Comcast said its Xfinity Home platform will enable customers to reduce energy use and lower costs after integrating Earth Networks’ WeatherBug Home optimization software.
Under the deal, WeatherBug Home will provide the data and analytics for Xfinity Home’s energy-saving tool, EcoSaver, which learns the heating and cooling patterns of a home and makes automatic, incremental adjustments to the thermostat.
Comcast said Earth Networks processes 25 terabytes of “hyper-local, real-time, proprietary weather data” each day for 20 million consumers.
“Smart home controls are not just about convenience, they help home owners save money,” said Daniel Herscovici, SVP and GM of Xfinity Home, in a statement. “The cost of heating and cooling a home can account for almost half of a household’s overall utility bill, and over the past three years, our EcoSaver feature has helped save Xfinity Home customers $2.3 million. We think this new partnership with Earth Networks will inform our smart home platform with more data than ever and help our energy tracking tools become more accurate and effective for users.”
“The smart home is quickly becoming a reality, and when it comes to energy efficiency, knowledge is power,” added Earth Networks CEO Bob Marshall. “Our unique intelligent learning, coupled with our superior big data and modeling seamlessly delivers significant energy cost savings to consumers and energy efficiency and demand response to meet utility mandates.”
Comcast has more than 500,000 Xfinity Home customers. Of recent note, it has added several partners to its Works with Xfintiy Home certification program -- including the August Smart Lock, Chamberlain MyQ garage controller, Lutron’s Caseta’ wireless light controller and dimmer and the Nest Learning Thermostat -- and expects to add more to the mix later this year.
