Samsung SmartThings Flex Connect adapts devices when electricity demand increases rapidly

Samsung has launched a new demand response program for its SmartThings smart home platform. Flex Connect lets your connected SmartThings devices communicate with the grid and automatically reduce power usage when demand increases, which can help avoid power outages. While demand response programs have generated some scary headlines, many experts believe that connecting our smart homes to the grid is key to managing the load on our power grid.

Flex Connect is available in New York and California and works with SmartThings Energy, an energy management solution. It uses SmartThings AI Energy Mode to automate how smart devices and connected appliances, such as lights and thermostats, respond to demand response events.

AI Energy Mode, which Samsung says can save up to 70 percent of energy when using its products, is an intelligent program that learns your daily lifestyle and automatically adjusts your devices’ power usage to save energy based on goals you set in the app.

According to Samsung, when a demand response signal is received from an electricity provider, Flex Connect can automatically enable AI Energy Mode to save additional power in supported devices, automatically turn off devices — including third-party lights and plugs — and automatically adjust supported thermostats to reduce their energy consumption.

If you don’t have any supported devices, you can still use SmartThings Energy to get alerts when an event is triggered, so you know whether to adjust the thermostat or not run the dryer.

The Flex Connect program is optional, and you can choose which devices you want to register, and you can change them at any time. Any device or appliance that works with SmartThings Energy can be connected to Flex Connect. While the list of compatible devices is dominated by Samsung devices, a few third-party plugs, lights, and thermostats are supported. Some notable brands include Wemo, TP-Link, Aeotec, Ecobee, Sengled, and Resideo (Honeywell Home). Tesla products are also supported, including Powerwall and Loop EV chargers.

Samsung didn’t provide details on how utilities will work with the program, whether there are plans to expand it to more states, or when Flex Connect will launch. We’ll update this post with more information as we get it.