OhmConnect App Allows Users To Cut Smart Home Energy Use & Generate Income

A new app from OhmConnect known as “OhmHours” allows users to automatically lower energy consumption during peak hours via integration with various “smart home” devices, and get paid for it, according to an email recently sent to EV Obsession.

One of the services that can be integrated with the app is electric vehicle charging. The app is compatible with popular models such as the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF.

The company has revealed that the average users of the app are currently “earning” roughly $200 a year — money which is paid out via PayPal or Venmo. Some of the devices that can be integrated with the app to cut peak use include: the aforementioned EVs, Nest, EcoBee, the Schneider Electric Wiser line, various Honeywell products, and Belkin Wemo.

The email from OhmConnect provides more:

“Smart home energy automator OhmConnect announced today its breakthrough method for enabling smart home devices, such as Wifi thermostats, smart plugs, home automation systems, and electric vehicle chargers to generate recurring revenue streams by intelligently controlling devices’ charging and operating schedules. Specifically, Wifi thermostat owners can directly recoup their device’s cost within one to three years using OhmConnect.”

“By making a few small changes, I’ve earned about $220 through my participation,” stated Steve Reed, a video programmer in San Diego, who had already invested in an automated home prior to using OhmConnect. “What’s even more impactful is that on top of these earnings, my home has reduced the CO2 produced on our behalf… with very little impact on our daily lives.”

Welcome to OhmConnect from Ohmconnect on Vimeo.

If you’re wondering how a device such as this can save an individual, the key is with time-of-use (TOU) pricing, and particularly California’s TOU options. “OhmConnect user payments are made possible because California’s electricity grid operators prefer to pay users to reduce their energy consumption, rather than pay power plants to generate additional energy,” OhmConnect prefaces. “By coordinating #OhmHours during times when the grid would otherwise rely on energy from more costly and environmentally damaging power plants, OhmConnect redirects energy grid payments from power plants to its users, while at the same time reducing the grid’s environmental impact.”

“OhmConnect represents the opportunity for millions of people to use smart home devices that not only pay for themselves, but deliver continual payments directly to them. When integrated with the wide array of connected smart home devices, OhmConnect offers an immediate and sustainable revenue-generating opportunity for using energy more intelligently,” stated Curtis Tongue, OhmConnect’s Co-Founder and CMO.

Anyone who has Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison, or San Diego Gas & Electric can make use of the app to generate income. I know many of our readers are in those regions and have EVs, as well as some smarthome devices. Check out the #OhmHours offering and let us know how it works for you!