Sit & Heat - Energy efficient terras heating
Sit & Heat is an energy efficient terrace heater; built in cushions, which uses 95% less energy compared with the current heaters.
About You
Background Information
First Name
Jorg
Last Name
Rijkschroeff
Twitter URL
https://twitter.com/#!/JorgRijk
Facebook URL
The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you
Yes.
Country of residence of entrepreneur
The Netherlands
Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?
During my study Industrial Design, a fellow student an I designed Sit & Heat. We won 10.000 euros from the Dutch government, because it is the solution to the inefficient and environment unfriendly terras/patio heating systems. This gave us the chance to develop the product.
I have a BA in Industrial Design, studied at the Centre of Entrepreneurship and did a scholarship at the Kauffman Foundation in the United States (Kauffman Global Scholar Program).
The Scholarship at the Kauffman foundation inspired me to build a big venture. We visited e.a. Google, Stanford, Harvard and MIT.
After this program we finished our product and it's ready for production. We have launching customers in two Dutch cities. Our goal is to reach all the terraces of restaurants, hotels and consumers in Europe, Canada and the US.
I am passionate about making ideas reality, building/creating and changing. I am also passionate about social entrepreneurship. Not only building something for myself but something that helps people and the environment around me.
I built a board of advisory for my company with three different experts.
I am also chairman of the Young Business Society of Nijmegen & Arnhem.
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Sit & Heat
Organization Website
Organization Country
Netherlands, GE, Nijmegen
Country where this project is creating social impact
Netherlands, GE, Nijmegen
Is your organization a
For‐profit
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Innovation
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
Terrace/patio heaters, you see them on almost every terrace at restaurants, hotels and consumers. They heat the faces and hands of the terrace visitors. But what do they heat up the most? Exactly! the open air!
This is inefficient and not good for the environment. In five years heaters produce 8925 KG CO2 that is equal to 7435 euros.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
Sit & Heat is an energy efficient heating system; built in cushions, which uses 95% less energy compared with the current heating systems. Sit & Heat can be used for terraces, stadiums and residential areas. It provides more comfort, low energy costs and a green image.
The back cushion warms the torso area, which gives an over all warmth to the body. Compared to conventional heaters, Sit & Heat will not lose energy through open-air, it heats the person directly. It has built in occupant sensors that will only heats when a person sits on it. Sit & Heat users can also personally adjust the level of heat from off, low and high.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
In the hospitality industry, terraces heaters are used. These heaters use a lot of energy. The terrace visitor can feel the heat only in a certain range from the heaters. The Dutch government tried to prohibit the heaters, but it failed. Businesses need the heaters for smokers and for people who love to sit outside. Sit & Heat solves this problem. The terrace visitor can sit comfortably outside. The transfer of heat is very efficient and only reaches the terrace visitor from direct contact. There is less energy wasted, so the business owner will spend less money on their energy bill. The business owners also create a green image for themselves.
The products that we produce and sell are Sit & Heat cushions for lounge terraces. The cushions can be connected to a normal outlet. We are working together with an engineering company for the development of a docking station for chair pillows. Sit & Heat will be wireless use on terrace chairs.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
There are also other solutions to the problem in the market today. For example, infrared heaters with motion sensors that heat when people are present. Also heaters from under the table that turns on and off by hand and blankets to keep people warm are other examples. The first two examples are small solutions to the current heaters, but they still waste a large amount of energy with their high capacity. The blankets are a solution, but they don’t create any heat and people will not want to use them with meals and drinks.
Select the stage that best applies to your business
Operating for 1-5 years
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?
The social impact for one terrace:
Five Electric heaters (2 kW) vs. 25 Sit & Heat (30W) 600 hours
CO2 reduction: 12000KG - 225 KG = 11775 KG CO2
Energy costs reduction: 2700 euros - 100 euros = 2600 euros
Well that is a huge difference, right?
Now lets see what happens when we would change 5000 terraces in the Netherlands (the Netherlands has >20000 terraces):
CO2 reduction: 11775 KG * 5000 = 58,9 M KG CO2 reduction p yr
Energy costs reduction: 2600 euros * 5000 = 13 M euros p yr
Now imagine that we do that in the rest of Europe, Canada and the USA. How much CO2 reduction would we create? And image how much energy we will save..
Sustainability
How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?
In the first year we are going to sell 350 Sit & Heat lounge cushions and we are developing our charging station for the Sit & Heat chair cushions.
In the second year we are going to sell 1000 Sit & Heat lounge cushions and start selling our charging station set, starting with 10 sets.
In the third year we will sell 5000 Sit & Heat Lounge and 50 sets of our charging station.
This will result in a break-even within two years. In the second year we will achieve a profit of 125k euro and in the third year 1.2M euro.
The social and environment impact will be the CO2 reduction at every terrace. See Social Impact.
Awareness & learning
How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?
One of my goals is to start a (Manufacturing) company in a Third world country. I want to take good care of the employees. Make sure that they have food, a place to live, education and sports/entertainment.
So it will not only become a manufacturing facility but also a village around it.
In this way we will help the economy and also take care of the local society.
What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?
To learn and become inspired by a different culture.
Sharing ideas, support and getting support.
Become more aware of what happens in the world.
Change my way of life and implement that in my company to create a better world.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Sit & Heat Lounge couch | 49.3 KB |
| Sit & Heat Energy neutral swing | 90.66 KB |
- Login to post new content in this forum.
Comments
I like it!
Post new comment