New Honeywell Wi-Fi Thermostat Helps Utilities Keep The Lights On And Save Customers Money

MINNEAPOLIS, June 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today announced Total Connect Comfort with ADR, a new Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat for the home that also connects with a suite of utility technology and services to manage energy consumption. The solution helps consumers trim their electricity bills while enabling utilities to avoid brownouts and blackouts during summer's hottest days.

With this technology, utilities recruit homeowners to participate in programs to reduce their energy use when demand spikes, also known as automated demand response (ADR). Participating customers receive a Honeywell Wi-Fi programmable thermostat, valued at $150, installed in their home free of charge.

Using Honeywell's Total Connect Comfort app, the highest-rated thermostat application in both iTunes^® and Google Play^™, homeowners can program and adjust their temperature and manage energy use from the living room couch or around the world with a smart phone or any Web-connected device. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that programmable thermostats can save the average homeowner nearly $200 on annual heating and cooling costs.⁽¹⁾

For utilities, the Wi-Fi thermostat connects directly to smart grid technology developed by Honeywell's Akuacom business. The Akuacom software as a service (SaaS) creates secure, two-way communications between the utility and homes, which allows utilities to send messages directly to the thermostats to temporarily reduce home energy use when demand threatens grid stability, usually on the hottest days of the year. The Akuacom software makes the utilities' demand management programs more effective by ensuring their ability to reduce peak energy load.

South Sioux City, Neb., will be the first community to deploy the new thermostat to help manage electricity costs for its 13,000 residents, which have risen an average of 6 percent for the past three years. With occasional air conditioning cycling, the municipal utility can decrease the demand for energy and avoid potential power disruptions with minimal impact to homeowners' comfort.

The new thermostats are the cornerstone of a broader $5.4-million infrastructure improvement project with Honeywell, which is expected to help the city better track and manage energy use, stabilize electricity rates, and generate more than $800,000 in energy and operational savings each year.

"Honeywell has worked with utilities across the country for decades to help stabilize energy consumption. We have the energy technology, experience and are now layering on our reliable, easy-to-use Wi-Fi thermostats to make these programs a win-win for utilities and homeowners," said Paul Orzeske, president of Honeywell Building Solutions. "South Sioux City leaders and residents should be commended for their responsible, consumer-oriented approach to energy management. We hope many more utilities and cities follow their lead."

The South Sioux City program also includes installation of new electrical meters, an advanced metering infrastructure for the city and a new Honeywell-installed Wi-Fi network that will provide connectivity and communications for the upgrades, encrypted Wi-Fi for city emergency services, and support other city initiatives. Energy and operational savings from the program are intended to cover the costs of the work, so the improvements should not require additional funding or taxpayer dollars.

Honeywell has begun installing the new equipment and expects to complete all improvements by year's end.

With technology in more than 150 million homes, 10 million buildings and thousands of industrial sites around the world, Honeywell is a global leader in energy efficiency.

For more information, visit honeywellsmartgrid.com or follow HoneywellGrid on Twitter.

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell's shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com.

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⁽¹⁾ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR "Proper Use Guidelines for Programmable Thermostats" http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=thermostats.pr_thermostats_guidelines

SOURCE Honeywell