In the world of energy displays "one size" definitely does not fit all. There are several different functions that a display can fulfil and we believe in designing displays to fit these functions. For ease of understanding we categorise them as follows: 

• ‘Push’ displays – pushes information without the user having to do anything. They are generally simple, clear and are always on. Like a clock on the wall they provide a constant reminder – out of the corner of the eye that triggers action! 

• ‘One-Touch-Controllers’ - provide additional functionality and combine push information with the ability to take immediate action and control individual appliances at the press of a button

• ‘Pull’ displays - require the user to ask for the information either by logging into an online system or by launching an application or selecting a specific set of pages. There best use is for drilling down into information to investigate abnormalities or for historical analysis. These displays tend to be used only on occasions once triggered by some other information (the push display or a recent bill, for example)

• 'Microgeneration' - The display provides live generation information to the user giving a clear picture of how their PV array is working. The user can see how much electricity their array is producing, it will show how much money they are earning through the Feed In Tariff and it will also show them how much carbon they are saving by generating their own energy as opposed to taking if from the grid.

Other terms that are in general use we find can be quite confusing, for example:

• In-home displays (IHDs) seem to suggest products which are installed solely in the home and therefore exclude valuable alternatives such as; websites and mobile phones
• Real-time displays (RTDs) describes the type of information which can be seen on all three of the above displays. It is a term that is generally used to describe the simplest of displays

Common Features

All of our products have common features; real time information, a constant report on the consumers’ progress against their own predefined targets and the use of a car dashboard as their design cue.

• The Speedometer shows how much electricity is being used in the home right now.
• The Milometer tracks how much energy has been used and can be viewed as consumption figures from yesterday and the last seven days.
• The Fuel Tank helps people visualise how they are doing against an allowance they set themselves – and compare how they are doing today – right now – with what they did last week. 
• The tick and cross give immediate feedback if they have used more or less energy than they should have done a bit like a pace maker in a race.

These analogies help users quickly grasp the difference between kW and kWh and build confidence in their understanding of electricity.