Navigating the Electrification Frontier with Whole Home Energy Management

Electric vehicles are hitting the mainstream, savvy consumers are adopting high-efficiency heat pumps, and induction cooktops are replacing gas stoves. Homes are becoming more complicated — and more energy hungry — as energy prices continue to sharply rise and the grid’s reliability continues to fall. 

Homeowners’ approaches to electrification have been fragmented at best. It’s not their fault; this is a new frontier for everyone. However, it’s abundantly clear that without a robust home energy management system, these grid-tied solutions can cause havoc on energy bills and leave homeowners in the dark during outages, even with solar power.

To thrive in our sustainable future, it's crucial to embrace advanced technologies that monitor, optimize, and control energy use. Comprehensive energy management — from solar panels to battery storage and grid integration — can revolutionize efficiency, cut costs, and enhance resilience, creating a stable and eco-friendly energy landscape. At the end of the day, homes need new levels of intelligence to work properly in a future full of electrification that intelligence needs to be paired with energy storage. 

Let's delve into the transformative power and benefits of these systems for homes nationwide.

Balancing the needs of an electrified home

A holistic approach to home energy management provides homeowners with a comprehensive understanding of their energy consumption patterns and optimization strategies. EVs have been adopted far and wide. Many new EV owners are often shocked by the energy bills they receive after charging in the middle of the day, only learning retroactively about concepts such as peak demand charges and other nuances of their utility’s rate structures. How and when energy is consumed has been something about which homeowners have been able to remain blissfully ignorant, but increased electrification is changing that. Electrifying a home is a good investment, but being able to smartly shift energy loads and balance energy usage makes it an even better one. Real-time monitoring and control of home energy sources and consumption, supported by energy storage for additional energy freedom, is a critical element to the electrification of homes. 

Preparing for energy sources of the future 

The future of electrification is not just about appliances consuming energy, it’s about being able to balance a mix of current and future generation sources. Proactively managing energy generation is essential, as is shifting the consumers’ focus from mere consumption to comprehensive energy resilience.

In today’s market, when it comes to solar, the first thing a homeowner thinks about is an onsite power source coming from the utility, but the process of using intelligent energy management platforms to optimize solar plus storage is critical for maximizing the ROI of a home system. In other words, knowing when to consume power now, save it later for consumption, or sell it back to the grid for the highest return. However, electrification has crossed the threshold to now include more energy sources – simply optimizing the usage of solar has become table stakes. 

Advanced energy managements solutions should be able to balance additional energy sources, such EVs with bidirectional charging capabilities, as well as on site generators (both whole home and portable) during emergency situations. During a blackout, software is critical for being able to determine the most efficient ways to use the various energy sources at its disposal, so it can charge the whole home battery and determine how to use that energy. Intelligent software combined with intelligent circuits is now available; it allows homeowners to prioritize essential appliances while temporarily disconnecting high-draw, non-essential devices. By automatically adjusting load distribution, critical appliances such as refrigerators and lights remain powered, ensuring the household's functionality while extending battery longevity.

Building a solid electrification foundation

Paired with whole house battery backup, home energy management systems empower homeowners to take control of their energy generation and consumption, promoting efficiency and cost savings. The solutions chosen today should be agnostic to energy sources and able to incorporate new ones in the future. This investment creates the foundation necessary for other electrification projects such as switching to heat pumps, turning to EVs, and installing solar. Choosing the right first step for home electrification not only prepares homes for future energy demands and gives homeowners more energy freedom, but also maximizes the return on investment, paving the way for a stable and sustainable energy landscape.

Vincent Ambrose is CCO at FranklinWH, a research-driven company focused on next-generation residential energy management and storage solution.

FranklinWH | www.franklinwh.com