13 ms·

Wattvision (YC W09) Now Shipping

162 points by savrajsingh 16y ago

kno 16y ago
Wow looking at the ranking page here http://www.wattvision.com/rankings http://www.wattvision.com/rankings Mark's House use about 10 times energy as comparable size homes. Is it a house or an open air furnace?
- benologist 16y ago
  It's just a regular house with a nice big garden ... in the basement.
  - kno 16y ago
    Nice, I knew it.
craigmd 16y ago
Sweet.
jeebusroxors 16y ago
You should include a link to your site from the blog. I was borderline interested in the product, wanted to see what it was about and went hunting for a link and then became uninterested after I couldn't find one. I think this was just discussed on HN too. There may be better input on that thread.
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  Can you point us to that thread? Good feedback, yes, we'll add the links.
- spenrose 16y ago
  I noticed that the URL was "blog.wattvision.com" and replaced the "blog" with "www". Worked like a charm ...
duck 16y ago
Has that sensor been tested in winter conditions? I know my power meter usually ends up having a foot of snow on it for most of the winter.
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  Yes, it has. The sensor survived the harsh winter storm that dumped a couple feet of snow last winter in the Northeast.
  - jat850 16y ago
    What about other forms of harsh winter conditions - extremely low temperatures (including wind chill)?
    - jiaaro 16y ago
      Wind chill doesn't affect things that don't attempt to maintain a warmer temperature than the environment. Wind chill is the effect of cool air passing by a warm object taking away it's heat energy more rapidly than stagnant cool air surrounding the object. Wind does not cause an object to get colder than the air around it.
lazyant 16y ago
I was logged into my gmail account and after visiting this site, without signing up for anything I get a welcome email, WTF?
- theli0nheart 16y ago
  Same thing for me. Whatever you're doing, you need to stop it, or else you'll have worse things to worry about than complaining HN users ;).
  - savrajsingh 16y ago
    Yes, we hear you, please see my comments above.
- cnlwsu 16y ago
  ish, same here. Marked as spam...
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  That's not the expected behavior. We use Google Accounts for Sign In, but it should present you with a window that says "sign in to wattvision" and ask you for your password again, even if you are already logged in to Gmail. We'll confirm / try to repro on our end. Any other info you have is appreciated. UPDATE: We definitely want to fix this, we do not want to surprise or inadvertently sign up users. That's not our intention and we're not that kind of company! UPDATE 2: Ok it looks like Google has updated their "federated login" http://code.google.com/apis/accounts/docs/OpenID.html http://code.google.com/apis/accounts/docs/OpenID.html since we implemented our login system, so we'll check against that and see what's up? If anyone from Google is reading this and can comment/help, please email us at founders@wattvision.com. Thanks!
  - timmaah 16y ago
    Thats not how it is working. I clicked "Sign In" and was immediately logged into your site.
ph0rque 16y ago
Do the WattVision guys have plans to create sensors that can replace light switches and receptacles? Perhaps with wireless mesh networking? That would be sweet :~).
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  Our current release is "minimum viable product" ;)
  - ph0rque 16y ago
    Sure I understand... I guess what I was asking is if you had any plans to create the products I mentioned above.
bhavin 16y ago
I never knew this thing would sign me in to google without my permission.. and even register for subscription.. WTF?!
- bhavin 16y ago
  creates a bad impression for otherwise reputed YC startups..
yock 16y ago
I suspect that this sort of device could be removed by the power company should they discover it.The homeowner/tenant does not, in most cases, own the meter and some power companies could consider this a modification of the meter and have it removed. Heck, they might even bill you for the removal. I'm speculating, of course, but it seems like a real risk to me.
- blantonl 16y ago
  Either that, or the power company might start an investigation with law enforcement to determine if you have fitted the power meter with a device that misrepresents your electricity use. I can only imagine the look on my meter reader's face if he saw a device like that attached to the meter. One would hope that Wattvision launched(s) an education campaign aimed at the power companies to let them know of this device.
- yanowitz 16y ago
  I think this is incorrect speculation. Black&Decker, for example, sells a similar looking device. I've had one on my meter for months and no one's said anything.
  - yock 16y ago
    Straight from B&D's site: The reference to specific manufacturers is for informational purposes only and does not represent that the Power Monitor has been approved or endorsed by the manufacturer or your local power company. http://www.blackanddecker.com/energy/PowerMonitorCompatibility.htm http://www.blackanddecker.com/energy/PowerMonitorCompatibili...
  - yock 16y ago
    I will give you this one though. My local power company indicates that the meter is property of the customer. Perhaps this is more common that I initially thought: http://www.dpandl.com/customer-service/dpl-policies/meter-repair/ http://www.dpandl.com/customer-service/dpl-policies/meter-re...
