ThinQ App Powers LG’s Successful Push for Cooler Summers With Lower Energy Demand (Image courtesy of LG Electronics)
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — LG Electronics said Thursday that its summer energy-saving campaign encouraging consumers to set their air conditioners to 26 degrees Celsius yielded significant reductions in electricity consumption and user costs.
The “ThinQ 26°C Challenge,” run jointly with the Korea Energy Agency, urged households to adopt what the government considers the optimal cooling temperature for the summer months. Over the 80-day campaign period, participants helped save at least 1.78 million kilowatt-hours of electricity — an amount LG said would power an electric vehicle for the equivalent of 267 laps around the Earth.
Roughly 77,000 people joined the initiative, a 47 percent increase from last year, with total energy savings rising 70 percent. Based on Korea’s tier-two residential electricity rate, participants saved an estimated 5,000 won (about $4) each on their summer utility bills.
The campaign also boosted usage of the LG ThinQ app’s power-saving tools. In August, when air-conditioner use peaks, time spent using the app’s energy-saving features jumped about 50 percent from a year earlier. The app’s “Energy Saver Planner” automatically adjusts cooling levels to meet user-defined power targets and issues alerts when consumption exceeds them.
LG said it plans to expand energy-saving functions across a wider range of home appliances, including dishwashers and kimchi refrigerators, through its ThinQ UP product line.
An LG official said the company aims to “help customers save energy easily and conveniently through LG ThinQ while advancing efforts toward carbon neutrality.”
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
