Hot on the heels of a similar product announcement from German startup Tado just last week, an Israeli company by the name of Sensibo has launched yet another smart air conditioning device on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo.
Much like the recently-announced device from Tado, Sensibo is basically an easy-to-install retrofit that can transform your normal remote-controlled air conditioning unit into a smart AC unit — one that reacts to your location, anticipates your presence, and automatically adjusts the temperature for you. Thanks to a number of different sensors and an Internet-conneced brain, Sensibo can tell when you’re home or away. While the house is empty, Sensibo will turn your AC off to save power. When it senses that you’re headed back, it’ll flip your system on and adjust your home’s temperature so it’s perfect by the time you return.
The big takeaway here is that Sensibo itself isn’t a smart air conditioner. Instead, it’s a clever add-on that attaches magnetically to your existing AC unit and gives it all kinds of advanced capabilities. In other words, once this badboy hits the market, you won’t have to dish out a bunch of money on a fancy new smart AC system — you can use it with your existing setup. Sensibo is designed to work with an immense range of different AC types, including central air, ductless ceiling units, traditional window-mounted systems, and even mobile units.
For the most part, Sensibo is pretty much the same idea as Tado Cooling, a product that hit Kickstarter just last week. That being said, however, the Sensibo team assures us that its product has a few key differences. First and foremost, unlike Tado, Sensibo comes with the codes of “almost every A/C in the world” pre-loaded onto it, so setup is extremely simple. You literally just stick it onto your AC, install the app on your phone, and go. Thanks to its advanced algorithms that learn your habits (much like Nest’s infamous thermostat does), you don’t even have to interact it with it if you don’t want to — you can just leave it on the full automatic setting and let it do its thing.
Also, the company’s pitch video is pretty awesome. Check it out:
You can lock one down on Indiegogo for a pledge of $99 ($79 for early birds), which, no matter how you look at it, is considerably cheaper than what you’d pay for a brand new smart AC unit — or even a regular AC unit for that matter. Find out more here.
