Smart home and IoT are among hottest buzzwords around these days. In most cases we think of Amazon Alexa or Google Home when someone mentions smart gadgets for a better living. At least something designed in California and manufactured in China. Their competition comes, as it turns out, from unlikely place. Ukrainian company DS Electronics accelerates towards new international smart home markets. This company originating from war-torn Donetsk designs products, which make houses smarter, help to save on heating as well as reduce negative impact on the environment.
DS Electronics is hardly a new kid on the block. It has been working on the Ukrainian market for the last 15 years, producing thermal controllers, relay switches and technology for an underfloor heating. The company is renowned for its methodology of continuous incremental improvements of its products. Its special attention is dedicated to energy consumption parameters. And that is where its new product line is coming from. A series of Wi-Fi and cloud connected smart thermostats enables customers to manage house heating remotely from any place in the world. Want to come back after work to the house that started to warm up just before your arrival? It’s as easy as setting up your mobile app. And pay attention that heating won’t work all day long, wasting natural resources and draining owner’s money. It just starts when it is needed and expected. Also, if you’ve forgotten to turn off the underfloor heating, leaving home in the morning, DS Electronics product will help you to avoid extra expenses.
Now company is scaling up for international markets. They won a grant under the Climate Innovation Vouchers Program which they plan to use for getting ISO 9001 certificate. Exactly what one needs to start exporting its energy controlling gadgets abroad, especially to developed countries with strict consumer electronics requirements, standards and mature markets. Company got its chance for international support thanks to Greencubator — a platform that fosters green entrepreneurship in Ukraine. Mykola Selyutin, a production innovation expert, DS Electronics, shared his experience of working on fast-growing global market of smart home devices as well as plans on conquering IoT world.
Consumers’ problem solver
— For most consumers, both private and commercial, the problem of rational energy use for heating is quite an acute one. We help our clients solve two parts of the problem at once: we make it very convenient to manage the residential heating (even remotely), and to save money on the electricity.
DS Electronics products are made for private use, as well as for office premises, public institutions, manufactures, — we have a fairly wide range of items. Our programmable thermostats control the underfloor heating and electric heaters so that only the needed areas are heated — according to user’s preferences.
Terneo product line includes several different models
A green thermocontroller
— The green component of every thermocontroller is its economy feature: it helps to save the electricity spent on heating. First things first, it is achieved by setting the heating schedule, which allows you to save on heating at certain periods of time, set by a consumer (for example, when there is nobody in the apartment). This is significantly different from traditional centralized heating which in most cases is capable of producing only one constant temperature in the apartment.
Additionally, our WiFi-enabled devices allow you to change thermostat settings in real-time being elsewhere, as long as you have an internet connection. Just imagine all these additional possibilities and conveniences which make one feeling like future is here already.
Automate process at the DS Electronics factory, Kyiv
Getting energy efficient
— Apartment preparation for the installation of energy efficient thermostats, underfloor heating, etc. depends directly on what kind of heating equipment the consumer plans to use. If the heating device is a convector, or an infrared panel, one should only buy a thermostat that connects to the outlet, for example, terneo rzx. It doesn’t involve any installation work in the room.
Underfloor heating requires some additional installations in the room both for heating cable or film, and also for the thermocontroller itself in the outlet box (terneo ax; terneo sx). These thermostats are available for quite a reasonable price:
- terneo rzx — 1088 UAH (some $40)
- terneo ax — 1154 UAH ($42)
- terneo sx — 1250 UAH ($46)
Wi-Fi connected terneo sx has a sensor tool bar. This is company’s own product design
The cost of installing heaters may vary, depending on its capacity, manufacturer, etc. Many Ukrainians already have convectors or infrared panels in their apartments, so the only thing they need to start saving energy is a thermostat.
The cost of an underfloor heating also heavily depends on its capacity, manufacturer, and most importantly — the total area of the underfloor heating (and hence the length of the cable or infrared film).
To make our products even more convenient, we connected WiFi-thermocontrollers with different platforms: a web browser, mobile OS Android and iOS.
Accelerated by Climate Vouchers
— Our company never stops setting and achieving new goals. We improve existing products, making them more reliable and easy to use. We are dedicating pretty much all of our time to development and launch of new products. Currently we plan the launch of new Wi-Fi controlled devices. They are thermostats terneo bx and terneo srzx. Also, our company produces voltage relays ZUBR, and plans to add WiFi-controlled devices to this lineup too. It will help to monitor the power grid failures stats.
The Climate Innovation Voucher enables our company to get an international certificate of quality management ISO 9001 already during year 2018. This, in turn, will accelerate our entry into international markets as well as allow to deliver our devices to more consumers at an affordable price. Just because we have an edge in pricing — foreign analogues are quite expensive and few can afford it. With all this we hope to increase the percentage of energy savings in the world.
DS Electronics gadgets are proudly made in Ukraine. Company had moved from Donetsk to Kyiv some years ago
Benefits from Climate Voucher Program
— We’d strongly recommend to all Ukrainian companies tangent to climate technologies, greenhouse gas emission reductions and natural resources conservation take part in the Climate Innovation Vouchers contest. This is a great opportunity to accelerate company growth and implement its green mission, also to meet like minded people and to introduce the benefits of your own project to the experts.
As we can see now a well-established and already well known manufacturer can become a green innovator too, as well as any brand new startup. Proved by DS Electronics. If you also have a green idea and want to present it on an international level then you can take your chance participate in the Climate Innovation Vouchers Program. The Program is implemented by the NGO Greencubator, launched as a part of the EBRD program “Finance and Technology Transfer Centre for Climate Change” (FINTECC), funded by the European Union. Read about other winners of the project on the website of Climate Innovations Vouchers.