gesh 16y ago
To everyone complaining about the Google account login on wattvision.com: this looks like a major Google bug, not a WattVision problem. Even if they were evil, this should not be possible.
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  In the end, it was a Google bug, and they fixed it at 12:30PT.
websta001 16y ago
Awesome tech, Will be very interesting to put on my folks house which has historically had really odd utilities spikes. I can finally debug :).
mike-cardwell 16y ago
Pretty neat. It will be possible to determine if a house is occupied, by looking at the current and historical power usage data. You've still got to find the address though.
adnanmahmud 16y ago
Very cool!
adnanmahmud 16y ago
very cool!
SriniK 16y ago
Ping confirmed that you are using google appengine. >ping www.wattvision.com PING ghs.l.google.com (74.125.113.121) 56(84) bytes of data. When you use federated login, google appengine is behaving as if request came from the same google assets. This is a major hole. However it is recommended you use following login method. http://code.google.com/appengine/docs/python/users/overview.html http://code.google.com/appengine/docs/python/users/overview.... EDIT: Just reported the bug with appengine groups. http://groups.google.com/group/google-appengine-python/browse_thread/thread/cc6f25ecbed16a2b# http://groups.google.com/group/google-appengine-python/brows...
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  >>> UPDATE: Google confirms (see post by sean_lynch below): Google here, confirming this is an issue with the Users API on App Engine. On-call team is working on the fix now. <<< >>> They rolled out a fix at 12:30PT. <<< Ok will read up on that, thanks for confirming. We still cannot repro the exact issue, however. Here are our repro steps: - Inside an Incognito Window in Chrome, created a new Gmail account, signed out, signed in and checked "remember me". - In another tab, visited wattvision. Clicking my house brings up "wattvision uses google accounts for sign in" log-in window which asks for password. Thanks for your help and support here! -s
  - SriniK 16y ago
    Just use a different browser for the new account that you created. So many users reported the problem. Incognito mode is not the one you should test with.
tlb 16y ago
Sweet! We installed one at Anybots and it's surprisingly useful to know how much power the building is using. You make what you measure, or in this case use less of what you measure.
sgt 16y ago
I like it. Will you be shipping internationally? Just a note, the size comparison is not very useful since I: 1) Do not know how large that particular candy bar is. It could be a tiny one or it could be a huge one. 2) I have no idea how large that Reddit toy is. :-)
petenixey 16y ago
Dammit Savraj, in one fell swoop you not only brought out a super-cool greet tech appliance but also realised the dream that Clickpass never could - true seamless sign-on. The King is dead, long live the King!
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  Hahah! Thanks Peter. And thanks for the escalation to your google contact, they totally fixed the issue. ;)
ErrantX 16y ago
Any plans to go international? I would bite your hand off for something like this in the UK :D
- thomie 16y ago
  Apparently they already are: http://www.wattvision.com/browse/by_location http://www.wattvision.com/browse/by_location
SabrinaDent 16y ago
Login issues aside (I realise they are significant but they're very well covered here)... This is a great product. I'm delighted for you that you've launched it as a shipable unit after what I'm sure was epic work. But you just cannot sell to consumers on a website that look like that. Your homepage consists of a graph, for crying out loud.
JeffJenkins 16y ago
I'm interested in this kind of product, but I live in an apartment and don't have access to my electric meter (or if I do, I definitely can't install things on it). Is there something like this I could use on individual outlets?
- wmf 16y ago
  If you have a breaker panel you can measure at that point: http://www.theenergydetective.com/store/ted-5000 http://www.theenergydetective.com/store/ted-5000
- yellowbkpk 16y ago
  Depending on what state you live in, your apartment building is required to give you access to the meter that measures your apartment (to verify that you're getting charged correctly). If you ask nicely you might be able to convince your landlord to let you hang one of these (especially if the meter is indoors). I proposed such a thing to my landlord and they were interested in knowing more.
dustingetz 16y ago
I wasn't able to find the cost until I signed in. http://www.wattvision.com/info/sensors http://www.wattvision.com/info/sensors $239 for hardware sensor $8.99/mo for historical data
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  You don't need to sign in to view the link you posted or the pricing page. Also note that 'monthly plan' doesn't start until April 15, 2011.
lutorm 16y ago
Congrats! Does this hardware work with more meter types than the beta hardware? My meter was not one of those that it initially worked with, so I sent in a picture of it, and I would very much like to get this working.
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  Yes. Please ping us at info@wattvision.com

