It was my first time attending SXSW Interactive, and it delivered.  Even on a Saturday night, it was well attended by executives of various service providers and vendors alike.

I was there to participate in the Connected Home Developers Garage, co-hosted by iControl Networks, Silicon Labs and Time Warner Cable, which brought together device and application developers and smart home leaders to discuss innovations in the space.

My time there reaffirmed my belief that the greatest impact on the connected home market in gaining broad adoption will be a variety of aesthetically pleasing, low cost sensors.  2014 will be the year of sensory overload.  Remote thermostats sensing temperature throughout the home, vents that can be remotely adjusted to deliver the exact right amount of heating and cooling to individual rooms in the home are a few of the new items showcased at SXSW.  Automation software that triggers these devices in intelligent ways will greatly facilitate the adoption of both the devices as well as the associated services.  Delivering on the consumer promise of convenience, increased comfort, and decreased energy consumption, all without lifting a finger, will finally come to fruition within the next year.

Service providers such as cable companies throughout the U.S. and Canada are witnessing an uptake and heightened interest in the value of their smart home services.  Marrying in-home devices with mobile geo-location services improves automation software such as EcoFactor’s and enables a host of more sophisticated algorithms that pinpoint consumer needs.

Our presentation centered on how our software today offers consumers maximum energy and money savings, comfort and convenience through automation.  While we are starting with energy saving services, the software platform is built to accommodate many more sensors and apply its automation capabilities in many other ways.  Our software uncovers new ways to guide and assist customers, adapting to their needs, and simplifying their lifestyles. For instance, we heard from Rogers, a Canadian communications and media company, that consumers on average had 10 devices in their homes and created approximately eight rules for their household needs. For example, a rule can be turning the thermostat down to a certain temperature when family members leave the house in the morning.  As schedules change, rules need to be updated.  However, rarely do consumers remember to modify these rules.  Our software not only detects these changes, but is also capable of notifying customers of these changes and adjusting their rules automatically.  Simple notifications allow the customer to acknowledge and accept the updates.  The EcoFactor service is essentially a digital butler always at your service, looking out for your best interests and serving your every need.

Today connected thermostats allow the consumer to manage temperature settings from their mobile phone or computer. But there’s so much more that a connected thermostat can do.  Add the data science and automation layers and watch the thermostat transform into an energy services gateway. These capabilities provide real convenience to consumers (see Internet of Things evolution blog post). We see a huge opportunity for thermostats that provide valuable energy services to benefit consumers and service providers alike. Here are four such services:

 1. Energy Efficiency: Temperature adjustments that optimize energy savings automatically for consumers while preserving comfort.  When data science is applied to this problem, results can yield an astonishing 12-15% annual savings above a simple schedule.

 2. HVAC Early Warning Service: Much like a “check engine” light in a car, detecting a fault early can quickly prevent catastrophic failures and save thousands on repairs and energy costs. Here’s where data science can once again deliver consumer value. Pattern recognition software reveals when the cooling or heating system begins to fail or becomes less efficient.

 3. Getting the Most of TOU: As the energy marketplace becomes more competitive, time-of- use (TOU) or real time pricing will become the norm.  How consumers adjust to this new pricing scheme is the source of many debates and public utilities commissions (PUCs) are worried that there will be a severe consumer backlash should energy bills rise.

Predictive analytics will serve to guide consumers when it’s best to use electricity.  Taken a step further, automatic adjustments such as when and how long to turn down the thermostat given expensive periods of energy costs will provide consumers the convenience and energy cost savings they seek.

 4. Demand Response with customer satisfaction: For utilities who want to minimize energy consumption during peak load to avoid brown outs during very hot days (and sometimes very cold winter days) where demand for electricity may exceed the ability to produce it, utilities draw on a select set of customers to minimize their use. This is referred to as demand response.

Through extensive market research, we’ve found that 85 percent of customers are willing to participate in demand response programs as long as they are notified. The thermostat is yet another notification mechanism to provide this information to consumers.  When combined with a full suite of communications mechanisms – mobile, web, SMS, and email – are employed to ensure the consumer is well aware of their participation, it increases the likelihood that utilities will achieve their demand side management goals.

The next time you look at your connected thermostat, you may look at the device in a whole new way – as a service gateway that can lead to better and convenient energy and money savings.