Knowledge Center

Defond N.A. - Knowledge Center

Notable Industry Articles:

‘Card Smart:’ USNAP Provides Versatility
by Bill Zalud, Contributing Writer, Appliance Design

Imagine a solution that is like a computer USB port that allows myriad applications. Such a card from the USNAP Alliance promises to provide a common connector between the communications module and devices including a thermostat, energy display, load controller, home appliances, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles...read more.

In the Middle to Close the Loop with Homeowners and Connected Appliances
by Bill Zalud, Contributing Writer, Appliance Design

There are appliance designers; there are technology providers; there are utilities; there are homeowners. But, beyond the smart meter, there are forces in the middle of these players – home automation dealers, electronic home system contractors, installers, remodelers – who play a crucial role...read more.

Will Big Boxes Make the Big Difference?
by Bill Zalud, Contributing Writer, Appliance Design

With the biggest retailer, Walmart, reentering the appliance business, the big box stores, committed to energy savings for their customers, will play a future role in bundling appliances with connected home systems...read more.

Monitored Home Systems to Spur Appliance Convergence
by Bill Zalud, Contributing Writer, Appliance Design

What do the largest cable company, one of the biggest telecommunications firms and the world’s top home security company have to do with smart appliances and the smart grid? Quite possibly, everything....read more.

Appliances Smart Enough to Save Money
by Bill Zalud, Contributing Writer, Appliance Design

Little things add up. Replace a 75 watt standard light bulb with a comparable compact fluorescent light bulb(CFL) and, over the life of the former, the energy cost is $45.36 while it is $12.10 for the CFL. Bigger things make a difference when it comes to Energy Star...read more.

Appliances Get a HAN 
by Bill Zalud, Contributing Writer, Appliance Design

As devices in the home, including appliances, get more intelligent and with an ability to communicate, homeowners, smart grid-enabled utilities and electronic home systems contractors now face the challenges and connections inherent in home area networks (HAN)...read more.

Wi-Fi Direct: What You Need To Know
by Samara Lynn, PC Magazine

It is official: Wi-Fi Direct is here, and the nonprofit Wi-Fi Alliance is now certifying products as Wi-Fi Certified Wi-Fi Direct. Alliance members include Apple, Cisco, Intel, and other major tech vendors.
Wi-Fi Direct is an emerging technology meant to meet the growing demand for easy, portable wireless network connectivity...read more.

White Papers:

Smart Grid Compatibility in a Module…
by Bill Romick, Vice President of Business Development, DNA Group, Inc.

Will your design platform benefit from a common Modular Communication Interface Specification for Demand Response? Richard Babyak’s feature article in appliance DESIGN on January 2010, addressed this subject...read more.

Current Sensing for Smart Grid Applications – Micro-Metering
by Bill Romick, Vice President of Business Development, DNA Group, Inc.

Smart Grid applications are beginning to demand the ability to pinpoint how much current is being consumed at multiple points within the home.  A multitude of communication standards remain available to the OEM, but a quantifiable measure of a product’s specific electrical current usage, or micro-metering, is rapidly becoming a necessity for Smart Grid and energy monitoring applications...read more.

Design Integrated Approach to Applying Solid-State Lighting for Illumination of Off-Grid Dwellings
by K. Willmorth, Lumenique, LLC

When it is desirable to produce illumination from alternative energy sources, or where circumstances prohibit connection to a utility power grid, the selection of light sources requires the same careful consideration for energy use as any high efficiency application. However, with the high initial cost of energy generation on-site, the need for conservation is amplified...read more.