“Apple is now officially an energy company,” Travis Hoium writes for The Motley Fool. “As a result, it can sell energy into the wholesale market, just like any other independent power producer.”
“Apple may have bigger ambitions than just developing solar for its data centers. It may eventually become an energy hub itself,” Hoium writes. “If you look at how HomeKit is being positioned by Apple, it’s going to be the brains behind everything in your house. Lights, heating, cooling, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and even your security system connect to HomeKit. It knows when you’re home and what your preferences are on a daily basis.”
Hoium writes, “For homes with solar energy and battery energy storage, why wouldn’t Apple control those devices as well?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It feels like forever we’ve been waiting for HomeKit-based home automation to take off. Hopefully, with Apple’s forthcoming Home app, the avalanche of products will really start flowing!
SEE ALSO:
Where’s Apple’s Home app for Apple TV? – July 6, 2016
Apple’s new iOS 10 Home app takes HomeKit to the next level: Easy control, extra convenience – June 25, 2016
Along with Apple TV, your iPad can be an Apple Home hub, too – June 16, 2016
The Home app is the program Apple should have shipped with HomeKit – October 9, 2015
The potential in this space, and the energy savings possible, are staggering.
Imagine Apple doing this:
Click to access Mesh%20Systems%20-%20Steffes%20Corporation%20IoT%20Story.pdf
I am a homekit enthusiast. I installed Philips Hue lights (32 of them) last year. A Schlage Sense front for lock and Ecobee3 thermostat this summer.
I like the Hue lights, but honestly the Schalge Sense and Ecobee3 are even better.
For anyone with HVAC, you owe it to yourself to install an Ecobee 3 thermostat. It’s a DIY job, will cost you about $250 from Homedepot (can also get it from Apple’s site), and will save you the $250 you spent over time. Over how long depends on your climate.
Two huge reasons the ecobee3 is better than a Nest or Honeywell Lyric, is that
1) it has remote sensors. I now have 5 total, one in each major room in the house. These act like remote thermostats and gather info to cool the house better. A huge must for a two-story home like mine.
2) Better voice controls through homekit than Nest/Alexa offer. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7v_lLNmYvg )
Im starting to plan all these out myself. Its good to hear your experience. I’ve been holding off to see which items are compatible with Apple’s new Home app coming. Do you happen to know if these will be supported right away? Im sure Phillips would be but dont know much about the others.
I’m using the iOS 10 beta 6 on my iPhone, and the ecobee3 thermostat and Philips Hue work right out of the gate with “Home.” The schlage sense works with Siri commands (I can ask “lock the front door,” she’ll respond “door is locked.” Even more impressive, I can ask “What’s the status of the front door?”). However, the sense is a bit iffy with Home. I think it just needs a firmware update that will probably come with the release of iOS 10.
A side note: do NOT get the other homekit competitor, the KwikSet Kevo. First off, many reviewers that have used it for a long enough time hate that they accidentally trigger the deadbolt and then the door slams with the deadbolt out. Secondly, the key bolt itself has a huge defect, and is far more insecure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1mmjVvMsGs
Oh, and that Kevo defect is really just an issue with any Kwikset “smart key” lock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR-h64WwfW8