WAccording to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), heating is generally the biggest factor in energy bills in the UK and accounts for 53% of money spent on gas and electricity.
As reported by the DECC, around 38% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the UK result from heat related activities.
By 2020, more than 5 billion people will be connected, not to mention 50 billion things. –World Economic Forum
GLOW is opening new doors for households around the country to finally understand what makes 53% of their energy bill expenses. Connected and tailored to every user, the thermostat displays an accurate estimate of the consumption of your heating system in a user-friendly environment. Real-time cost of heating, live consumption statistics and energy saving progress are all evaluated by the thermostat and help every user control their heating on a daily-basis, changing from the usual monthly bill.
The system we are designing aims at creating a new environment for users to set up their heating by indicating live costs, as well as bringing tailored statistics about personal energy usage within the community customers live in. To ensure true personalisation and exact price calculations, the device is connected to several databases that host temperature information, user profiles and electricity or gas prices for various energy company tariffs. Every registered user can easily customize their profile on GLOW’s website.
Our device is based on the Raspberry Pi 2B. With its small size and cheap manufacturing cost, it makes a perfect computer to program and to use, thanks to its intuitive structure and convenient size. The interface is a 7 inch display touchscreen made for the Raspberry Pi. This guaranties great reliability for the device as a whole.
Software plays a major part in the device’s operation. The device interface is built using the python programming language. This conveniently can create a visual interface, while handling energy and price calculations in the background. The software fetches the input values from the established databases and outputs prices and consumption statistics. The user interface is intuitive and complete, and includes all basic thermostat functionalities you might expect in a latest generation thermostat. Databases are managed by both the website and the python interface using MySQL as well as PHP scripting language.
The touchscreen and Raspberry Pi are enclosed in a perfectly fitted case to the components we are using. Made out of resistant and light polymer, it is printed out in 5 individual parts using an Ultimaker 3D printer to be assembled in a robust enclosure. Its attractive design makes the device easily integrable to your home's furniture. The 7 inch display brings exceptional flexibility to customize the user’s environment within the interface and navigate around the application.
Wired through micro-USB using included USB to micro-USB cable. The thermostat convieniently runs on a single cable connection.
The device has been equipped with an external Wi-Fi adapter to reduce the amount of wire connections to a single power cord: