A device to keep your power bill under check

It is among the innovations centred on electricity usage

Innovations aimed at reducing the electricity bill are the order of the day.

With entrepreneurs and start-ups looking to conserve power and save on expenses, some of the practical applications seem to have gained a lot of traction in the market.

A difference of merely one unit can cost the domestic consumer an extra Rs. 800 in the electricity bill. Consumers more often than not are not aware of the number of units they have consumed and do not realise that they have overshot 500 units.

In such a penalising tariff structure, it would be a boon for consumers to possess a device that would help them regulate their usage.

‘Tariff Alarm’ is a device that alerts consumers when their electricity meter touches the 500-unit mark and helps them save energy by switching off unnecessary electrical appliances and gadgets.

Dayal Nathan, CEO of Energyly, says Tariff Alarm is a simple device that could be fixed near the electricity meter.

A consumer could pre-set the units for the buzzer to start ringing as it hits the limit. Mr. Nathan said the device, for which a patent had been applied for and approval was pending, had bagged the second prize in the Make-in-India hackathon conducted by IIT-Bombay last year.

The product, priced at Rs. 999, is available for single-phase electricity meters only.

Smart remote

Another device that would serve Chennai, the city of summers, well is the ACF (air conditioner-fan) Toggler. During summer, residents operate air conditioners throughout the night and often end up with huge electricity bills.

Now, a Chennai-based energy company has come out with a simple solution to avoid this.

The indigenously designed and manufactured ACF Toggler from Sans Energy would come in handy for those who want to avoid running ACs through the night and switch on their fans.

The device helps in operating ACs and fans with a remote device.

This helps avoid the need for a person to wake up in the middle of the night to switch off the AC and switch on the fan.

V. Rajan, chairman and managing director of Sans Energy, who conceptualised the device, said: “Lack of any electrical device to automatically switch off ACs and put on the fan created the necessity for this remote-controlled equipment.”

The device controls the ACs and fans with a remote that has various pre-set timing mode options, depending on users’ requirements.

The company has applied for a patent for the device, Mr. Rajan added.

R. Srikanth