Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Sensibo lets you control almost any air conditioner from your smartphone


Yet another app that can help turn your home into an energy-efficient one, Sensibo connects any compatible air conditioner with your smartphone.




Google’s acquisition of the Nest thermostat was an indication that the search and cloud services giant was interested in connecting each and every home to the system. The ideal scenario here is efficiency: with remotely-controlled climate control systems, people will no longer have to leave their heaters or air conditioner systems running even while unused.

A startup that has the same aims is Tel Aviv-based Sensibo, which has designed a system for remotely controlling just about any air conditioner with an Infrared receiver through your smartphone. Sensibo comes with two devices: a receiver that connects to your WiFi router, and a device that acts as an IR blaster for controlling the air conditioner set.



No special installation is needed, as the device simply sticks onto the air conditioner via an adhesive mount (plus magnetic attachment), and you can start controlling it through a smartphone app.

Sensibo uses IR commands to communicate with your existing A/C,*just like your remote control.*It works right out of the box and supports any remote controlled A/C: Window A/Cs, Split, central, standing, etc.

According to the team, its device can save up to 40 percent of energy costs. Aside from letting users remotely control their A/C, the system will also smartly control temperature depending on time and context. For example, it can*increase the temperature when you’re about to wake up in the winter. It can cool the room when you’re about to arrive home during summertime.

The team has launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise at least $70,000, and has reached $17,489 with 45 more days to go. $79 gets you a single kit ($99 once the Early Bird program is finished), while $399 gets you a developer kit with access to the API. According to the team, Sensibo will work with more than one air conditioning unit, enabling the user to centralize control of one’s household A/Cs from a smartphone app or automatically through scheduling.

Is this a green idea worth supporting?



Read More: http://ift.tt/1mVQj1r





via Hardware Forums http://ift.tt/1mVQf1E

No comments:

Post a Comment