New Yorkshire business collaboration aims to help consumers save on energy bills

ivie, a consumer technology brand that aims to help people reduce their energy consumption and costs at home, has teamed up with Energy Support and Advice UK (ESAUK), an online Facebook-based community group offering free support and advice to people about saving money on their energy bills.

The partnership comes as the latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy show that the average domestic energy bill price has risen to an estimate of £2,316 per year, an increase of 74 per cent from last year.

Gemma Hatvani, founder of ESAUK, said: “This is a positive and very welcome collaboration which will be a major benefit to our growing number of community members.

“Soaring energy bills, being more efficient to keep bills down and the increasing cost of living are all key concerns for the majority of people in the country and many are confused and worried about what is going to happen and how they will manage.”

Last month, ivie launched a new energy saving app which has been designed for users to save energy in the home more easily.

The free ivie app integrates with most domestic energy smart meters, and has been adopted by over 10,000 users.

Users see their energy usage broken down by their everyday activities, allowing them to pinpoint which areas of the home use the most energy.

The app also shows live energy data when connected to an ivie Bud in-home display, helping households make energy-saving decisions to reduce costs, energy and carbon.

Mike Woodhall, founder and CEO of Harrogate-based Chameleon Technology, the tech company behind the app said: “We created the ivie app and ivie Bud to make managing energy simpler, smarter and more personal.

“Accurate, real-time energy data is crucial for achieving this. With live data, people can make smart energy-saving decisions on the spot that bring genuine change to how they use energy.”

The new collaboration will see ivie experts assist the community members by offering technical support and advice.

Key areas of concern covered include confusion and problems arising from smart meters and practical ways to improve energy efficiency measures in the home.

Volunteer group members from ESAUK are also providing product feedback to enable ivie to incorporate the views of real consumers into its future consumer product development plans.

ESAUK was launched two years ago in Nottingham by Gemma Hatvani. Having worked in the energy industry for 14 years, Gemma founded the group to directly support the growing number of people facing difficulties, confusion and concerns about their energy bills.

The group has around 101k members.

Ms Hatvani added: “I created the ESAUK community as an advisory support group which aims to educate, support and advise as many people as possible.

“We have assembled a wealth of experience and expertise from the energy industry and elsewhere who, collectively, can answer almost any energy-related question.

“To now have the expertise and energy industry insight of ivie on board will be invaluable to the whole community"