162 points by savrajsingh 16y ago

kno 16y ago

Wow looking at the ranking page here http://www.wattvision.com/rankings http://www.wattvision.com/rankings Mark's House use about 10 times energy as comparable size homes. Is it a house or an open air furnace?

benologist 16y ago
It's just a regular house with a nice big garden ... in the basement.
- kno 16y ago
  Nice, I knew it.

craigmd 16y ago

Sweet.

jeebusroxors 16y ago

You should include a link to your site from the blog. I was borderline interested in the product, wanted to see what it was about and went hunting for a link and then became uninterested after I couldn't find one. I think this was just discussed on HN too. There may be better input on that thread.

savrajsingh 16y ago
Can you point us to that thread? Good feedback, yes, we'll add the links.
spenrose 16y ago
I noticed that the URL was "blog.wattvision.com" and replaced the "blog" with "www". Worked like a charm ...

duck 16y ago

Has that sensor been tested in winter conditions? I know my power meter usually ends up having a foot of snow on it for most of the winter.

savrajsingh 16y ago
Yes, it has. The sensor survived the harsh winter storm that dumped a couple feet of snow last winter in the Northeast.
- jat850 16y ago
  What about other forms of harsh winter conditions - extremely low temperatures (including wind chill)?
  - jiaaro 16y ago
    Wind chill doesn't affect things that don't attempt to maintain a warmer temperature than the environment. Wind chill is the effect of cool air passing by a warm object taking away it's heat energy more rapidly than stagnant cool air surrounding the object. Wind does not cause an object to get colder than the air around it.

lazyant 16y ago

I was logged into my gmail account and after visiting this site, without signing up for anything I get a welcome email, WTF?

theli0nheart 16y ago
Same thing for me. Whatever you're doing, you need to stop it, or else you'll have worse things to worry about than complaining HN users ;).
- savrajsingh 16y ago
  Yes, we hear you, please see my comments above.
cnlwsu 16y ago
ish, same here. Marked as spam...
savrajsingh 16y ago
That's not the expected behavior. We use Google Accounts for Sign In, but it should present you with a window that says "sign in to wattvision" and ask you for your password again, even if you are already logged in to Gmail. We'll confirm / try to repro on our end. Any other info you have is appreciated. UPDATE: We definitely want to fix this, we do not want to surprise or inadvertently sign up users. That's not our intention and we're not that kind of company! UPDATE 2: Ok it looks like Google has updated their "federated login" http://code.google.com/apis/accounts/docs/OpenID.html http://code.google.com/apis/accounts/docs/OpenID.html since we implemented our login system, so we'll check against that and see what's up? If anyone from Google is reading this and can comment/help, please email us at founders@wattvision.com. Thanks!
- timmaah 16y ago
  Thats not how it is working. I clicked "Sign In" and was immediately logged into your site.

ph0rque 16y ago

Do the WattVision guys have plans to create sensors that can replace light switches and receptacles? Perhaps with wireless mesh networking? That would be sweet :~).

savrajsingh 16y ago
Our current release is "minimum viable product" ;)
- ph0rque 16y ago
  Sure I understand... I guess what I was asking is if you had any plans to create the products I mentioned above.

bhavin 16y ago

I never knew this thing would sign me in to google without my permission.. and even register for subscription.. WTF?!

bhavin 16y ago
creates a bad impression for otherwise reputed YC startups..

yock 16y ago

I suspect that this sort of device could be removed by the power company should they discover it.The homeowner/tenant does not, in most cases, own the meter and some power companies could consider this a modification of the meter and have it removed. Heck, they might even bill you for the removal. I'm speculating, of course, but it seems like a real risk to me.

blantonl 16y ago
Either that, or the power company might start an investigation with law enforcement to determine if you have fitted the power meter with a device that misrepresents your electricity use. I can only imagine the look on my meter reader's face if he saw a device like that attached to the meter. One would hope that Wattvision launched(s) an education campaign aimed at the power companies to let them know of this device.
yanowitz 16y ago
I think this is incorrect speculation. Black&Decker, for example, sells a similar looking device. I've had one on my meter for months and no one's said anything.
- yock 16y ago
  Straight from B&D's site: The reference to specific manufacturers is for informational purposes only and does not represent that the Power Monitor has been approved or endorsed by the manufacturer or your local power company. http://www.blackanddecker.com/energy/PowerMonitorCompatibility.htm http://www.blackanddecker.com/energy/PowerMonitorCompatibili...
- yock 16y ago
  I will give you this one though. My local power company indicates that the meter is property of the customer. Perhaps this is more common that I initially thought: http://www.dpandl.com/customer-service/dpl-policies/meter-repair/ http://www.dpandl.com/customer-service/dpl-policies/meter-re...

