Innohome enters the North American consumer market on Amazon in partnership with Electrolux NA Home Appliances.
Innohome’s partnership with Electrolux NA Home Appliances gives the consumers in North American market an opportunity to increase the fire safety in their homes. Innohome’s heat sensor will be available easily to anyone via Amazon.
The Holiday cooking season, from November to December, is the most dangerous cooking season of the year according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). In January, the risk of cooking fires tends to go down as families do not spend as much time preparing meals for large gatherings and are generally less distracted. However, our new “normal” spent in our homes during the pandemic has forced all of us to think about our home, and, especially our kitchens, and we might be even more distracted than ever before. Therefore, Innohome and Electrolux NA Home Appliances are excited to introduce the new Smart Choice® StoveSentry™ cooking safety sensor to the consumer market via Amazon.
StoveSentry™ is the result of years of smart safety product development & experience from Innohome, a Finnish fire safety company, and now it is part of the Electrolux NA product offering for the North American consumer market. StoveSentry™ monitors the temperatures on top of the stove and alarms to fire hazards, so the person cooking can adjust the temperature to a safe level. It also works as a good reminder not to leave cooking unattended, which is a typical cause for home fires.
“We are always looking for new, innovative product solutions to add to our Smart Choice® product family, and Innohome’s products perfectly align with our assortment and customer-centered mindset,” says Clarka Wickliffe, Product Manager at Electrolux NA Home Appliances. According to Wickliffe, “Peace of mind in the kitchen starts with installation and maintenance of home appliances, and StoveSentry™ extends that peace of mind to the everyday cooking experience.”
The partnership with Electrolux presents Innohome’s first entry into the direct-to-consumer market in North America. “We are excited about the level of commitment and faith in our technology from Electrolux NA to place our product in their portfolio,” says Eero Vartiainen, Innohome’s EVP of North America. “The North American consumer market is ultra-competitive, and we see that Electrolux NA is the right partner with whom to launch our product with,” continues Vartiainen.
Electrolux will launch the Smart Choice® StoveSentry™ in their SmartChoice store on Amazon in the coming days. “Due to the changing shopping habits of our consumers, we see Amazon as the main driver of consumer shopping experience for the foreseeable future,” adds Erin Wright, eCommerce Manager for Electrolux, and “Availability on Amazon provides consumers a convenient opportunity to purchase an unparalleled piece of safety technology for their homes at an affordable price point.”
For Innohome, a partnership with such an established company in the consumer electronics business was the desired way to enter the U.S. consumer market. “We have strong faith in Electrolux’s ability to launch the product successfully on Amazon and to continue improving the kitchen fire safety awareness,” comments Vartiainen.
The first Innohome units have been delivered to the Amazon warehouses and the Smart Choice StoveSentry is already available on Amazon.
City of Helsinki invests in safety of its citizens living in rental apartments
The City of Helsinki has over 56,000 rental apartments with approximately 87,600 tenants. Helsingin kaupungin Asuntotuotanto ATT is currently building about 1,500 new apartments a year. In addition, it annually renovates in full approximately 1,000 apartments owned by Helsinki City Housing Company (Heka).
Since 2018, Helsingin kaupungin Asuntotuotanto has included a Smart Smoke Alarm in the electrical drawings of the apartments it renovates. The alarms prevent electrical fires, which are one of the most common types of fires in apartments.
The city needs to keep its tenants safe and its property in good condition. ‘Improving the safety of apartments is important to us. Smart Smoke Alarms provide a cost-effective solution to do this’, says Aatte Saastamoinen, who is in charge of electrical design at Helsingin kaupungin Asuntotuotanto.
In Finnish high-rise construction, fire safety is taken into account in many ways, and a fire that has already started can usually be limited to a single apartment. Fire safety in common areas has also been ensured with the aid of alarms and sometimes sprinklers. In apartment buildings, the negligence of one resident can, however, inconvenience many people even if no major personal injury or property damage is caused. A fire in one apartment can lead to the evacuation of several apartments, and smoke damage almost always affects more than just the apartment with the actual fire. The safety and sense of security of residents can be improved with fire prevention devices, such as Smart Smoke Alarms. The residents themselves cannot affect the safety of other apartments, so therefore it is important that the owner and builder of the building pay attention to safety issues.
‘Today, it is not enough to only have devices that function as alarms when they can do so much more. Smart Smoke Alarms connected to the mains can be used to prevent common electrical fires in homes and avoid worse smoke damage and costs incurred by the fire itself,’ points out Jere Putkisaari, Business Director at Innohome Oy, in charge of the Smart Smoke Alarm business.
One more EPO patent granted to Innohome
Innohome has been innovating and creating IPR for 15 years already. The most important company asset, together with the people, is the IPR ownership. So far we have filed huge amounts of patents worldwide. Most of these are related to the fire safety, home automation and connectivity.
We are happy to announce a yet another new EPO patent granted to Innohome. New innovation is preventing fires and monitoring poor air quality. Both material improvements to everyday life.
From the patent description:
"Along with new materials, household fires have become a great problem. Traditional materials burn more slowly and do not ignite as easily as present-day materials. Present-day materials and electrical devices as well as home appliances ignite more easily and in their fires is created a rapidly fatal hydrogen cyanide, for which it has not been possible to develop a sensor or an alarm.
Stoves cause as much as over 50 % and electrical devices as much as 80 % of household fires. In student residences, the portion of stove fires is as much as 80 % and also home appliances accidentally left on, cause significantly many unnecessary fire alarms, wherein the student residences must be emptied.
Traditional smoke and carbon monoxide indicators often act too late and, in fire situations, as many as 80 % of people will already die due to fire gases before these indicators have acted. Automatic fire extinguishing systems also react too late and people die due to fire gases.
It is also known that the kitchen is the most dangerous place in the home in relation to fires, but smoke and carbon monoxide indicators are not recommended in the kitchen because they cause too many false alarms and also do not act fast enough in all situations."
Charging from the North: Innohome introduces a Finnish EV charging station
Innohome, a Finnish manufacturer of smart fire safety devices for homes, breaks new ground by providing international markets with a charging station for electric vehicles that is both designed and manufactured in Finland. The product will be available in Norway in October. Designed for consumer use, it makes charging an electric vehicle very easy.
Norway is a forerunner in electric vehicles, making it a natural target market for the product. There is a particular demand for an easy-to-use solution in single-family and holiday homes.
‘Our first product will enter the Norwegian market this October, and demand has been high. Finland and other markets will follow, starting from the beginning of next year. For a product like this, there is a clear demand on the market,’ says Innohome’s CEO Juha Mört.
Until now, Innohome has focused on smart fire safety products, in which Norway is also a pioneer country and the most important market for Innohome. Innohome's older products have been designed to prevent the most common household fires, such as kitchen fires and fires caused by electrical appliances. In Norway, the need to prevent fires instead of setting off an alarm was understood earlier, and stove guards have been mandatory in new Norwegian homes since 2010.
New approach to EV charging
Since Innohome's EV charging solution, which is about to enter the market, is primarily intended for single-family houses and holiday homes, charging was made as easy as possible.
‘We wanted to approach EV charging from a whole new perspective since, in our opinion, charging an electric vehicle must be as easy as charging a mobile phone. Why on earth would a mobile phone application be needed for charging when EVs and hybrids already include an app that tells you, among other things, the vehicle’s charging status? We wanted to free EV charging of everything that was unnecessary – also in terms of appearance – so the device features stylish Scandinavian design,’ says Tero Nygård, who was responsible for product development.
Two thirds of current EV users live in single-family homes, so the ability to charge your vehicle at home is very important. The needs of the target group have been taken into account from the beginning of the design process.
‘For consumers, reliability, ease of use, price, and stylish appearance are key. Our solution is Charlie the charging station. An electrician must install the device, but after that using it is easy as everyone knows how to plug the EV into the charging station. Nothing else is needed,’ says Nygård.
Huge potential in the charging market
Estimates vary somewhat, but probably more than 40% of new passenger cars will be EVs and rechargeable hybrids by 2030. At the moment, the figure in Finland is well below 1%. In practice, this means a truly great need to increase the number of charging stations.
In the Nordic countries, Innohome has become the market leader in smart fire safety devices for homes and is now looking for an equally strong footing in the EV charging market.
‘The number of electric vehicles is only starting to increase, and it is important to start operating in the market in good time. We will start with one product, but naturally there are plans to expand the offering in the future,’ says Mört.
Innohome in brief:
• Established in 2005, Innohome specialises in smart fire safety innovations for homes.
• The company’s patented technology for the prevention of kitchen fires has received several international awards.
• Approximately 90% of Innohome's production is exported.
• The company's most important product area is smart fire safety devices for homes.
• Innohome is the global market leader in stove safety devices.
• EV charging products represent a completely new market for the company.
Additional information:
Juha Mört
CEO
Innohome Oy
juha.mort@innohome.com
+358 40 540 8894
Innohome is an innovative Finnish company established in 2005. The company develops and sells smart systems that prevent kitchen fires and other types of fires caused by electrical appliances. More than 50% of all household fires start in the kitchen. Almost all of them could be prevented with Innohome’s Stove Guard. Innohome's patented technology has received several international awards. The company is the industry leader in the Nordic countries, and approximately 90% of its production is exported. The company’s headquarters are located in Espoo, Finland.