A flat’s main predicament (generally) is bills. Young adults, aged 18-30, who are flatting commonly split the bill equally. In an ideal world, this would mean that the flatmates used equal amounts of energy, but as flatmates are not held accountable for their personal usage this is not the case.

I plan to design an interactive application where power outlets are controlled and turned on through thumbprints. These thumbprints record how long the outlet was kept on for, how much energy was used and how much this energy cost. Through algorithms these recordings will then be displayed on an LCD so flatmates can compare and monitor who uses what. That way at the end of the month the bills can be split fairly.

This LCD will be visually appealing to a wide range of users as they can download applications and change how the information is represented. I plan to create a competitive aspect to the LCD so it becomes a form of entertainment to compete against other flatmates to keep their personal energy usage low.

By targeting a younger user group I believe that by changing the way they think about energy now will stay with them as they mature.