Energy savings using the IQ Smart Socket

Our family has a room in my basement we've made into a modest home theater.  Its just a TV mounted on a wall and an inexpensive surround sound system, but its a great place for the kids to play video games or for the family to watch a movie together.  Being down in the basement it can get chilly,especially in the winter, so we have a space heater we purchased from Costco in the corner of the room.  Having the room heated that way has always worried us a little, since space heaters are notorious for causing fires.  To keep our home safe I've gotten in the habit of making a trip all the way downstairs to make sure the heater is off before we leave the house.

Recently I got my first Qolsys IQ Smart Socket. What an amazing device! It has two outlets, both of which can be controlled from the IQ Panel, and the LED screen on its face reports the current watt usage, so I know exactly how much power is being drawn. On the panel, I can see a report of energy usage over time, letting me know what parts if the day use more power and giving me trended data over a day, week, or month.

The IQ Smart Socket.  

Learning it into my panel was easy, and I could even change the socket names to say "Theater" and "Space heater" respectively.  I have a surge protector where all my home theater components are plugged in which I placed on one side of the smart socket, and I plugged my heater into the other. Instantly I saw readouts of the energy being used.  Even with everything turned off I noticed that both sides were still drawing some power.  The heater, in the off position, only used a single watt.  Perhaps to power the red "off" lightbulb.  I wondered how many watts it used when it was on, and eagerly turned it on.  400... 564... 831... 974... 1024...  I watched the numbers climbing steadily, remembering how people always say "those space heaters use SO much energy" but were never able to quantify that statement. Now I could... at over 1200 watts it was literally sucking the life out of my energy bill! I switched the heater from "hi" to "lo" and watched the watts drop to 665.2.  Simply knowing the difference between those two settings would change my behavior forever.  Why would I ever use the higher setting when the lower saved me so much energy?

When I turned my space heater to the "Low" setting, I noticed it used HALF as much energy!

I decided to try the Theater.  Surely a TV, video game system, and surround sound would not use as much energy as a heater...  I turned it on an watched the meter climb.  Over 400 watts, equal to the heater on low.

From my IQ Panel, I can even turn either plug on or off, cutting power to the room completely.  I thought of the look on my son's face the next time he refused to come up for dinner because he was too busy playing video games.  A simple touch of a button from upstairs and I would shut down the entire system.  That should get a response pretty quickly!

Using the Home Control apps button on my Qolsys IQ Panel, I now have the ability to not only to monitor the energy usage of these devices from upstairs, but create rules that automatically turn off my devices when our IQ panel is armed in "Away" mode.  This means no more trips downstairs, "just to check" and energy savings whenever we're not home.  These same rules can be applied to my thermostat as well, making our entire energy footprint a little lighter.  And if I ever forget to arm my system when I leave, I can do everything right from my phone.

Its a level of control we could only dream of before, but is an affordable reality today.  To learn more about the Qolsys line of energy saving products, as well as home control devices and security solutions, visit http://Qolsys.com

Blast off

My phone buzzed on the bedside table and I reached over to read the text message. "Site launched. Looks awesome." Even though he's only an hour north of our corporate headquarters in Cupertino, CA, my web designer often prefers to work through the night. A text message first thing in the morning meant that he'd been up all evening.

I grabbed my iPad and navigated to Qolsys.com. The simple teaser site we had used for the past several months was nothing more than filler content, stock images and generic copy. We specifically wanted to hold back any pictures of the panel and peripherals we'd been producing so we could make a huge splash at ISC West. I flipped through the pages, looking at the exciting images and dynamic content. Carefully checking that the last minutes changes I had given him the night before we're implemented, and that all the links worked, I snapped my iPad case shut.

"It's up!" I called out to Ken Arnold, our Director of PR. We were sharing a suite on the 31st floor of the Pallazo hotel, overlooking the las vegas strip. He turned over and looked at his watch. It was 6:00, and we wanted to go work out in the gym before we started our day. "How's it look?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Perfect." I said confidently. "What time does the press release go out?" I asked. He sat up and stretched. "Around 2pm."

We dressed quickly and headed out to the elevator. Dropping rapidly to the 3rd floor, we walked briskly to the fitness center. I was amazed by the vast banks of treadmills and the massive rock climbing wall. Ken headed over to stretch and I hit the weights. It felt good to work my muscles. As I lifted I thought about our company, "Quality of Life Systems" and how we all made extra efforts to have a healthy, active lifestyle. Mike and Dave regularly went running or biking, Ken, who used to work for the San Jose Sharks would often play hockey, and I enjoyed a variety of sports. I thought about how important it was to keep this up, and all the successful companies I had seen whose executives looked... less than active. If we wanted to build a culture around improving the quality of life we all enjoy we'd have to make sure we stayed true to it, no matter how busy we got.

