Current Cost, a company which specialises in high tech products for improving energy efficiency, reducing energy costs in both individual households and large scale organisations have launched a new product called ENVI. ENVI as you would imagine is an energy monitor, monitoring your home’s electricity usage. What is unique about Current Cost’s real-time energy monitors is that these allows you to read the gathered data using an application on your PC. Connecting a serial cable to the display downloads the information in XML format. A number of developers have created applications which uses the data gathered by the energy monitor (see examples here). Analysing this data will allow the user to hopefully change their energy consumption behaviour and therefore lead to improved energy efficiency.

We’ve been told, we’ll soon be sent a demo unit to try out, so hopefully we’ll have more news and thoughts on this eco-friendly gadget for you very soon.

Full press release to follow after the jump.

NEW PRODUCT EASES STRAIN ON HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS

Household utility bills can be cut by up to 15 per cent when using newly launched energy monitor, the ENVI.

Empowering individuals by allowing them to understand their energy use and make sensible changes, the next-generation monitor tracks the home’s electricity consumption as a whole and by appliance.

In-home, real-time individual appliance monitoring is a world first and a great addition to the currentcost display. Using simple and easy to use plug-in monitors, they transmit to the display the number of watts consumed and the cost for running an appliance. Identifying energy hungry appliances allows users to alter their use and habits when it comes to such devices, and the ability to track the decline in energy efficiency allows them to identify when it’s cost effective to replace the item. As an example replacing a ten year old freezer with an ‘A’ rated one can save £45.00 per year in energy use.

The ENVI can store up to seven years of data, which when connected to a PC can: graph, analyse and monitor your energy consumption over time, see how badly or well behaved your home is when you’re out, and track the decline in energy efficiency of appliances as they age

The core ability of the ENVI is to monitor the home’s electricity consumption. Shown in terms of watts used and how much it will cost you per day, week and month should you run your home at the same level – users are empowered to change their lifestyle to cut energy waste and their utility bills.

Inventor Martin Dix commented: “This is a leap forward for consumers, it provides them with relevant information about how much electricity they are using in real-time. We all need to change our behaviour to save CO2 and reduce carbon footprints, but perhaps what is more relevant today is how much money each home can actually save by simply stopping waste.”

Waste isn’t just about turning off standby items or half filling the kettle. Faulty appliances can cost much more than you think to run. By monitoring how much you spend each month on watching TV, using the tumble dryer and leaving your computer and printer on etc., it will help each family to be more aware about turning off! That doesn’t mean stopping using the gadgets you’ve invested in, but turning off lights if you’re not in the room, using the dishwasher with a full load etc.

The ENVI display is available through www.currentcost.com priced at £49.50.