Intel’s Intelligent Home Energy Management Harnesses Atom Processor to Keep Your Home Green

Move over, thermostat. Technology manufacturers across the board have been seeking to minimize how much juice their products consume for years, but Intel hopes to change the game by giving you an incredibly advanced way to keep track of your home’s power usage with its Intelligent Home Energy Management system. Controlled from a central panel (dubbed the Home Dashboard Concept) that’s powered by a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, home owners will be able to monitor their energy consumption and make informed decisions that can potentially reduce their environmental footprint. The device acts as the central control center that gives family members the information they need to plan their daily activities, control utility costs, access personal messages, and fire up home security systems.

But the appeal of Intel’s new concept is how it goes above and beyond the typical energy management system; because of the open nature of the platform, software developers will be able to create additional apps and widgets down the road. For example, users can customize their favorite application list by adding widgets for video memos, gas prices, e-mail or FedEx tracking, weather updates, highway traffic reports, trip planning, and even plant watering around the house.

Ed  Hill, of Intel’s Embedded and Communications Group, thinks the world is ready for smarter home management. “As you know, there are home energy management systems out there today,” he said. “But the problem with those–and the reason they haven’t been adopted as quickly–is that they’re just energy management devices. The concept behind this is that yes, it’s managing energy, but it’s providing you with a certain amount of intelligence.”

As Intel is currently working with several major utilities and equipment manufacturers, they say we can expect this technology to reach the masses within the next year.

So is this the future of how we interact with our homes? Check out our hands-on video below: