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

A range of manufacturers have come together in an open consortium called the Z-Wave Alliance in order to create solutions for the realisation of environmentally friendly homes based on the Z-Wave wireless standard. The individual devices can be combined with each other in a network, enabling users to establish a customised network adapted to their individual needs. More than 500 products have now been certified interoperable.

Control with Z-Wave.Me
The Swiss company Z-Wave.Me has recently become an official member of the Alliance and contributes to the wide-ranging Alliance portfolio with its Z-Cloud control software. As indicated by its name, this solution works in a so called cloud and does not therefore have to be installed on individual computers. Z-Cloud is designed especially for the controlling of heating systems and allows residents to individually programme their digital radiator thermostats so that rooms only need to be heated when required. Heating profiles can be controlled automatically by the software and users can even remotely control their heating systems via mobile telephone or smartphone.

Aeon Labs has an eye on energy consumption
With regard to energy consumption, it is certainly true that many consumers, on looking at their energy bills, are left in no doubt that their homes consume too much energy, but they often do not know which appliances are the real power guzzlers. This is where Aeon Labs provides help, with its Home Energy Meter (HEM). This is easy to install, and the HEM then records values such as wattage and consumption in kilowatt hours, and transmits these via Z-Wave to the central gateway, where residents can read off the information with ease. Aeon Labs is also presenting some of its other solutions at the trade fair, such as the Minimote remote control unit, the Z-Stick communication interface and the Smart Energy Switch, which allows lights to be turned on and off as well as dimmed, even if the actual lamp does not have an inbuilt dimmer function.

Mi Casa Verde: Gateway Vera links all end components
The Californian company Mi Casa Verde has developed a home control system named Vera, an intuitive and easy-to-use IP gateway based on the globally successful Z-Wave wireless standard. Using affordable Z-wave modules with Vera, all the electrical devices in a house or apartment can to be networked and controlled via the Internet. During Metering Europe, Mi Casa Verde is displaying two new hardware models: VeraLite and Vera3 will be available to dealers and distributors this fall. Mi Casa Verde found that a large number of customers already had Wi-Fi routers and do not need it in the Vera. Therefore, the Wi-Fi is removed from the VeraLite hardware, offering customers with an existing router an even more affordable home controller. Vera3 has built-in Wi-Fi 802.11N to allow the Vera3 to act as the primary router in the home or business network or as a Wi-Fi client by connecting wirelessly to the existing router and expanding the Wi-Fi signal. With a faster processor and more memory, Vera3 can handle more apps and store more energy-usage data.

At the Alliance’s stand (H33), visitors will also be able to obtain comprehensive information about the Alliance members Fakro, Danfoss and NorthQ and will have the chance to meet industry experts.