The idea of the Internet-enabled home appliance has been around since the heady days of the dot-com boom, when LG introduced its DIOS refrigerator and Sun Microsystems’ Scott McNealy paired a tablet PC with a Whirlpool fridge. But LG’s "market leader," which sold for $10,000, is no longer being made, while similar products from the likes of Samsung never even saw the light of day. Such devices have yet to become ubiquitous in the home because, well, who really needs the Internet on their fridge? Surprisingly, the answer just might be: you.

Tomorrow’s Internet-enabled appliances go beyond the glitzy LCD screens and digital shopping lists; in some cases they may even forgo that kind of luxury bling altogether. Instead, these networked home appliances are wired to help consumers save energy and money.

The idea of using the Internet to cut energy use is gaining traction, with a number of startups launching online energy dashboards and in-home displays that supply information about how much you’re using and at what cost. Information is power, they argue, and the research proves them right. One British study found that energy management systems can help cut residential electricity use by as much as 15%.

Most of the products currently on the market require consumers to react to the information provided, either through timed schedules or immediate actions: High prices? Don’t run the dryer. Critical peak period? Run down to the basement and turn down the water heater. But for monitoring systems to really pack an energy-savings punch, the information needs to be instantly actionable, with limited input required by the end user. That’s where your Web-surfing refrigerator comes in.

Internet-based appliances of the dotcom days boasted of the ability to go online and download new programs—new fabric settings for your Web-connected washing machine, for example, or new cooking options for your online oven. Similarly, the Internet-enabled devices of tomorrow could monitor utility price information and activate, as needed, several internal actions designed to shed power for short, critical periods of time, all with little or no user input. Read more...

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feeds. Thanks for visiting!