ivie Bud VS Gateway Connect – which device is best for you?

Smart savings can be made this winter with your energy bills – if you know where to look! Our ivie app and ivie Bud pairing have been helping homes to understand their energy data better since 2022. And now, there’s a new product to introduce…

We’re excited to announce that another device will soon be able to be paired with the ivie app: Chameleon Technology’s Gateway Connect.

Chameleon Technology is the company behind the ivie brand, and its latest product can also be linked with the ivie app to help you see and understand your real-time energy usage. So with two products to choose from, which one is best for you and your needs?

The OG – The ivie Bud

The ivie Bud has been helping households save energy for the things they love since 2022. It’s our original product – an in-home display that you can install yourself, without an engineer. 

It also unlocks live data in the free ivie app, giving your real-time insights into your energy use. Talk about a power pairing! Without it, your data in the app will be delayed by 24 hours. 

The display is the key feature here, with an easy to use touchscreen interface that has several useful features. Set a budget that works for you, to track your usage effectively, or use the Usage Now feature to see how much appliances around your home are costing you to run.

By having something to clearly display in the home, you can get the whole family involved and educated in how to save energy. However, we know that some people have reported feeling anxious from seeing their costs ticking up. If that sounds like you, here are some useful tips on how to manage that anxiety.

The new innovation – The Chameleon Technology Gateway Connect

The Gateway Connect is the newest product from Chameleon Technology, the energy innovators behind the ivie brand, and is set to launch very soon.

The Gateway Connect is a sleek device that connects wirelessly to your home’s smart meter. Unlike the ivie Bud, which connects to your home’s Wi-Fi, the Gateway Connect features a 4G SIM. This allows it to send your energy data to the ivie cloud, where it can be accessed via the ivie app in the same way you do with the ivie Bud.

The main difference between the two products is that the Gateway Connect is screenless – about the size of a standard deck of cards – which means you don’t need to leave it out to view. It also features both a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor built into the device. The ivie Bud also features a temperature sensor, but not humidity.

The Gateway Connect is a device that has been designed for businesses rather than everyday households – although energy enthusiasts might like the additional level of humidity data the Gateway Connect can provide. It was created for social housing providers, councils and landlords, to help them proactively monitor the quality of the homes their tenants live in. That way they can help to avoid any issues like damp or mould developing, as well as intervening in instances where fuel poverty is suspected.

Conclusion – which one should you get?

The new Gateway Connect is better suited for businesses, or energy enthusiasts looking to get the most advanced layer of home energy and environmental data available. However it is more expensive, and the home’s energy data can only be viewed by the ivie app user as there is no screen.

The ivie Bud is ideal for all sorts of households looking to understand their energy usage better. It has a screen, and a number of cost-checking/budget-setting features that the Gateway Connect does not. However, it does only have a Wi-Fi connection – so if your home’s Wi-Fi is less than stellar then you might appreciate the more stable connection of the Gateway Connect with its 4G SIM.

Both work brilliantly with the ivie app to give you a better understanding of how you’re using energy at home – and unlocking personalised recommendations on where you could be saving money.

Find out more about the free ivie app here