Electro Saver

Hafsa, Mariam, and Ruqayyah, aged 12 from Denbigh High School in Luton, Bedfordshire, England.

What is your product and who is it for?

Our product is Electro Saver, an app designed for children to help them remember to complete simple home-based tasks which help decrease electricity usage and reduce household bills.

What inspired your idea, and why is it important to you?

When Hafsa was at home looking for inspiration for an app idea, she looked around and saw how many lights and other objects were left on unnecessarily and, as a result, wasting electricity. We did some research and found this was a common problem amongst young people which we could create an app to help solve.

How does your product solve the problem?

The biggest impact on climate change is CO2 and when you save electricity you reduce the amount of greenhouse emissions and pollution. Our app encourages children to use less electricity and , as a result, reduce emissions. It also helps parents and carers save money on household bills, which is a huge problem at the moment with the cost of living crisis.

How does it work?

Our app is designed to be simple and easy for children to use. When they first use the app, the child or their parent/ carer inputs information about their home and the app then sets reminders of things that can be done each day to save electricity. Users can see how much electricity they use in a month and also challenge themselves to use less each day. The app also gives information about new things to try so the children learn more about how climate change works and what they can do to help reduce emissions.

What is the biggest challenge you faced when creating your app?

The biggest challenge would be picking the main idea. Tackling climate change is such a huge global issue that it was tricky to distil this down to just one app idea!

Why should your product be the Judge's Favourite and why should people vote for you in the People’s Choice Award?

I think people should vote for Electro Saver because our app doesn’t just help the planet, it also helps households who are struggling to pay their bills. Prices are rising by 9% a year in the UK - the highest rate for 40 years - and this is making life very difficult for lots of families.