Verv Smart Isolator: Developing prescriptive maintenance for domestic air conditioners

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In 2016, air conditioners and electric fans accounted for approximately 10% of global electricity consumption. With rising temperatures, global energy use from air-conditioning units is expected to triple by 2050\.The US currently consumes 616TWh for cooling, with air conditioners already found in 87% of households. Although UK market penetration is significantly smaller (only around 1-3% of households have air conditioning), air conditioner sales are increasing (by over 10% in 2018 compared to 2017). As a result of rising temperatures and warmer urban living conditions, by 2050, up to 32% of English households are expected to install air conditioning.However, air conditioners can be expensive and energy inefficient to run, particularly if units are not well-maintained or serviced regularly. A poorly maintained or defective air-conditioning unit will increase maintenance and operating costs substantially, while increasing carbon emissions and reducing unit lifespan. Studies from the US have found that a domestic air conditioner should cost about £120/year to run, but one-fifth of households pay over £650/year above this, primarily because of inefficient air filters. Worldwide, inefficient air filters alone are responsible for wasting an estimated 0.1-0.3% of power consumption.A poorly maintained or faulty air-conditioning unit is not just costly/inefficient to run, it can be a significant fire risk. In the US, fires arising from faulty air-conditioning units cause an average of 20 deaths, 140 injuries, and £60million in property damage each year.Despite being potentially hazardous and one of the most costly domestic appliances to buy, run, and repair, air conditioning units do not have integrated performance monitoring. Even the newest equipment fails to offer anything analogous to a vehicle's "check engine" light.Verv is on a mission to make our homes smarter, more efficient, and safer. With Innovate UK support, we will create a Smart Isolator that analyses changes in the power draw of an air-conditioning unit as an early indication of reducing energy efficiency and fault progression, unlocking prescriptive maintenance.Using our device, households will benefit from reduced running costs (lower power consumption) and significantly improved safety (reduced fire risk). Furthermore, by enabling accurate fault detection at an early stage (pre-catastrophic failure), when it is still economical to repair the unit, our device will extend appliance lifetime and improve sustainability.This project is aligned with global pressure on appliance manufacturers to shift to a repair-over-replace culture, in line with eco-design policies such as "right-to-repair" legislation.