City of Kristiansand initiated in 2018 a smart management system for heated pedestrian streets and sidewalks to avoid ice, snow and slippery conditions. The system is based on data input from the Norwegian weather channel YR.no. The weather channel provides the system with actual outside temperature and will accordingly turn off or turn on the heating elements in the ground.
The system called SMELT, will reduce energy consumption substantially and will reduce risk of accidents especially for elderly people with greater risk of hip fractures.
Older systems is most often based on switching off the system manually. Forgetting to turn off the switch, will lead to waste of energy and high costs. Many smaller municipalities leave the heating on all year round. In such cases, the system SMELT could reduce energy consumption with up till 80 %.
SMELT is ideal in areas outside hospitals, homes for elderly care or centers for senior citizens.
Photo: teknologia.no
