This idea originated from the personal experience of Selina Tobaccowala - Former Chairwoman and Chief Technology Officer of SurveyMonkey (online survey platform). After selling her startup company Gixo, Selina Tobaccowala began to pay attention to the energy saving problem in her family and realized that many people were struggling because they did not know where to start.
Through user surveys, Tobaccowala realized that notifications comparing electricity consumption with neighbors do not help people understand the causes or remedies. From there, she co-founded HomeBoost - a platform that allows homeowners to self-assess energy efficiency in their living space.
HomeBoost provides a small toolkit including an infrared camera and ultraviolet lamp, connected to a user-guided application to scan the entire house. The system will point out locations of heat loss or power-consuming devices, and then automatically create a report proposing cost-saving upgrade solutions.
According to HomeBoost, this method is much cheaper and faster than hiring traditional energy auditors. The announced service cost is 99 USD, about 1/4 lower than the direct survey form.
The company believes that connecting people, electricity suppliers and renovation contractors can help reduce living costs, while contributing to reducing energy consumption. This is considered a more practical approach in the context that consumers are increasingly concerned about electricity bills and environmental issues.