After a good workout I grabbed a pineapple smoothie and headed upstairs. This morning was the unofficial start of the International Security Conference, and while people weren't supposed to show up until Wednesday, we knew there would be people coming by.  There were still a few tiny things we needed to accomplish in our meeting room to make it 100% ready, and we wanted to use today to train our team on the panel demonstrations we'd be doing over the next few days.

Countdown

The anticipation was palpable. We sat in the suite at the Pallazo, smiling at each other. Dave offered beverages to everyone while Mike plucked away idly on his laptop. Ken, scrolling endlessly through his phone, looked up occasionally as if to remind us of something, but more often than not, fell silent. We were prepared.

Tomorrow was the big day. The press release was written, the website complete. The presentation for the judges was finished and the elaborate displays stood silently in our Bellini meeting room like a museum of silent expectancy. Everything led to this day, the culmination of over 2 years of effort. What would the reaction be? Would we stand in our Brooks Brothers blue gingham shirts, handsomely waiting for customers that would never show, who would ignorantly leave the show never knowing we even existed? Would we be viciously attacked by our nervous competitors, giants who had dominated the industry for decades, hurling insults and accusations to stifle our opportunity? Or would we be overwhelmed by an onslaught of eager security and home automation dealers desperate to obtain technology that was far too late arriving in this industry?

We chatted idly and said our good nights. Handshakes exchanged, deep breaths taken, and nervous smiles hiding our unanswered questions. We knew what we had was amazing, would other believe as well? Only time would tell.

End of one journey, start of another

The office is literally buzzing in anticipation. It's the weekend before ISC West 2013, the largest trade show for security and home automation products and location where we will launch our company. There's so much to do, so many moving parts to align perfectly, but spirits are high and people are smiling. Employees are boxing up dozens of IQ panels, placing them carefully in their cases for the shipment to Las Vegas. Each one has been fully tested, updated with our latest software drop and customized with the screensaver we created specifically for our company launch at ISC West.

It's been a long road, and for many in the room, this means a payout of a 3 year investment. Qolsys formed as a team back in 2010 with the concept of bringing the security and home control industry back to our century. With generations of antiquated behavior and equipment built on ancient architecture, the industry needed a shot in the arm, and we wanted to administer it.

Mike Hackett, VP of Sales and Marketing sat back in a chair and smiled to CEO Dave Pulling. "We've done it." He said as though it was the definitive moment we had all been waiting for. "Done what?" Dave asked, assuming Mike was referencing something different. "We've done it, everything is ready!" Mike's confident smile is contagious. It what makes him so good at what he does. They've been friends for years and have no secrets between them. It was on long bike rides in the mountains above Silicon Valley that our company was born. Conversations about technology and improving the quality of life coupled with hours of pedaling and fresh air.

Mike's eyes are locked on Dave, waiting for a response. A murmur from the rest of us affirms Mike's statement, but Dave sits silently. He and Mike have put their hearts into this product. The culmination of years of research, development, testing, retesting, and more development. They had felt they'd been close to a finished product in the past, only to find some wrinkle that opened a door to something that would take months of work to achieve. I can see Dave's mind is fixed on this fact. Is this really it? Are we really done? Or is this simply another plateau before a difficult hill? He sits silently, contemplating Mike's statement. Whether running through the code in his brain or simply contemplating the veracity of Mike's statement I cannot tell.

Dave is a genius. On the surface he seems like a regular guy but his IQ is off the charts. He doesn't dress differently than other men his age, doesn't have any noticeable quirks or erratic speech, doesn't use language to enforce superiority or to establish his intelligence. He's so down to earth that most people don't have any clue how intelligent he truly is. If you watch carefully you can see it though. You can hear it in the pauses. While carrying on a completely normal conversation he'll suddenly make some statement that gives away his brilliant mind. In that moment he'll look at you, his eyes locked on yours, trying to determine if you understood his subtle intonation, then quickly smile and change the subject or walk away completely, laughing or joking with someone else.

Around the table we are all nodding, agreeing with Mike's statement but waiting for Dave's opinion. It feels like every detail has been attended to. There is always work to be done, but we were ready. The sound of the traffic on Stevens Creek Boulevard rushed past the window on the street below, and the breeze softly cooled the late afternoon sun making its last attempts to heat the windows. Dave looked at the last light of day pushing its way through the blinds. In that same subtle way he distracts you from his brilliance, he suddenly stood up. "I guess we'll see." His casual smile was like a period on a sentence, and he began to leave the room. "Let's eat at my house tonight" he said. "I want to BBQ."