Appliances to go with the smart grid - GE Brillion™

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With the smart grid, utilities will be able to move from a single-rate pricing structure to a variable-rate model that better matches the changing cost of energy production. In the future, it will not only matter how much energy you use, but when you use the energy as well.

The utility company will then send a signal to your meter to update variable pricing rate periods. As you use energy at different periods throughout the day, the meter will adjust your billing rate accordingly.

To control electricity costs, you will need to adapt to this changing energy price structure and use less energy during peak periods.  However, do you know how your home consumes energy?  Second to your heating and cooling, appliances consume the most energy in the home, which is why GE is uniquely positioned to help you manage through this energy transformation.

GE is developing a full suite of smart grid appliances, thermostat, and other devices called Brillion™,  that are able to respond to incoming utility price signals by automatically adjusting how they use energy to balance both cost and convenience.  Brillion™ is GE’s innovative technology that enables cooperative communication between networked devices and the smart grid; empowering you to more effectively understand and manage you energy usage. These products will simplify your response to changes in energy pricing by automatically adjusting services to balance cost and convenience.

For example, rates and demand are typically at their lowest late at night. So, during this less expensive period, appliances would behave normally.  As energy demand increases throughout the day, the utility will send a signal to the household smart meter with the increased rate and period duration. When the appliances receive that signal, they will scale back or delay their services until the cost of energy decreases again.

Once the peak periods have passed, and rates are adjusted down again, appliances will complete cycles that have been delayed, re-enable all normal functions and return to their standard ENERGY STAR state.

Do you care when your refrigerator defrosts? We didn’t think so. What you care about is that your refrigerator runs properly and preserves your food. Now, when your refrigerator receives the price increase signal, it automatically shifts the defrost cycle to a new time when the price per kilowatt-hour is the lowest.

Would you be willing to delay the start of a wash or drying cycle to save a few dollars on your electric bill? In most cases you would. A high enough price signal will cause your laundry products to delay the start of a wash or dry cycle until the electrical rates have dropped again. But what if you need to get out a stain before it sets, or need that shirt dried prior to that big meeting? You can still override the delay command on all of our products. The price for electricity might be a bit higher right now, but you’ll still have the convenience when you need it.

Our GeoSpring hybrid water heater utilizes heat pump technology to cut hot water energy consumption and costs in half. For heavy usage conditions, like drawing a hot bath or filling a top load washing machine, GeoSpring acts like a standard electric water heater to heat water very quickly. However, if the hybrid receives a higher pricing signal from the meter, it will rely solely on its heat pump, which uses just 800 watts of power…a considerable drop from the 6000 watts used by most electric water heaters on the market today.

All of our Brillion-enabled appliances and devices are designed to help save and shed load, but most importantly they are designed to help you balance cost and convenience as we navigate through this market transformation of the smart grid.