Most of us have grown up hearing our fathers’ familiar reminders: ‘Turn off the lights!’ or ‘Don’t leave the AC running!’. And while that extra fan running in the next room might seem trivial, when scaled across thousands of appliances and systems in homes and businesses, the collective impact becomes staggering.

Data suggests up to 20-30 percent of power consumption in homes is lost due to inefficiencies and outdated infrastructure. This isn’t just a financial concern — it’s a significant environmental one, too. Now, scale that to the level of industries and commercial buildings, and the magnitude of energy wastage becomes massive.

This is something Gurugram-based engineer Bharath Rnkawat noticed while working with businesses facing unpredictable spikes in electricity costs.

“Up to 30 percent of the electricity used by large businesses is wasted. This is not due to negligence but rather a lack of practical monitoring tools that track or optimise consumption,” he says.

“Appliances often draw power needlessly or suffer from silent current leakages. Over time, these inefficiencies escalate, inflating power bills. Many businesses remain unaware of this invisible issue until confronted by an exorbitant bill or power disruptions,” he adds.

Motivated by this challenge, Bharath innovated an advanced system that monitors electricity usage, analyses consumption patterns, detects overuse, and identifies current leakages — all while optimising appliance performance.

His patented, real-time device ensures electricity is only used when necessary. For users, this has meant reducing consumption by up to 23 percent.

His startup, Enlog, has already helped over 23,000 users across hotels, commercial offices, retail spaces, and homes. “By automating electricity optimisation, we’ve saved over 4,800 MWh of electricity and cut more than 4,000 tonnes of carbon emissions — that’s enough to power 1,700 Indian homes for a year,” he shares.

We sat down with Bharath to learn how........

© The Better India