First Look Microsoft Hohm …

I had registered to sign-up for Microsoft Hohm, it is invitation only right now. This morning I received an email invitation from Microsoft to register with Microsoft Hohm. I wasn’t able to create an account right away as there was some issue with the website. It kept on redirecting to Microsoft Bing page. Anyways after an hour I tried again and was able to successfully create an account. Here is the run down:

• If you get an invitation make sure you have the following handy in order to setup your account
  • All the information on your house
    • number of doors
    • type of air conditioning
    • type of heating
    • square footage
    • attic information
    • appliance information
    • front of the house facing
    • type of windows
    • type of insulation(thickness)
    • etc
  • Electricity Bill for as long back as you can go back with usage and bill information(unless your electric company is registered with Hohm then they can pull up the information)
  • Gas Bill same a electricity bill
• Give yourself at-least 30-45 min to answer all the questions
• Every question has a little help to help you answer the question
• The website is well built very intuitive
• Once all the information is entered it shows you different charts and compares you usage to average home use
• I like the fact that it gives you recommendations based on your house and  provides you with average cost to follow through with the recommendation and the money saving per year. It also provides you step by step instructions on DIY fixes.

Conclusion – I think it is definitely a step in the right direction and we know Goggle is coming up with something on the same lines. Just a simple task of showing your energy usage over time gives you soo much control over your energy usage combined with their recommendations and tips. It opens a whole new door towards being more aware of your energy usage and controlling it with minimal affect to your lifestyle.

Go ahead sign-up for the invitation here

G