
Ask HN: Where should a UK carbon impact investment be getting the word out? - DamonHD
(Sorry if this is treading on YC’s toes: do zap this post if out of order!)<p>We’re a start-up in the UK aiming to lop several percent off Europe’s carbon footprint (at low cost) by making domestic space heating work better before building fabric improvements.  We have product, and we are selling it.<p>We have a crowd-fund in progress, see examples below of promotion in social media:<p>Twitter: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;MyRadbot&#x2F;status&#x2F;1199374186008985602
LinkedIn: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;linkedin.com&#x2F;company&#x2F;vestemi&#x2F;<p>The longer-term question is though, WHERE should we as an impact &#x2F; climate &#x2F; fuel-poverty investment (with that wired into our company objects) be getting ourselves heard?  Though we are using IoT and AI, we aren’t a typical solution in search of a problem, so I think that with just specialist tech and general social media channels, were missing a trick and people who’d want to engage with our sort of activities and goals.<p>Advice please!<p>What don’t I know that I don’t know?
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gus_massa
Post like this are fine (unless you repost and repost and repost it). But I
think a post with more technical information may get more traction here.

How does the sensor work? Can you give more info?

Does it detect movement? Is it confused by movement in the street that is
visible though a window? Is it confused by a dog? What if I'm sitting in a big
sofa that hides me from the sensor? Does it work when I'm sleeping?

Does it detect heat? Is it confused by sunlight? A fireplace?

Does it detect sound? Is it confused by a TV?

Does it detect phones? What about children?

There are like a million of technical problem that can be a nice subject of a
technical blog post. (Include some photos and graphics.) Even the failed
approach can make nice blog post.

One problem with heat is that you need some time to reach a nice room
temperature (it's not like light that can change instantly). How do you solve
that? Let's say the kitchen when it is not cooking time, can I have a setup to
have a intermediate temperature there?

What about the bill reduction angle? This is a subject where money and
environment go in the same direction.

~~~
DamonHD
Cannot think how I missed your reply! Thanks and sorry!

Occupancy sensing is primarily but not only by light. Movement sensing is not
used, in part because it would likely not work well from the common low-to-
floor positioning of radiator valves, often obstructed by furniture. Sound is
not currently used.

You can get a good idea of the tech underpinnings at the open-source site,
though there is significant secret sauce on top for the commercial product:

[https://github.com/opentrv/](https://github.com/opentrv/)

Radbot effectively contains an internal physics model to work out what is
going on further into to room. A simple low-pass filter that can be engaged
when needed is a big part of that in practice!

Our driving goal is cutting carbon emissions, which goes hand-in-glove with
reduction in energy use and also bills. The target for this product is 30%
reduction in space heat demand, carbon and £££s.

