News

MiOS Integrates Electricity Meter with Home Area Network (HAN)

(Jan 10th, 2012)

…“We are excited to be able to extend the already premier MiOS home control platform with our market leading ERGY energy management solution. Tying this together with Blue Lines’ PowerCost Monitor TM makes this the ultimate complete solution,” says Bill Fleming, Echo Labs’ CEO.

MiOS Integrates Electricity Meter with Home Area Network (HAN)

At CES, Smart Energy Abounds

(Jan 11th, 2012)

…it seems that almost everyone has an energy management system of some kind—or can show a concept for one. There is, indeed, a wide range of energy management options being shown at CES.

One of the coolest ones is from Echo Labs. The software comes with Mi Case Verde’s well-regarded Vera Z-Wave-based controller. (It will work with Vera 3 or the Vera 2, the latter with a firmware upgrade.) It can measure whole-house electricity use with energy monitors from TED or Blue Line Innovations. A basic interface showing total power consumed, proportional demand. A free web-based Ergy Lite interface is also available, and paid version ($40 for two years service) delivers high, low and average energy use of each connected Z-Wave device.

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Z-Wave Alliance Exhibits New Cutting-Edge Home Automation Products at CES 2012

(Jan. 10, 2012)

LAS VEGAS, Jan 10, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — CES Booth #20800 — The Z-Wave Alliance ushers in 2012 with the release of several new home control and automation products from its members. At CES 2012, members of the Z-Wave Alliance will be demonstrating a number of new products and solutions for wireless home control solutions, including:

– Home energy management — Several Alliance members will launch new home energy management products at CES 2012. Somfy will debut a number of new features within TaHomA(R), its Z-Wave certified home automation solution. TaHomA enables users to control natural/artificial lighting and heating/cooling according to a user’s personal preferences and energy management settings. Remotec will also be debuting several new Z-Wave certified controllers while MiOS and Echo Labs will launch a turnkey meter solution, both for home energy management.

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Z-Wave Alliance switches the energy consumption traffic light to “green”

(Sep 26, 2011)
Due to persistently high energy prices, many homeowners and tenants view the upcoming colder season with concern. But the Z-Wave Alliance (www.z-wavealliance.org) will be demonstrating, at the Metering & Billing/CRM Europe trade fair to be held from 4th to 6th October in the Rai Convention Center in Amsterdam, how homes can be made energy efficient. Together with some of its members, Fakro, Aeon Labs, Z-Wave.Me, Mi Casa Verde, NorthQ and Danfoss, the Alliance will be presenting, at stand H33 in the Smart Homes area, its latest Z-Wave based wireless products as well as the latest trends in the energy saving sector.

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CEDIA EXPO 2011: MiOS/Mi Casa Verde UI5

(September 19, 2011)

The Z-Wave Alliance invited me to stop by their booth again this year, so they could show off what’s new.  The Z-Wave Alliance booth hosted several Z-Wave Alliance members, including Mi Casa Verde, WinTop, FortrezZ, Somfy, RCS, Evolve, Sigma, Mitsumi, Yale, RemoteTec and Aeon Labs.  For a list of all the Z-Wave Alliance members, go here.

Mi Casa Verde just announced their new Vera3 and the Vera3 Lite controller (see below for a picture), but they were also showing off the new UI5 interface for the Vera controllers.  UI5 will be a free upgrade, and is backwards compatible, meaning it will run on the Vera2 controller as well.  UI5 has been redesigned to be more user friendly (making it easier to do simple things, such as creating timed events), while also putting a major focus on energy reporting.

UI5 will rely on the ERGY platform for the energy reporting feature.  There are 2 levels, the basic levels gives you a quick overview of how much energy your house is using (either by interfacing with a whole house energy monitor, or calculating the usage based on what the individual Z-Wave devices are reporting back).  The 2nd level will give you much more details in a very eye pleasing interface, but will be a subscription based service.  The service is still in beta, and will probably cost around $30-$40/year.  Last but not least, there is also a renewed focus on an App store (similar to the plugin options UI4)

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new vera

See the video below for a full demonstration of the new interface.

MiOS, ECHO Labs Announce Strategic Alliance

(January 24, 2010)
Englewood, Colo.,
- MiOS’ home control engine and Z-Wave gateway is now a key element in the exciting new development of ECHO Labs, LLC Energy Manager (EEM). The EEM provides a common user interface to collect and analyze energy-usage information from proprietary and open systems, as well as several legacy systems. By adding MiOS software to the EEM, homeowners, business owners, multi-site businesses and utility operators are now able to have a clear view of energy consumption across numerous location. MiOS also adds the functionality of being able to manage these locations remotely from a web browser or smartphone.

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