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New appliances smarter about electricity use

MARK WILLIAMS | AP Energy Writer • Published October 12, 2009

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Appliances are getting smarter when it comes to using electricity, and that could reduce your utility bill and help the environment. And the best part: You will not even have to do a thing to make it work.

WHAT IS CHANGING?

The electricity grid is like the road system. Too many cars on the way home from work and not enough lanes on the highway means you might be late for junior's soccer game.

The grid that takes electricity from the power plant and gets it to your home gets jammed up at rush hour in the late afternoon and early evening when you and your kids come home and turn on TVs, iPods, computers, charge the cell phone, do laundry, make dinner and, one day, plug in your electric vehicle. And it's worse on a hot summer day when the air conditioning is running full blast.

The difference is that utilities always must have enough lanes so that they're ready the moment you flip the switch.

All the demand between about 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. can make producing power more expensive. And if a utility worries about running short, it will say that it will need you to pay more money so it can build new power plants.

That's where the appliances come in. They are designed to cut back on their use of electricity at times of peak demand without disrupting your lifestyle.

The appliances being developed by such companies as General Electric and Whirlpool will come equipped with a built-in device that will respond to signals directly from the utility through new kind of meters that are being placed in homes.

Let's say you are putting a load of laundry in the dryer. If the dryer receives a signal to cut back on its electricity use, it will continue to tumble, but it will reduce the heat for a few minutes.

A refrigerator will delay its defrost cycle or a dishwasher can put off starting until demand for electricity is lower.

General Electric will introduce later this year a hybrid electric heat pump water heater that it says will require about half the energy of a standard water heater. It has the potential to cut energy consumption by up to 85 percent during times of peak demand.