Electrabel - ZieNu

Kommerkors noticed that energy companies and housing associations were on the lookout for products to make people more energy-conscious. Together with Gen and IntoProduct, we designed the zieNu energy meter, a product that lets consumers see in real-time how much electricity they are consuming at home. After the successful development, we sold the product to Electrabel and the Alliantie housing association. 

In May 2010, the then Member of Parliament Diederik Samsom (PvdA) accepted the very first zieNu from oohIsee. Samson discovered that his central heating pump was actually consuming quite a lot of energy. Replacing it produced some substantial savings for him.

The design

Cost, simplicity and manufacturability were central in our design. A further challenge was that the product had to be able to read dozens of different analogue and digital electricity meters. We came up with a small housing with only a small display on the front. ZieNu can be easily glued to any electricity meter. The display shows the actual real-time energy consumption.