DEMO: Tendril releases mobile app for home energy management
Tendril Networks, a company that offers a portfolio of energy management tools to the utility industry, unveiled a web-based program for individual users at the DEMO conference today. The new application, called Tendril Vantage Mobile, lets users monitor their energy consumption, accumulating energy costs and pricing changes from their cell phones.
The application will also send users alerts and notifications of various changes in home energy use and pricing structure. One of program’s key features is that it lets users set energy consumption rules for their homes and establish quotas for how much can be acceptably used. Then, for example, if an energy use threshold is crossed in a household, users will receive a message from Tendril alerting them to the need to turn off lights, the pool filter, etc.
Users will be able to access monthly billing information and history, view trends in annual consumption that could highlight opportunities to save, and see a breakdown of daily and even hourly energy costs. The Vantage application also models carbon footprint data for homes so that users can readily see the impact of their changes in behavior and energy consumption.
Tendril is one of the most salient companies on the demand side of the cleantech sector. Others like EnergyHub, Greenbox and Onzo have developed home energy monitoring and alert systems, but none of them have deployed the concept on mobile phones. It’s that difference that puts the Boulder, Colo.-based company on the leading edge of efforts aimed at integrating green practices as seamlessly as possible into the flow of every day life.
Tendril raised $12 million in a second round of venture capital last summer from Vista Ventures, Access Venture Partners and Appian Ventures, and it is actively looking for more.
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About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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