Kumba: Save electricity smartly and easily

Kumba collects and analyzes smart meter data at 15-minute intervals to identify consumption patterns and provide personalized recommendations for reducing energy costs and environmental impact.

Initial situation

Household electricity consumption represents a significant share of energy demand in Switzerland. Current monitoring systems primarily deliver information but often fail to help households interpret data or change behaviour. However, merely raising awareness does not necessarily lead to energy savings, and many applications lack personalisation, context, and actionable guidance.

Problem statement / Project goal

Despite having access to smart meter data, households often lack the tools to translate raw consumption information into meaningful insights. Most existing applications fail to provide actionable guidance, contextual comparisons, or personalised feedback, which limits their effectiveness in promoting energy-efficient behaviour.
The objective of this project was to develop features for the Kumba application that address this gap by delivering personalised and contextualised energy feedback. This will enable users to understand their consumption patterns and adopt sustainable electricity-saving habits.

Historical consumption
                        
                        Provides a real-time visual representation of household electricity consumption, enabling users
                        to monitor usage patterns as they occur, or to compare their current usage to previous periods,
                        and other similar households.
                    
Reports
                        
                        Reports provide a comprehensive overview of electricity consumption, by providing contextual information
                        on consumption by comparing current usage with previous periods and other households.
                        Reports include device-level consumption, cost implications, and estimated CO2 emissions,
                        alongside personalised energy-saving recommendations and simple, actionable recommendations.
                    
Device-level breakdown
                        
                        Displays real-time information on the active devices within the household, highlighting those
                        with the highest energy consumption.
                        This feature can help users understand consumption patterns and identifying unusual consumption.
                    
Kumba wrapped
                        
                        Additionally, Kumba Wrapped provides an annual, reflective feature that is inspired by
                        Spotify wrapped. It emphasises reflection and positive reinforcement.

Solution developed and its benefits

The utilisation of household energy monitoring tools facilitates comprehension and management of electricity consumption through a variety of methods. The system integrates real-time monitoring, comprehensive reporting, and device-level analysis to provide actionable insights and enhance awareness of consumption patterns.

Key features

Live View: provides real-time visualization of household electricity consumption, allowing users to track usage patterns as they happen, detect unusual spikes, and compare energy usage to previous periods or other similar households.
Reports: deliver comprehensive overviews of consumption at daily, weekly, monthly, and annual intervals, including comparisons with past periods, device-level contributions, cost implications, CO₂ emissions, and personalized energy-saving recommendations.
Device-Level Breakdown: offers detailed information on which appliances are currently active and identifies the highest-consuming devices, enabling targeted interventions and informed decisions to reduce consumption.

An integration of real-time visualization, historical and comparative reporting, and granular device-level insights, into the system, helps users understand their consumption patterns better. This combination of features supports informed decision-making, enables reflective engagement with consumption patterns, and encourages the adoption of sustainable energy behaviors over time.

Key terms

AwarenessAwareness describes the state of being conscious of or having knowledge about a situation or subject, often involving perception and understanding of its relevance or consequences
BehaviourBehaviour refers to actions and decisions in response to internal and external stimuli. In the energy consumption context, it describes how user make decisions which influence their energy consumption.
SmartmeterA smart meter is an electronic device that measures electricity consumption and records energy usage data at regular intervals.
Monitoring systemThe collected data from the smart meter is displayed and controlled by a monitoring system. A monitoring system refers to digital applications, dashboards, apps or interfaces that provide information about a household's energy consumption or production

Team

Francine Schwarb
Raphael Kumbartzki

Advisor
Norbert Seyff
Nitish Patkar