Image caption: Here’s a sneak peek of the animated Wattcost app assembly guide.

Here’s a sneak peek of the animated Wattcost app “Connect” guide.

Production update & second sneak peek
by David Soutar

It’s been several weeks since our last update, but I can assure you the team has been working hard behind the scenes. The good news is we’ve now sourced and tested alternate components to bypass the ongoing global shortage of electronic components. However, we missed our pre-Xmas certification and production slots. Our Australian and Malaysian manufacturing partners have advised it will now be after the Summer holidays and Chinese New Year breaks before they can reschedule the production runs.


Last update, we gave you a sneak peek of the first part of the simple 3-step animated installation guide for houses. The second part shown above, illustrates how easy it is to select and connect the Wattcost Beacon to a WiFi network and locate the best position to mount the external antenna for real-time operation.


We are on a mission to simplify the relationship between people and energy in their home, and committed to deliver a new product focussed on what is best for you the consumer. Being fully independent is not the easiest path to bring a new product to market, but it is one where my co-founders and I feel great getting up early every morning to work with our passionate team of engineers and scientists.


As a startup with a new disruptive technology, we have been approached by many of the Australian energy companies, who have been lining their pockets with profits from your pockets for years. It’s a bit of a David versus Goliath conversation that goes something like this. Goliath says, “We like what you are doing and can see it could be useful to improve engagement with our customers.” David responds, “So what part of our product do you not understand? It’s designed to help consumers take control of their energy costs to always pay less”. Goliath asks, “Can we have a demo of the product to see how effective it is in reducing costs?”. David responds, “No thank you. We’ve had this conversation before and it usually ends badly when your senior executives realise their bonus check will be affected”.


Over the past 3 years, we’ve heard just about every version {with interpretation} from Australia’s energy retailers. We want to work exclusively with you [control you], buy you out [bury the product], be more customer focussed [we have the worst customer satisfaction ratings]. I’ve been experimenting with a few responses to shorten the inevitable conversation. My latest, “We’re like the Robin Hood of the energy industry, and enjoy taking money from retailers to give back to consumers” gets a chuckle from the team every time they hear me say it on the phone.


We’ll be working across the holidays and be in touch again as soon as we have more production details. Should you need any further clarification, we’ll be more than happy to answer your questions by email at [email protected].


From all of us at Wattcost, Happy Holidays! More exciting news to announce soon.


Warmest regards,

David

CEO & Co-founder

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