HD Supply deal pumps new hybrid water heater rollout

Developing breakthrough technology is one thing – getting it in the hands of consumers is another. That’s why GE’s new deal to have HD Supply Utilities carry its new hybrid water heater marks a major milestone in the widespread rollout of the new technology. The company’s parent, HD Supply, was spun off from home improvement giant Home Depot in 2007 and has about 900 locations in North America, making it the largest wholesale distributor of construction and maintenance products in the US and Canada. Accessing that immense distribution chain gets to the heart of what industry experts at the recent smart grid symposium held in Washington, D.C. say is rapidly becoming the new focus of smart grid solutions: the consumer.

Hey, hot stuff! Residential water heaters are the highest energy users in households behind air heating and cooling systems. But GE’s new hybrid water heater — which is creating about 400 jobs at its manufacturing site in Louisville, KY and will be available in November — can reduce energy consumption by up to 62 percent. By combining energy-saving heat pump technology with traditional electric elements, the smart appliance pulls heat from surrounding air and transfers it to the water in the tank. It provides the same amount of hot water consumers are accustomed to, but requires less than half of the energy to produce it — a savings of about 3,025 kWh per year.

As Bob Gilligan, vice president of GE Energy’s transmission and distribution business, says in a new blog post on greenbiz.com, “Without consumer buy-in, the full promise of smart grid benefits will not be realized. And because many utility programs will be ‘opt-in,’ consumers will need to understand the benefits a smarter grid can deliver.”

It’s the same thought that gathered immense traction at the recent GridWeek symposium, in which about 1,400 leaders from utilities, business, government and academia gather each year to discuss business issues, technical challenges and policy requirements of a smarter grid. As noted on GE’s itsyoursmartgrid blog post about GridWeek, Jesse Berst, Managing Director of GlobalSmartEnergy.com, said at the event: “Consumers will be the theme this year,” contrasting that to the past few years, when the topic of smart grid conversation tended to center solely around technology.

That need to combine consumer education with widespread access to smart technologies is one of the key drivers behind the deal with HD Supply Utilities, which offers fully integrated technology solutions for the smart grid — from smart meters and home area network devices to the software used for demand management and meter data management. HD Supply then takes this smart grid know-how and delivers it as customized, turnkey solutions to utilities, both big and small, throughout North America.

* Read the announcement
* Read coverage in Louisville’s Business First
* Watch a video about the new technology on GE Reports
* Learn more about GE’s hybrid water heater
* Visit itsyoursmartgrid.com
* Read “Getting smarter about the smart grid” on GE Reports
* Watch GE Reports’ videos about our smart grid research labs
* Read “Introducing the zero energy home” on GE Reports
* Read “Hoo-rah! Marines fire up GE’s smart grid technology”
* Hear about the smart grid straight from our scientists on their blog
* Read about our smart grid work in NY and NJ
* Check out GE’s augmented reality on Plug into the smart grid
* Read GE Reports’ story about smart grid legislation
* Learn about GE’s smart grid efforts in Florida, Oklahoma and Houston
* Read about our research with the Dept. of Energy