Put Energy Management in Your Pocket

Despite our best intentions, simply living in the convenience-laden 21st century results in too much wasted energy — computers and lights left on but not used, LED power lights that drain energy little by little and thermostats set too high or too low. Sometimes all we need a little transparency and an easier way to do the right thing.

How about iPhone apps that make energy efficiency as easy as changing the channel on the television? A recent Earth2Tech article highlights seven of them (a few are still in development), which do everything from remotely controlling connected appliances to monitoring energy consumption in real time.

1. Tendril Vantage Mobile: Expected to come online in 2010, beginning with select utility customers, this nifty app lets you see energy usage as it's being used and control connected appliances (including the thermostat) from anywhere.

2. Energy UFO (Visible Energy): This is already available as a free app from the Apple store, but the corresponding power strips necessary to make it work are not yet on the market. This monitors energy usage of anything that is plugged into the Internet-connected power strips.

3. Smart Thermostat (Ecobee): Ecobee already offers a Wi-Fi connected thermostat that can be controlled from any Internet-connect computer. The Canadian company plans to release an iPhone app as well.

4. Meter Readings (Graham Haley): For less than a buck, this app provides interfaces for manual entry of meter readings, calculating average usage and cost.

5. MeterRead (Zerogate): Like Meter Readings, this one is limited to manual data entry, but features a virtual meter that corresponds with your meter at home. $2.99 at the app store.  

6. Wattulator/Watts Plus (David Holzer): Another pair of manual-entry apps, but this one allows users to track the energy usage of individual appliances. $.99 and $1.99, respectively, at the app store.

7. My House UI (Control4): The free iPhone app allows users to control any number of appliances remotely. The catch? You have to purchase Control4's in-home devices to make it work.

Photo courtesy of Apple,