ecopush, the innovative savings plug - Dispatch Weekly
March 26, 2019 - Reading time: 4 minutes
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ecopush was born at the Octopus Energy Hack Day in May 2018 where it won the Most Technically Interesting product category. The original ecopush was a super-smart Amazon Alexa-based solution, designed during the hack day. It integrated a smart robotic button to turn on and off appliances using Alexa. A consumer would say “Alexa, turn on my tumble dryer (or any electric device) when it’s cheapest / greenest /right now”. Since winning, the ecopush founders have been working on commercialising the idea of creating a smart ecosystem that could control appliances intelligently.
Why is it needed?
Since we began to become more aware of the effects of fossil fuel consumption, specifically its impacts on global warming, there has been a concerted effort to move towards more efficient fuels. In Q2 of 2018, 29% of the UK’s electricity supply was produced by renewable resources, a significant increase from 5.9% in the equivalent quarter of 2010.
Due to the forces of supply and demand in the electricity market, prices are constantly fluctuating throughout the day. According to Octopus Energy (an Eco-friendly energy provider that ecopush has teamed up with), over the last 12 months, unit prices were below 2p/kWh 31 times and below 0p/kWh 4 times!
How does it work?
In order to address this issue, ecopush has worked on developing the world’s first energy-aware smart plug. The ecopush intelligent platform interfaces with the UK grid and energy pricing data to make automatic decisions based on prices and pollution.
The ecopush smart plug gives consumers the choice of automatically scheduling their plugs and therefore their devices to minimise costs, minimise pollution or a combination of both.
What sets it apart from other smart plugs?
Unlike any other smart plug on the market, the ecopush system is fully automatic. This means consumers will no longer need to manually set timers when looking to reduce costs. As well as having instant access to their data via an in-built energy monitoring feature, ecopush has the goal of ensuring its users save money and make a positive impact on the current global warming crisis.
The ecopush settings can easily be controlled by a smartphone app which is available for free, on the IOS and Android App stores. The app is very easy to use and gives the ability to efficiently track the spend on electricity and CO2 output. Another incredibly convenient feature is the option to turn on and off the plugs remotely via the app, important if anyone leaves something on at home.
Whether the motivation is to save money or save the environment, ecopush is here to help. The product will be available to buy online from 1st March 2019 from the ecopush online store and available soon on Amazon.
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Website: https://ecopush.co/
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David Lintott is the Editor-in-Chief, leading our team of talented freelance journalists. He specializes in covering culture, sport, and society. Originally from the decaying seaside town of Eastbourne, he attributes his insightful world-weariness to his roots in this unique setting.