SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA — Earlier this year, San Diego Gas & Electric released a mobile app for all their customers to help save money and reduce energy usage.
The SDG&E PowerTools app, which can be downloaded from iTunes, lets people do everything from monitoring their recent energy use and getting tips for saving energy, to tracking weather patterns and setting up and managing energy saving goals.
“In the goal section, you can include tasks related to your HVAC system like scheduling biannual air conditioning service appointments and reminders to change air filters,” says Gabriel Carini, who founded a San Diego heating and air conditioning company nearly a decade ago. “Both are essential for a system that runs well, lasts as long as possible and keeps you comfortable.”
The app was officially announced on Jan. 28 and is available to all customers with access to SDG&E’s My Account web portal. An earlier, limited-availability version was released in October to a limited number of customers. In their January press release, the San Diego-based utility company reported that more than 15,000 customers had already downloaded their energy consumption data with the SDG&E Green Button download tool. The app is available for web, mobile web, Apple iOS and Android platform versions Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich.
“The PowerTools app was designed to help SDG&E customers securely identify ways to make smarter choices in their energy use habits and decisions, improving efficiency and lowering costs,” wrote SDG&E.
Users can also access other features like the SDG&E power outage map and online bill payment service. They can see the environmental impact of energy use, look at reports that analyze their individual energy use history and review actual use and savings relative to history.
How To Sign Up
Customers must authorize the app’s third party vendor before they can receive energy use information:
- Log into My Account from your desktop or tablet computer.
- Click on the My Energy tab.
- Look for the Related Links on the right.
- Click on Green Button Connect My Data.
- Follow the instructions on the page to select apps.
“This app is another great way for people to save money on their overall energy costs, but it can also help them cut down on heating and cooling costs and use their units more efficiently,” says Carini. “More efficient use of your HVAC system not only means lower bills and a longer lifespan, it often means fewer air conditioning repairs for San Diego homeowners.”