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This tech startup is creating 'smart homes' that could change our monthly power bills forever: 'We can figure this out'

More than 100 million homes in the U.S. could save money right now by electrifying their utilities.

Helio Home, smart homes

Photo Credit: @helio.home/ Instagram

Helio Home was co-founded in 2021 by CEO Eric Reinhardt, Bill Lucas-Brown, and Clay Dusel with the goal of revolutionizing the home electrification industry. 

Helio Home's smart technology streamlines the electrification process by collecting data about the home and its equipment, allowing its software to estimate heating, cooling, and electrical loads remotely. This enables the development of a comprehensive action plan encompassing solar panels and batteries, heating and cooling systems, electrical infrastructure, insulation, and ventilation.

"That system affects how much electricity you need," Reinhardt told Built In Colorado, referring to the connection between a home insulation system and electricity. "That affects how big of a solar panel or solar array you need. All of that is being plugged into an electrical panel that needs to be sized correctly. So all of these things really cannot be done piecemeal."

Helio Home not only eliminates the use of dirty energy sources, but it also improves indoor air quality. That's because the company installs ventilation systems that, as Built In Colorado reported, help to filter out viruses, pollution buildup, and volatile organic compounds, such as those generated during cooking.

According to Helio, more than 100 million homes in the U.S. could save money right now by electrifying their utilities. But it's a task most homeowners don't want to or don't know how to do on their own because of how complex America's interconnected energy grid can seem. 

"It is complex, but we feel like with the tools we've built so far and the learnings we have, that we can figure this out," Reinhardt told Built In Colorado.

Investors are also excited about the prospect. Helio Home has raised nearly $4 million in seed funding. It has electrified 35 homes in the Denver metropolitan area with plans to expand throughout Colorado and eventually across the country.

The company says it's generated all of its new business solely via word of mouth — a testament to the demand for clean energy solutions. 

"Imagine if we had thousands of homes and then three or four tools within each home," Reinhardt explained to Build In Colorado. "We could orchestrate with that utility and maximize the value to the customer and the utility. We see ourselves eventually creating a much better customer experience for our customers and how their home is managed."

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