Demand response comes to Samsung’s SmartThings

Samsung’s smart home app users are set to be able to access a new portfolio of utility integration and grid service programmes via SmartThings Energy.

The offerings from California based energy management company Enersponse should open up the demand response market for home owners and other small energy users across the US in an easily accessible way.

For Enersponse, whose offerings have been focussed on the B2B market, the partnership opens the way for wider access to the potentially massive residential market.

While the number of Samsung smart phone users in the US is not known, the available data suggest a market share of around a quarter – of the order of 70 million – and while this includes users of all ages and not all are SmartThings users, smart appliance owners or utility account holders, still the number of potential new demand response uptakers through the service could be significant, in the millions.

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“Partnering with SmartThings is a massive step forward, enabling residential energy users to play a much more active role in the journey towards energy decarbonisation,” said James McPhail, chief executive officer and founder of Enersponse.

“Supporting our mission of simplifying grid service programme participation and making it accessible to all, SmartThings Energy enables homeowners to make smarter decisions about their energy consumption when it matters most.”

With the SmartThings app service SmartThings Energy, users will be able to connect their utility account with Enersponse and automate their smart home devices, including thermostats, hot water heaters and EV chargers, with pre-set schedules to enable adjustment of their energy usage in response to real-time factors such as grid emergencies or energy pricing fluctuations.

These changes can be aggressive or nearly imperceptible, for example, reducing smart thermostat settings by two degrees when grid demand surges or delaying a dishwasher cycle until after peak hours or during increased time-of-use rates.

This new service is enabled by the latest changes to the SmartThings Energy app, which include accessing power consumption reports from a connected smart meter.

Users also will be able to receive demand response notifications directly through the app suggesting adjustments in energy usage beyond the pre-set automations.

Alongside the changes to SmartThings Energy, Samsung also launched in January a Smart Home Hub with a dedicated tablet style device claimed to offer improved connectivity to home devices and AI to streamline the services to users.