Home area networking

Here is some of the hardware needed for a "smart energy home." Above are two smart thermostats, which are able to communicate over a home network with other devices, including the two smart outlets below. Whatever is plugged into the smart outlets, including lights or appliances, can be controlled by the smart thermostat. Standards are needed to make gear from different providers work together.

The Tendril software connects to its own devices (the two on right) and works with other Zigbee-compliant hardware, such as the Ecobee smart thermostat (top left) and Think Eco's modlet (bottom left).