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Aquanta installs onto your existing water heater, converting it from a dumb energy consumer to a smart, energy saver. Read more
Aquanta installs onto your existing water heater, converting it from a dumb energy consumer to a smart, energy saver.
About this project
$25,156
The campaign has ended, but go to www.sunnovations.com and leave us your information to stay up to date about Aquanta.
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Introducing Aquanta, the first easily installed, networked water heater controller.
Installing right on your existing water heater, Aquanta will learn your hot water usage patterns and, if enabled by you, control your water heater to match those patterns and save energy. Aquanta will give you unprecedented insight into your water heating energy and hot water use, alert you to maintenance issues, and enable its control – right from your smart device or home networking platform.
Have you ever:
- Been mad at your teenagers for those 30 minute showers?
- Forgotten to turn off your water heater when leaving for vacation?
- Been stuck with a cold shower while the relatives are in town?
- Had your floor ruined when your water heater leaked?
- Been unhappily surprised by your energy bill?
- Wondered why the water heater hasn’t been included in the smart home???
People Are Talking About Aquanta!
“Very cool! A Nest for my water heater. Count me in.” – Randall, Charlotte, NC
“I am VERY excited for this. I can't wait :)” - Kristen, Indianapolis, IN
“Looks great!!!!” - Robert
“Love the idea!” – Matt, Circle Pines, MN
“If you’re already getting connected into the internet of things and the smart home, then you can see where Aquanta fits right into your life along with your Nest, your smart home controller, your VUE lights and more.”
“Sunnovations…has a better idea.”
“[Sunnovations] is trying to show the way towards smart water heaters that could help reduce energy consumption.”
“Sunnovations wants to get in on the smart home game and lower your utility bill all at once.”
Why We Need Your Support
Sunnovations’ history is in the solar water heating sector – so we are all about energy efficiency and CO2 reduction! We’re developing Aquanta for the same reason we got into solar water heating: water heating energy use is almost completely overlooked by Americans, despite its role as the 2nd largest consumer of energy in their homes. It’s also the source of over 171 million metric tons of CO2 emissions every year!
We are adapting our successful Ohm solar hot water monitoring technology for Aquanta, and being a Backer will help us navigate this transition including getting our hardware production to scale and funding the various certifications that are required. Also, we want to hear from you about how you use and interact with hot water in your home, so that we can develop features and controls that enhance your life and save you money.
How Does Aquanta Work?
Aquanta’s special sauce is its “enthalpy sensor," which can highly accurately measure both energy going into your tank as well the energy being used when you wash dishes, take a shower, warm baby's milk, do laundry...you get the picture! Water heating and usage are related of course, but importantly (from a data standpoint) don’t happen at the same time. Aquanta’s software translates the sensor data to create a usage chart to enable smart cycling of your heating element and quantify the heating energy and hot water used.
The control box communicates via your Wi-Fi network to a cloud-based user dashboard, where you can see the data and control your water heater. Aquanta has a tank leak sensor built into it, and planned, future software releases will enable the addition of a networked valve to shut off the water main in the event of a major water leak in your home.
Can I – Should I – Self-Install?
Aquanta can be installed by a “handy DIYer,” meaning that if you are comfortable replacing a faucet, putting in Aquanta should be a snap. No specialized plumbing knowledge, certification or equipment is needed or pipe cutting of your water lines, although in some cases you may need to de-solder the drain pipe on the T&P valve. If you’d prefer to have a professional install it, you can use a your local plumber or let us know when we survey our Backers as we are working on partnerships to enable local installation (US only, please).
The installation process looks like this:
Will Aquanta Work in My Home?
Aquanta is designed for use in tank storage-style water heaters – like those found everywhere in the US and in many parts of the world.
It is designed for tanks holding 120 gallons and less, and will not work with tankless (also called “on-demand”) water heaters or "combi" systems. Important: our launch versions will control electric water heaters as well as those gas water heaters with electronic gas control valve (which represent the vast majority of the gas water heater installed base). If your gas tank has an old-style, mechanical control valve (like below), Aquanta will be able to measure the energy and provide most of its reporting features, but cannot control the heating element. If you have a boiler-heated water tank, please get on our reservation list (by backing us for $1 or more) for a future version that will control those types of tanks.
Your tank needs to have a T&P valve fitted in a ¾" port (which is near-universal in US tanks; see below picture), into which Aquanta’s sensor gets installed. The T&P valve port can either be on the top or the side of the tank.
Aquanta is controlled via Wi-Fi, so you need a home Wi-Fi router for it to connect to its cloud-based control system and user interface. While you don’t need to have a home networking hub for Aquanta to work, we plan to integrate into all of the major platforms including Nest, iControl’s OpenHome (the platform for Best Buy’s Pēq system and that of many North American cable providers), Apple’s HomeKit, SmartThings and Staples Connect, among others. We are going to prioritize integrations into the platforms that our Backers use the most, so we will be asking you!