gesh 16y ago

To everyone complaining about the Google account login on wattvision.com: this looks like a major Google bug, not a WattVision problem. Even if they were evil, this should not be possible.

savrajsingh 16y ago
In the end, it was a Google bug, and they fixed it at 12:30PT.

websta001 16y ago

Awesome tech, Will be very interesting to put on my folks house which has historically had really odd utilities spikes. I can finally debug :).

mike-cardwell 16y ago

Pretty neat. It will be possible to determine if a house is occupied, by looking at the current and historical power usage data. You've still got to find the address though.

adnanmahmud 16y ago

Very cool!

adnanmahmud 16y ago

very cool!

SriniK 16y ago

Ping confirmed that you are using google appengine. >ping www.wattvision.com PING ghs.l.google.com (74.125.113.121) 56(84) bytes of data. When you use federated login, google appengine is behaving as if request came from the same google assets. This is a major hole. However it is recommended you use following login method. http://code.google.com/appengine/docs/python/users/overview.html http://code.google.com/appengine/docs/python/users/overview.... EDIT: Just reported the bug with appengine groups. http://groups.google.com/group/google-appengine-python/browse_thread/thread/cc6f25ecbed16a2b# http://groups.google.com/group/google-appengine-python/brows...

savrajsingh 16y ago
>>> UPDATE: Google confirms (see post by sean_lynch below): Google here, confirming this is an issue with the Users API on App Engine. On-call team is working on the fix now. <<< >>> They rolled out a fix at 12:30PT. <<< Ok will read up on that, thanks for confirming. We still cannot repro the exact issue, however. Here are our repro steps: - Inside an Incognito Window in Chrome, created a new Gmail account, signed out, signed in and checked "remember me". - In another tab, visited wattvision. Clicking my house brings up "wattvision uses google accounts for sign in" log-in window which asks for password. Thanks for your help and support here! -s
- SriniK 16y ago
  Just use a different browser for the new account that you created. So many users reported the problem. Incognito mode is not the one you should test with.

tlb 16y ago

Sweet! We installed one at Anybots and it's surprisingly useful to know how much power the building is using. You make what you measure, or in this case use less of what you measure.

sgt 16y ago

I like it. Will you be shipping internationally? Just a note, the size comparison is not very useful since I: 1) Do not know how large that particular candy bar is. It could be a tiny one or it could be a huge one. 2) I have no idea how large that Reddit toy is. :-)

petenixey 16y ago

Dammit Savraj, in one fell swoop you not only brought out a super-cool greet tech appliance but also realised the dream that Clickpass never could - true seamless sign-on. The King is dead, long live the King!

savrajsingh 16y ago
Hahah! Thanks Peter. And thanks for the escalation to your google contact, they totally fixed the issue. ;)

ErrantX 16y ago

Any plans to go international? I would bite your hand off for something like this in the UK :D

thomie 16y ago
Apparently they already are: http://www.wattvision.com/browse/by_location http://www.wattvision.com/browse/by_location

SabrinaDent 16y ago

Login issues aside (I realise they are significant but they're very well covered here)... This is a great product. I'm delighted for you that you've launched it as a shipable unit after what I'm sure was epic work. But you just cannot sell to consumers on a website that look like that. Your homepage consists of a graph, for crying out loud.

JeffJenkins 16y ago

I'm interested in this kind of product, but I live in an apartment and don't have access to my electric meter (or if I do, I definitely can't install things on it). Is there something like this I could use on individual outlets?

wmf 16y ago
If you have a breaker panel you can measure at that point: http://www.theenergydetective.com/store/ted-5000 http://www.theenergydetective.com/store/ted-5000
yellowbkpk 16y ago
Depending on what state you live in, your apartment building is required to give you access to the meter that measures your apartment (to verify that you're getting charged correctly). If you ask nicely you might be able to convince your landlord to let you hang one of these (especially if the meter is indoors). I proposed such a thing to my landlord and they were interested in knowing more.

dustingetz 16y ago

I wasn't able to find the cost until I signed in. http://www.wattvision.com/info/sensors http://www.wattvision.com/info/sensors $239 for hardware sensor $8.99/mo for historical data

savrajsingh 16y ago
You don't need to sign in to view the link you posted or the pricing page. Also note that 'monthly plan' doesn't start until April 15, 2011.

lutorm 16y ago

Congrats! Does this hardware work with more meter types than the beta hardware? My meter was not one of those that it initially worked with, so I sent in a picture of it, and I would very much like to get this working.

savrajsingh 16y ago
Yes. Please ping us at info@wattvision.com