Enlighten is a student led project designed by five industrial design undergraduates at CPUT in South Africa. Enlighten addresses South Africa's current energy crises in a calm manner, a manner which brings awareness to the user without causing interruptions or distractions from their everyday life.
Due to the rise in technology use, the public's energy consumption is naturally increasing.. Appliances consume electricity on a daily basis whether they are on, off, idle or standing by. A substantial contributing factor to energy consumption is Phantom Load, a term used to describe the energy consumed by a device when it is not in active use but still plugged in.
Millions of electronic devices all over the globe consume phantom load on a daily basis, most without even being aware of it. Enlighten aims to raise awareness of electricity usage and to be the future of all plug points.
Enlighten is a smart plug that reads when the electrical current being drawn from the connected device is less than a certain wattage (phantom load). The plug then turns on the LED strip surrounding the plug face to turn on. In addition to this signal light, an LED ring specifies exactly which device is the phantom load culprit with a pulsating rhythm. The pulse indicates that the user needs to disconnect the plug point using the easy 'push click' latch mechanism, disconnecting all electrical current to the device.
Along with the interchangeable sockets, a push popping mechanism replaces the usual on-off switch. This detail was added to help instill a habit of unplugging devices without having the burden of messy cables on the floor.
Working prototype
