Alertme - Getting smart with electricity
AlertMe - home energy-saving and monitoring systems - a smarter way to live
Who are they?
AlertMe is an award-winning provider of home energy-saving and monitoring systems based in Cambridge founded in 2006. The two founders were both entrepreneurs and engineers, Pilgrim Beart having a background in wireless networking and Adrian Critchlow in web-services. Combining their skills their aim is to bring homes out of the dark ages, developing ways of enabling people to keep in touch with their homes through mobile phones and online.
What have they done?
The AlertMe platform is a way of developing a truly smart home, firstly through a home security system. AlertMe are now focusing on their home energy management service which allows users to monitor and control their electricity and heating use in a consumer friendly manner.
AlertMe uses low-energy wireless networks to monitor exactly how much energy home appliances are using and flexibly control them remotely online or via mobile phone. Knowing when the house is empty the system uses Smart Plugs and a heating controller to automatically turn off appliances or heating when not needed. They aim to save the average home around 1tCO2 and 25% of their energy bills each year, paying for itself in only a year.
What have they achieved?
AlertMe have already shipped over 15,000 units to domestic customers since January 2008. This active consumer base has enabled AlertMe to trial products and develop their consumer interface. They were able to secure £8 million from four leading international Cleantech investors in June 2009 and plan to use the new funds to extend their product development program and ramp up their distribution strategy, expanding the consumer base through links with utilities, retailers and telco companies.
Where next from here?
On July 20 2009 they announced a link up with British Gas to trial automated home heating controls and are exploring further links with utilities and telecom providers as well as delivering savings direct to consumers through a fully integrated Smart Energy System.
Currently householders have no way of knowing how much they spend each year on powering individual home appliances - indeed most only receive a single figure each quarter estimating energy costs. AlertMe's aim is to be able to give consumers a fully itemised utility bill, and their simple-to-use website shows consumers exactly how much they are spending on each appliance in real time and real currency. This will enable consumers to see the real running costs of fridges, printers, TVs and other appliances and allow them to take more informed decisions about replacing inefficient appliances and ensuring better energy management.