Where We Are in Development
Aquanta’s proprietary enthalpy sensing technology is the basis of our leading Ohm solar hot water monitoring system, so we are confident about its ease of installation, physical robustness and analytic capabilities. Our main tasks are to further develop, and manufacture at scale, the device controller and networking capability. We’ve been through several rounds of prototyping, including some of these early versions.
Major milestones in the development process include more extensive field trials and UL certification.
Risks and challenges
Our technical team includes engineers with extensive experience in wireless networking and hardware. Also, our company history in solar water heating has given us deep experience in the plumbing sector, with a focus on water heaters more specifically – we know hot water! However, as the saying goes, “hardware is hard," so we are aware of the technical challenges in front of us to create a robust, networked controller. That’s why we are engaging with a leading electronics contract manufacturer to partner with us in the development, prototyping and manufacture of Aquanta.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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Nope!
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Yes, you would need 2 Aquanta units, as each would control an individual tank and each tank has its own usage patterns. There may be an opportunity to integrate both into a single dashboard on a smart hub dashboard, but we cannot promise that right now.
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The control box (the black one in the main picture) is a junction box to an electric tank's power source, so it will turn on/off the power to the tank per the control algorithm or your commands. This will also virtually control the temperature in the tank. In gas tanks, Aquanta will plug into the electronic control of the heating element and do the same thing (i.e. turn power on/off to the tank) to provide the control.
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If you figure out the magic formula, let me know. However, quantifying the energy cost and CO2 contributions of their long showers should help. It will also compare your hot water usage with others, and social norming is a very powerful force. Also, how about doing an IFTTT integration with your smart lights to flash when the shower goes longer than 10 minutes? Aquanta will be able to do that!
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Water heaters in the US use on average 4600 kWh of energy a year, and our data suggest that at between 25% and 60% of that is wasted through "standby loss". We are being careful to not over promise, thus the desire to have more thorough testing before we start making claims. However, vendor and utility studies (i.e. not ours though) suggest between 10-30% of water heating energy can be saved.
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Aquanta should pair very nicely with most solar hot water systems in that you will be able to control the backup heating so that it won't turn on unless absolutely necessary. Make sure that your solar tank is compatible with the tanks noted in our “Will Aquanta Work in My Home?” section. Our background is in solar water heating, so we love this combo.
Rewards
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$1 reward
5 backers
RESERVATION LIST FOR BOILER VERSION
Get on our reservation list for boiler water heater versions. Your contribution will be credited if you buy one when available.
Estimated delivery: -
$25 reward
6 backers Limited (244 left of 250)
AWESOME AQUANTA T-SHIRT (UPDATED)
Want to back us, but not ready to take the Aquanta plunge? Thanks – and get an awesome, organic cotton Aquanta T-shirt!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
$75 reward
2 backers All gone!
SUPER-EARLY BIRD
Get 1 Aquanta unit, and thank you for being one of our earliest backers!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
$79 reward
200 backers All gone!
SUPER-EARLY BIRD (UPDATED)
Get 1 Aquanta unit, and thank you for being one of our earliest backers!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
$99 reward
8 backers Limited (242 left of 250)
EARLY BIRD
Get an Aquanta unit for a great deal.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
$124 reward
5 backers Limited (495 left of 500)
SUPPORTER
Get an Aquanta unit for $25 less than projected retail.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
$150 reward
21 backers Limited (79 left of 100)
SUPER-EARLY BIRD FOR 2 UNITS
Get one unit for your primary residence, one for your vacation home!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
$198 reward
0 backers Limited (125 left of 125)
EARLY BIRD FOR 2 UNITS
Get 2 Aquanta units at a big savings!
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
$248 reward
1 backer Limited (249 left of 250)
SUPPORTER: 2 UNITS
Get 2 Aquanta units for $50 less than projected retail.
Estimated delivery:Ships anywhere in the world -
$750 reward
4 backers Limited (6 left of 10)
AQUANTA BETA CUSTOMER
We love techno-trailblazers! You’ll provide input on the installation process, user experience and potential cool new features. We expect to ship beta units early next year, and we’ll also send you an updated, production version upon commercial launch. We'll also throw in an Aquanta t-shirt to boot! Note: US-only, and you will be required to sign a waiver.
Estimated delivery:Only ships to: United States -
$4,000 reward
0 backers Limited (10 left of 10)
EARLY PARTNER
Get 10 Aquanta units, custom dashboard and data analysis and our undying gratitude.
Estimated delivery:Only ships to: Australia, Canada, United States -
$7,500 reward
0 backers Limited (5 left of 5)
POWER PARTNER
Get 10 Aquanta units; custom dashboard and data analysis; and we’ll visit you for a strategy session and on-site installation training. We’ll be doing business with you...
Estimated delivery:Only ships to: Canada, United States
Funding period
- (30 days)