climate in crisis

Mobile App Helps You Fight Climate Change by Reducing Energy Use

A Bay Area company has a smartphone app that will connect to anything in your house that sucks up energy and help cut power use while saving you money.

NBC Universal, Inc.

You can fight climate change with an electric car and by putting solar panels on your roof, but they cost a lot of money.

But how can you gradually cut your energy use at no cost? There's an app for that.

"I can always see when I'm doing something, when OhmConnect is doing something with my device," said Cadir Lee, OhmConnect CTO.

The Oakland-based OhmConnect helps users lower energy bills by checking their smartphone.

"It's actually going to do the work for you quietly in the background," said Cisco Devries, OhmConnect CEO.

The app will suggest very gradual ways to lower your home's energy footprint, even giving away smart thermostats to put the plan into effect.

"We automate the process," Devries said. "So now you can save energy and save money on your utility bill without lifting a finger, thinking about it, or even knowing that it's happening."

The app is free, but some of the plugs and devices it will suggest cost extra. The goal, however, is to get a lot of people to cut back a little.

"If we all do something small, it adds up to something quite big," Devries said.

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