A while ago I told you about the Channel 4 show, Home of the Future, which is co-funded by gas and power provider E.ON, as part of its E.ON Innovation crowdsourcing project. Though the show has finished, it produced some brilliant ideas from the public, from the practical – like an insulated kettle – to the wacky – motion sensitive streetlights, anyone? If you missed the show, or didn’t quite formulate your clever idea in time, don’t despair as the E.On Innovation community will be carrying on until next Monday, 9 April. You can share your ideas there, or just discuss how things would actually work and whether you would buy them if they were to make it to the shops.
But this isn’t just a case of E.ON borrowing your brilliant ideas to make itself even more successful. They will actually give you a home energy makeover, worth £2,000, for the best idea in one of five categories, Rest, Work, Food, Play and Wellbeing. The competition is open to UK residents aged 18 or over, but excludes residents of the Channel Islands. One of the five winners will go on to be given the Shining Star award, with an extra special home energy makeover worth up to £10,000.
The prizes don’t stop there, as the best ideas will be transformed into reality and taken into production by E.ON, subject to research and development and a commercial assessment of the products or services. Work is the most popular category so far, with over 360 ideas submitted, while Food has had the least imput, with 150 ideas sent in. Can you think of anything clever, energy-saving and innovative to do with food? I bet you can. Send it in – you actually have a great chance of winning.
So get creative, take part and submit your ideas for new products and services at www.eon-innovation.com before 9 April 2012.You can also join E.ON on Twitter, at @talkingenergy and look out for the hashtag #eoninnov.