Intelligent energy-management is easier to set up in new buildings. However, tools for retrofitting existing homes are expanding.
These little boxes each plug into an electrical outlet and "talk' via power lines to a smart router. They would enable a resident to control connected fixtures or appliances over the home network without having to carve out walls and run new wires. Echelon aims eventually to sell such modules to consumers for around $35.
Photo by Elsa Wenzel/CNET Networks
Caption by Elsa Wenzel
