Singapore’s sole piped town gas provider City Energy today opens a new lifestyle concept retail store that helps to transform Singapore homes into an eco-haven through green and smart technologies.
With nine experiential zones showcasing green home and kitchen solutions, Life by City Energy at Plaza Singapura is the latest physical representation of the new City Energy branding, aligning with its vision of a smart, low-carbon future for B2C and B2B customers.
The 161-year-old company has also diversified into electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions, Go by City Energy, which brings EV drivers on a seamless EV journey across borders with one mobile application, and has embarked on several studies to explore the use of green hydrogen for use in town gas production. These exciting developments are part of City Energy’s transformation from a public utilities company into the green and smart energy solutions provider it is today.
City Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Perry Ong, said: “With growing awareness of climate change and with price inflation, homeowners, property developers and owners of food and beverage businesses are increasingly looking for more sustainable and affordable solutions which town gas and low-carbon gas-powered appliances can help achieve.
“Life by City Energy is designed for customers to build the low-carbon homes and kitchens of the future.”
Speaking at the store opening today, Mr. Ong added: “This store aims to be the first-stop destination for homeowners wanting to get it right at the start of their new home journey. We offer an experiential shopping adventure with tech-immersive experiences that not only educate customers on energy savings, low-carbon solutions, and Internet-of-Things (IoT), but also provide hands-on engaging experiences through various zones, some of them self-guided for homeowners to freely explore.”
For example, at the zone that displays a household necessity – the water heater – one learns that if all households in Singapore use electric storage water heaters and collectively switch to gas water heaters, it would result in a one-year total carbon emission reduction akin to planting 1.4 million trees in Singaporei. Life by City Energy is also the only place in Singapore that offers homeowners a live demonstration of the gas water heater and gas clothes dryer.
City Energy’s Group Head of the Core Business Group, Mr. Soh Guan Hong said: “Compared to pre-COVID-19 levels, the demand for gas water heaters has increased 20%. As we introduce our new range of IoT-enabled gas water heaters and gas hobs, we see IoT-enabled home solutions as a game changer for sustainable living.
“IoT capabilities have become ubiquitous in recent years, where homeowners enjoy controlling basic home necessities like the lighting and fan according to their preferences, but many do not have the technical expertise to harmonise their appliances and devices for a smooth and streamlined cross-platform experience.
“Life by City Energy meets this demand and more with a range of IoT-enabled gas hobs, hoods, water heaters and ovens. Our one-stop integrated service provides configuration and installation across IoT home solutions on one mobile application, iAppliances.”
With iAppliances’ ability to control multiple IoT devices and monitor gas consumption levels, Life by City Energy believes that its range of smart home solutions give homeowners greater control of energy usage.
In addition, it maximises security by offering remote safety management and control. For example, in the event of improper hob usage and potentially dangerous unattended cooking, one can remotely switch the IoT-enabled gas hob off without physically being in the kitchen. This gives peace of mind to those with ageing parents who can monitor their parents’ use of the gas hob. This is exceptionally useful given Singapore’s fast-ageing population. Gas hobs also have the unique advantage of being able to produce the smoky flavours and aroma (“wok hei”) from stir frying.
Among Life by City Energy’s partners in green and smart home solutions are Ariston, Casa, Ferroli, Habitap, LG, Küche, Macro, Mayer, Möwe, Rinnai and Whirlpool.
The Good Life Customer Experience
The customer experience at Life by City Energy unfolds as follows:
- From the moment guests arrive at the new Life showroom, they will be invited to learn about City Energy’s solution-centric ecosystem (zone 1).
- Guests navigate the store seamlessly through nine experiential zones, first at Go by City Energy, learning about its cross-border EV charging service and mobile app as well as experiencing a simulation of EV charging (zone 2);
- then moving on to smart home solutions by Möwe (zone 3);
- and getting a hands-on experience of the technology behind Habitap’s smart access functions, including resident QR code scan, web intercom, visitor QR access (zone 4).
- Guests can then move on to experience a smart home set up, from smart living room (zone 5);
- to smart kitchens by Möwe and Küche (zone 6, 7), and smart bathroom (zone 8) for live demonstrations of water heaters and clothes dryers with hands-on testing of these low-carbon appliances powered by piped gas.
- The guest experience ends in the customer service zone (zone 9), a tranquil green garden for a discussion of green and smart package solutions offered by City Energy.
For more information, visit Life by City Energy, Plaza Singapura #03-77 to 78 or online.