Town of Genesee-based Generac Holdings Inc. unveiled Tuesday two new product offerings geared toward consumers interested in smart home devices.
Generac has created its first electric vehicle charging system for residential customers. The 48A / 11.5kW Generac EV charger is a Level 2 home charger that can charge a car battery in four to six hours, depending on the car battery’s capacity and charge need. The unit’s J1772 connector is out-of-the-box compatible with nearly all EVs on the market today, and a NEMA-4 enclosure makes the unit rated for both indoor and outdoor residential installation.
“We’ve seen an unprecedented rise in demand for electric vehicles in the United States,” said Joshua Brister, director of product management at Generac. “We’re excited to help satisfy this high demand by adding the Generac EV charger to our network of energy technology products.”
The Generac EV charger will be available at home improvement retailers, wholesalers and hardware stores in the second half of the year.
Generac also announced Tuesday its complete line of wi-fi and cellular-enabled home standby generators will be integrated with the latest ecobee smart thermostats to create one energy management system for the home.
Generac closed on its acquisition of ecobee at the end of 2021. Aaron Jagdfeld, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Generac, said the acquisition of ecobee represented a chance to bring together all of the pieces of the home energy world.
By integrating ecobee smart thermostats with Generac home standby generators, home energy management will be incorporated into a central, easy-to-use interface, the company says. Homeowners will be able to see that their generator is ready to power on in a power outage. For homeowners fueling their generator with propane, they will also be able to digitally link their fuel tank, enabling them to monitor fuel levels 24/7 on the same interface, the company says.
“At Generac, we’re constantly looking for new and innovative ways to make life a little easier,” said Kyle Raabe, executive vice president of consumer power at Generac. “By integrating our Generac home standby generators with ecobee smart thermostats, we’re giving customers visual peace of mind that their generators are ready to power on in an outage and helping them keep watch on all of their energy management needs in one location.”
The integration will be available on ecobee’s Smart Thermostat Premium and Smart Thermostat Enhanced units, and on all wi-fi and cellular-enabled Generac home standby generators this spring.
