Green Z-Wave Products for the Digital Home

Aeon Labs Z-Wave

A series of new products based on Z-Wave technology have just been announced by Aeon Labs.  The new devices are the Home Energy Meter – a clamp on wireless electrical energy measuring device, the Minimote – a remote to control your Z-Wave enabled devices,  and the Z-Stick – a USB Z-Wave controller.  Read on for the full PR and the links.

“Copenhagen – Z-Wave Alliance member Aeon Labs now offers homeowners a new series of wireless products for them to create environmentally friendly smart homes of the future. These new devices are designed to save energy in the home and noticeably improve residents’ quality of life. The new products based on Z-Wave technology include the Home Energy Meter, the Minimote remote control and the Z-Stick. Users can easily integrate these devices into their Home Control Systems and thus connect them to an interoperable radio-controlled network with other devices. This means that electrical devices can be used as energy-efficiently as possible.

Z-Wave products enable users to make their homes more comfortable whilst also drastically reducing their energy consumption. Z-Wave is an established global standard, especially in the smart metering sector, and Z-Wave technology provides homeowners with a sound foundation for an environmentally friendly home.

Home Energy Meter measures consumption exactly – The Home Energy Meter (HEM) is a low-cost energy meter for the entire home and helps keep energy costs down. It is an efficient measuring device for domestic energy consumption. The system can be installed quickly and straightforwardly – no technical expertise is necessary. The wireless system transmits values such as wattage and kilowatt-hours to a central control station (gateway) that can be monitored by users.

Ease and safety are paramount: So Electricians are not required to install the Aeon Labs Home Energy Meter. The customer never needs to handle hot exposed wiring. Current transformer clamps clamp around the AC Mains to detect energy usage for the entire house. The main body is International Protection Code rated IP43 to be weatherized for outdoor conditions. It can also be powered via USB and does not require battery power. The USB can be used to easily upgrade the internal software by the end-user such that the latest Z-Wave protocol and commands are always available.

Interoperable Z-Wave device programming via Minimote – End user-friendliness was a top priority for Aeon Labs when it developed the Z-Wave Minimote. This remote control unit enables users to control all compatible devices in the Home Control Network at the touch of a button. There are also four buttons under a sliding cover panel for four different functions: “inclusion”, “exclusion”, “association” and “learning”. So the Minimote is the ideal easy-to-use remote control unit for Z-Wave-compatible devices, such as dimmers, switches, blind controls etc.

Users can configure up to eight different “scenes” in which several devices can be controlled simultaneously. To ensure that the Minimote always transmits using the latest Z-Wave radio protocol, users can easily upgrade the remote control themselves. The integrated lithium battery lasts for several months, and the Minimote is rechargeable via a USB interface. It also has a range of up to 30 metres.

Z-Stick functions as a communication centre – The Aeon Labs Series 2 Z-Stick is a self-powered USB stick. As a PC adaptor it connects a computer to a Z-Wave network via the USB interface. Then a USB protocol is converted into a serial Z-Wave API protocol so that the operating system recognises the product as an additional virtual and serial device. So once it is connected to a host processor, the stick functions as a communication centre for other Home Control Devices. The Z-Stick can be used to integrate up to 232 devices into the home network via a simple installation process.

For more information, you can visit www.z-wavealliance.org and www.aeon-labs.com. See Aeon Labs at Z-Wave Alliance booth no. C26 at Metering & Billing/CRM Europe 2010 in Vienna on Sept 22-24.”

 

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