” said Daniel Herscovici, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Xfinity Home. “The cost of heating and cooling a home can account for almost half of a household’s overall utility bill, and over the past three years, our EcoSaver feature has helped save Xfinity Home customers $2.3 million. We think this new partnership with Earth Networks will inform our smart home platform with more data than ever and help our energy tracking tools become more accurate and effective for users.”
Earth Networks processes 25 terabytes of hyper-local, real-time, proprietary weather data daily for 20 million unique consumers. Research shows weather is the biggest driver of home energy usage, and a recent study found that WeatherBug Home delivers three times higher consumer energy efficiency, providing 16.5 percent savings on home cooling when its capabilities integrate with a connected thermostat.
“The smart home is quickly becoming a reality, and when it comes to energy efficiency, knowledge is power. Our unique intelligent learning, coupled with our superior big data and modeling seamlessly delivers significant energy cost savings to consumers and energy efficiency and demand response to meet utility mandates,” said Bob Marshall, Chief Executive Officer, Earth Networks. “We are excited to partner with Comcast to extend the benefits of our unique home energy insights to Xfinity Home customers and the utilities that provide their energy services."
In addition to energy management, Xfinity Home customers can manage a wide range of home security and automation controls through one seamless platform, whether at home or on the go. Customers are also now able to add the following devices to their home automation system as part of the “Works with Xfinity Home” certification program: August Smart Lock, Chamberlain MyQ garage controller, Lutron Caséta wireless controller and dimmer, and Nest Learning Thermostat. Additional devices and functionality will join Xfinity Home in 2016.