Tendril Outlet communicates with a variety of in-home devices to help consumers better understand, manage and control the energy consumption in their homes.

The Tendril Outlet is a ZigBee-enabled 3-prong outlet that communicates with any of three (or more) devices - thermostats, Tendril Consumer Portals or electricity meters - to respond to fluctuations in electricity price and/or specific direct load control commands. The outlet plugs in where a normal 110v appliance would normally plug in and can be turned on/off and/or asked for its consumption information to determine how much electricity is being drawn through the outlet. Thus any 110v appliance - an in-window Air Conditioning unit, a washer/dryer, a fan, and a pump - can be effectively monitored for electricity consumption managed to reduce electricity load and controlled to reduce load in specific instances.

• External button to enable network commissioning
• External LED to indicate successful network commissioning
• External button to allow user override
• Necessary security in place to be directly registered with the utility for demand load control commands or to be registered locally (and less securely) to a thermostat or Tendril Consumer Portal acting as a proxy for demand load control commands
• Pre-programmed/factory-programmed “price rules” that indicate how the outlet should behave in the presence of various price tiers (as available from the electricity meter or from the broadband gateway price messages)
• Dynamically re-programmable, from a thermostat or Tendril Consumer Portal to create different behavioral response(s) to price information and/or change the prices associated with pre-programmed price rules
• Temperature sensor for use in pre-programmed and dynamically programmed rule modes. (For example, given Price Tier X, an Air Conditioner might cycle on and off given a 2-degree change in ambient temperature)
• Remote on/off capability (as directed by rules set in thermostats or Tendril Consumer Portals)
• Remote current sensing to evaluate whether ‘normal” current is flowing through the outlet or whether ambient current is active
• Remote current level sensing allowing a thermostat, meter or Tendril Consumer Portal to redistribute information about the current active load, the controllable load and to validate actual load reduced (or not reduced) as appropriate for fraud detection mechanisms related to utility demand response or direct load control programs
• Embedded Tendril Cluster for local/remote customer service rep or installer-led network commissioning and diagnostics (as necessary/appropriate)
• Embedded ZigBee radio
• UL, FCC Certification pending