Description

About Cosy

Cosy is a unique wireless home solution that allows you and your family to control your home environment, so you always come home to cosy.

And it’s very easy to install

• Download the App at the App Store or Google Play
• Install the Switch & plug in the Hub
• Power up the Display and you’re good to go

So much more than heating control

Cosy is a whole-home, agile solution with far-reaching potential. It’s much more than just heating control – it’s environment control. After all, you wouldn’t call a dark, silent home ‘cosy’, would you? With your help, we can offer device control as standard so that you can schedule lamps, appliances or even the radio to switch on and off according to your Cosy home preference.

Wireless thermostat

Cosy’s thermostat is different too: it either sits on its docking station or it can be moved around with you. That way the true temperature of the heating is where you are, not a drafty corridor or a room you don’t often use.

Multi-user, multi-fuel, multi-talented

Cosy is heating control at your fingertips – for al the fingertips that make up your home. Everyone can have a say and you can always check what’s been changed on the activity screen. And it’s multi-fuel, so you don’t have to feel left out if you are running your home on LPG!

So much more than ‘on’ and ‘off’

With Cosy your home responds to your needs as you feel them: Cosy boost when you’re cold, Comfy for a relaxing night in, Slumber as you sleep and Hibernate when you’re going away. We understand that life is little more complicated than ‘on’ and ‘off’.

Efficiency and cost-saving

A Cosy home is an agile home: when you’re out and about, spontaneity strikes or you get back late from a day out you can make sure the heating is off. We’ve made it easy for you to make sure your home isn’t working hard for you when don’t need it to. All it takes is the touch of a button to send your home to sleep.

Frost protection

Crucially, turning your heating off by putting it into Hibernate includes a frost protection minimum temperature that means your pipes will never freeze.

What’s in it for you?

How Cosy works

The Hub

The board has a processor, wireless chip, Ethernet chip and on-board storage. The board also has an Ethernet port, an input for the power jack and a USB port that gives us the option to expand the hardware at a later date.

The Switch 

The Switch controls the boiler. The PCB has connections for mains power as well as terminals for wiring the Switch into the thermostat loop; a relay on the board is responsible for closing and opening the circuit (turning your boiler on and off).

The Display 

The Display replaces your existing thermostat, it has a temperature sensor and a built-in battery (lasts for days).

Who’s idea was all this?

Green Energy Options (geo)

We are Green Energy Options (geo), an innovative technology company based near Cambridge in the UK. We’ve been working on energy solutions since 2006 and have sold more than one million energy displays worldwide.

Rapid prototyping (a lesson in how not to be afraid)

We began rapid prototyping in the summer of 2013; we sketched out product designs, developed core functionality and researched customer needs and expectations. We knew we were up against products like Nest and Tado, but we also knew we had more tricks up our sleeves than they could offer.

Autumn 2013: Release 0 (R0)

The first (not very pretty) units went into our R0 trial homes in November of 2013 and immediately we saw the impact Cosy could have. It wasn’t just the flexibility and convenience of the app, it was the heating modes: we’ve all become so used to ‘on’ and ‘off’ that the idea of an adjustable, agile system was a revelation.

March 2014: Release 1 (R1)

Spurred on by the success of R0 and the feedback from our various focus groups we moved into developing our consumer prototype. This bundle contains the core functionality and is designed to test consumer feedback on our initial consumer designs.

And we have thought long and hard about your first impressions when you open the box; about how to make it a simple and enjoyable experience. Not many people read a manual from cover to cover so we have a set of cue cards for you with a simple 1-5 set of steps.

Autumn 2014: Release 2 (R2)

The plan for R2 is to add functionality – extending the system to manage multiple heating zones and hot water, integrating temperature and consumption data and starting to add intelligence/learning to the controls.

The system is designed with over-the-air update functionality so we will be able to upgrade your units with each new release.

Who’s on the team?

Simon Anderson, Chief Strategy Officer & Cosy Product Director: I’ve been keen to run this whole project from a user’s perspective – to make it appealing to all of you. I lead our creative team and from the start we’ve been defining what it is we want to achieve: running focus groups, designing the look and feel of the product, packaging, apps etc. To date we’ve made products to our clients’ specifications so it’s great to start with a blank sheet of paper and design, from end-to-end, the kind of product we believe can succeed.

Sam Sykes, Chief Innovations Officer: On this project I care most about the user: things don’t only need to be simple to use; they need to be something people actually want to use. That’s what I’ve been doing here at geo for nearly seven years – championing the user, listening to what they want and guiding our awesome design teams in the right direction.

Jonathan Roberts, UX Designer: I’m working on improving the interaction between users and their energy use – in this case heating. I’m responsible for making the app as simple and intuitive as possible for you and your family to use.

Helena Watson, Senior Creative: I’m responsible for managing the Earth Project campaign (it’s me you’re chatting to on the messages etc.), blogging the experience, creating content for the website, writing the collateral (manuals, guides) and building relationships with our customers. My top priority is to make you all realise how simple, effective and groundbreaking Cosy really is.

Dan Cade, Hardware Design Engineer: On Cosy I’m responsible for all aspects of electronic hardware design including industrial design support and development, selection of materials, hardware validation and regulatory approvals. Tell us something we don’t know: Despite my very indoor job I’m a very outdoor person: I enjoy running and mountain biking.