Ewgeco
Making sense of the meter reading
Tanya Ewing, a housewife from Perth, Scotland, has invented a clever device that will give consumers and business owners a better understanding of their utility bills, while encouraging them to use less energy and reduce their carbon emissions.
She came up with the idea after struggling to compare a high gas bill with the reading on her meter.
"Straight away I saw that the two readings were incompatible. The meter reading was in cubic metres, but the bill was calculated in kilowatt hours. I didn't instantly understand what each was telling me, and I thought to myself how many people in Britain have difficulty making sense of this?"
After extensive research, Tanya discovered there was nothing on the market that intuitively told you how much energy you were using –and how that usage related to your energy bills. So she set about developing Ewgeco –a unique energy-monitoring device.
Reducing carbon emissions
Ewgeco is a self-installable Real Time Visual Display Unit that shows you exactly how much electricity, water and gas you're using at any given time. It uses a LED display, which changes like traffic lights' to indicate energy use. The green bars mean energy use is low, changing to amber then red when consumption is high.
"The coloured bars make it easy for everyone, including children and people with impaired vision, to understand how much energy is being consumed," says Tanya.
Ewgeco is designed to save consumers' money by revealing the "hidden" appliances in the house that continuously drain money, such as leaving the microwave clock on or boiling a full kettle for one cup of tea.
It also aims to encourage people to change their behaviour. By switching off appliances on standby or turning the tap off when brushing your teeth, you can instantly see how much energy you're consuming, indicated by the bars changing colour. Ewgeco also tells you how much carbon you're emitting.
Tanya estimates that Ewgeco could reduce householders' carbon emissions by up to 20 percent.
A crash course in business
With no previous business experience under her belt, Tanya admits she's had "the biggest crash course in my life."
A key lesson that she learned during her Starter for 6 training was to focus on the needs of her customers rather than her own.
"When I was developing my product, I was constantly thinking about what I wanted it do and look like –but I wasn't the one buying it."
Ewgeco for schools
Tanya is using her Starter for 6 grant to develop an Educational Box for schools so that primary school children can learn about energy usage and its effect on the environment.
The kit aims to engage pupils by showing them how much energy they're using and teaching them how they can reduce this. For example, setting the washing machine to 30 rather than 40 degrees or choosing low-voltage bulbs.
"The initial response from teachers has been excellent and Ewgeco for Schools', which will be officially launched next year, will have applications across many areas of the school curriculum," says Tanya.
Next steps
Tanya is in discussion with a Scottish based manufacturer and expects Ewgeco to go into production in early 2008. The first consumer product will be the electric-only Ewgeco, while the three-utility version (measuring electricity, water and gas) will initially be available to businesses and new-build homes.
Tanya says: "I just feel that once people start using Ewgeco it is going to change the way they consume electricity, water and gas forever."
Written: August 2007
Individual:
Tanya Ewing
Programme:
Starter for 6
Discipline:
Environment
Location:
Dundee
Funding:
£10,000
Year first funded:
2007
Website:
www.ewgeco.com