ThinkEco Announces Intelligent Outlet That Quantifies Energy Use and Prevents Plug-Load Energy Waste
ThinkEco, Inc., a company that develops easy-to-use energy efficiency technologies for homes and businesses, has begun accepting orders from business clients for its flagship product, the modlet. The modlet – short for modern outlet – is an energy-intelligent outlet that pays for itself, on average, in less than six months by monitoring appliance-level power use, then disconnecting power to save energy, money, and CO(2) when specific equipment isn’t needed. Once a user signs up for the modlet, ThinkEco will conduct a site audit and recommend a deployment plan.
"The modlet is the first redesign of the common outlet since the ground plug was added in 1928. For the first time, an outlet is able to think and interact with the equipment plugged into it in order to make it more energy efficient," said Jun Shimada, President and CEO of ThinkEco, Inc.
The patent-pending modlet rethinks how to prevent plug-load waste, which is the power consumed by plugged-in equipment when not in use. Plug-loads are the fastest-growing segment of overall commercial energy usage. Today, more than 25% of the electricity that companies use goes to plugged-in equipment, and if this growth remains unchecked, the energy used by plug-loads is expected to triple by 2030.
The design philosophy behind the modlet is ease-of-use and flexibility. The modlet hardware takes no time to install and the number of modlets required for a business can be tailored to fit each user’s need. A network of modlets will collect energy consumption data of office equipment in real-time. Through its web-based interface, users can see the detailed data and refine an energy savings program created by the modlet’s algorithms to cut power to devices when they are unneeded.
Organizations that implement a site-wide modlet deployment can see a 35 to 80% reduction in the power consumed by each electronic device that is plugged into a modlet, which in total can reduce the overall utility bill by up to 10% with no change in office routine. In a pilot program with one New York company, it is projected that the modlet will save $65,000 worth of electricity per year.
"You can make big changes that will save energy, like installing insulated windows, a more efficient HVAC system, or by switching to fluorescent lights," added Shimada. "Recouping plug-load waste, though, requires finding savings through dozens and hundreds of small actions, which individually you may never notice. The modlet helps to automatically trim many of the most common sources of plug-load waste. For energy saving actions that can’t be automated, the modlet makes the connection for people between what they do and what is shown on the power bill. Just like posting calories in a restaurant doesn’t force you to eat better, being able to see the numbers still leads to a natural improvement of behavior."
For the first time, modlets let companies actively engage employees in CSR initiatives. Data lets employees see how much energy individual equipment is consuming, compare their department’s power usage against others, or even compete to see who can save more energy. When compared to other green initiatives, a modlet savings program has transparent, easy-to-understand results, where staff can see their efforts pay off. In fact, multiple leading corporations have identified the modlet as an effective way of rolling out employee-level personal sustainability plans as part of their overall CSR platforms.
"We are ready to launch the modlet because it has been field tested for a year now with more than 75 organizations, and through that experience, we’ve been able to validate the modlet’s savings potential as well as its benefit to CSR efforts," saidMei Shibata, Chief Business Officer of ThinkEco, Inc. "Such luminary non-profits and corporations as The Climate Group, Greif and Turner Construction have found the modlet to be an effective tool for plug-load management."
