Powering Up with Microsoft Hohm

We've written a few times in the past about the myriad of energy tracking tools available on the Web for consumers looking to beef up on their energy efficiency.There's Google PowerMeter of course, as well as EnergyCircle, a tool that helps parents show their kids about conservation. One of the newer entries into the bunch happens to be from software giant Microsoft.

Microsoft Hohm is a service that allows you to monitor your energy usage for the purpose of saving money.As someone that's interested in that, I thought I'd sign up and give it a whirl.

I think one of the more interesting features of Hohm is just how thorough it is when evaluating your home energy situation. It asks for information about your house, including the year it was built, the structure, what kind of insulation you have, the surface area of the windows, etc. The information is organized in a way that's easy to use and surprisingly fun to fill out.

Once you're done with that, you move on to your heating/cooling and lighting, where you input the amount of light fixtures in your house and the kinds of bulbs you use. It's actually kind of eye opening to think about each room and where you could be saving money by just swapping a few bulbs or by leaving the lights off more.

After all of that, there is even a field for you to share your electricity info, including the amount of kWh you use per month, and the rate you're paying. With all of this information, Hohm constructs a chart of your average utility costs, and what you can do immediately to make your home more energy efficient and save money.

All in all, I would definitely recommend checking out Hohm if you have been thinking about ways to lower your utility costs or how to upgrade your home. It's in beta right now, and you'll need a Windows Live ID but I'd say it's worth it to give Hohm a trial run.

Do you have any energy monitors that you use for your home? Which ones are your favorites?

Comments

[Elliott Lemenager]

I'm the community manager for Hohm and I wanted to say thanks for the review. I would also like to extended an invitation to do a guest post for our blog. If you're interested reach out to the email on this post or @microsofthohm @elemenager

Thanks,

El

[JJ Murphy]

I've used home since it opened up. I'm a big fan of it to be honest. I'm going to look at the google service, but honestly, I use all of MS's different services, and they always provide top notch products and feedback.