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Whirlpool Smart Grid Dryers to Be Introduced Next Year
 At last month’s International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, the Whirlpool Corporation demonstrated how home owners can benefit from altering their energy usage during peak times.
Led by Warwick Stirling, global director of energy and sustainability at Whirlpool, the demonstration simulated the use of appliances connected to a smart grid that can receive and respond to signals from a utility, minimizing the power used for a short period of time with little or no obvious change for the consumer.
The power reduction lowers the consumer’s electrical bill at the same time as it saves energy. Smart grid-compatible appliances offer builders yet another way to help their customers save money throughout the life cycle of the home.
“The smart grid involves communications between home appliances and the utility, which will monitor and allocate resources more effectively,” said Tracy Frye, senior contract marketing manager at Whirlpool.
“By 2015, all electronically controlled appliances manufactured by Whirlpool Corporation will be smart grid compatible,” she said. “These appliances will be capable of providing home owners with real-time information about their energy consumption, which can be used to make smarter energy consumption decisions, such as delaying the start of a dishwasher."
In 2009, Whirlpool was awarded a $19.3 million grant over a two-year period — which the company is matching with its own investments — to help accelerate work and deliver to consumers smart appliances that can connect with the smart grid.
Whirlpool also recently announced that it will deliver next year one million U.S.-manufactured smart dryers capable of reacting intelligently to signals from the smart grid by modifying their energy consumption to save consumers money on their home electric bills.
In markets where utilities offer variable or time-of-use pricing, these dryers could save a typical consumer $20 to $40 a year, while also benefitting the environment, the manufacturer said.
Headquartered in Benton Harbor, Mich., Whirlpool is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — The Leading Suppliers of NAHB.
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