Without Fire

Animated gif of stove simulator in action

Without Fire is a wood-burning stove simulator that aims to replicate in part the look, sounds, scent, and feel of a real stove. The motivation for this project was to help households with woodburners reduce air pollution while still enjoying their stove (or fireplace). It is based around a Raspberry Pi computer, and this Github repository includes full details to let you replicate it (and improve it!) yourself.

Pump:chic

Pump:chic is a website that provides tools and resources to help people imagine what it might be like to live with heat pump. A “Test Drive” section offers physical and augmented reality models, sounds, and instructions on running gas heating systems to simulate a heat pump system. A Hot or Not section allows people to get inspiration on making heat pumps look good. A developing pump:champions section facilitates visits to see heat pumps in action in other people’s homes.

Should I Bake? (and @baking4cast)

Example of Should I Bake forecast

Knowing what goes into your food can be a top motivation for people who bake at home. But what goes into the electricity that most of us bake with?

Should I Bake? uses information from the National Grid’s Carbon Intensity API to estimate how much of Great Britain’s electricity is coming from renewable (solar, wind & hydro) sources right now and over the next few days. By baking only when renewable generation is high (at least a third of all generation), we can reduce our carbon emissions.

I worked on this project with Ed Sharp (an energy modeller and developer in a data science team) and Andy Brace (a developer interested in user centred design in technology). Seed funding for this project was provided by the UCL BSEER Strategic Development Fund. Follow us on Twitter at @baking4cast for more updates!

Universal Analogue Meter

Portrait-based renewable energy display

Butterfly display