About Amphiro

Idea

Amphiro AG was founded in 2009, as a spin-off company of the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). Its four founders - Thomas Stiefmeier, Thorsten Staake, Gerhard Tröster and Elgar Fleisch - were united in the conviction that real-time information on consumption patterns would provide great added value in numerous fields in years to come. But where exactly still needed to be defined.

Hot water was identified as an area offering extremely high potential for energy savings - and one that made other developers shy away.

The Challenge

The idea was appealing and quickly gained interest. Only three years later, Amphiro received its first large-scale order of smart shower monitors, but many challenges still needed to be overcome for the brilliant idea to become a viable business. The first one was the inventors’ commitment to making the device entirely self-sufficient in terms of energy supply to ensure sustainability, ease of installation and longevity.

The Work

After months of work and relentless determination, the first patents were lodged and numerous prototypes developed. Simultaneously, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) supported the first Amphiro study lead by ETH Zurich and the University of Lausanne regarding the effect of real-time feedback on the consumers’ behaviour. This study revealed savings which significantly exceeded all expectations: 452 kWh for an average household (2.1 persons) annually – on a permanent basis.

With their convictions more than supported by scientific evidence, the founders officially launched amphiro a1 basic, the most effective feedback instrument ever investigated by the ETH.

Inspired by this impact and our mission to bring faucets a digital life, we started bringing our technology online and integrating it into additional faucets.
Our new service offering for water management and sustainabilty tailor specifically for building operators of hotels, hospital, airport and other public and semi-public buildings was born!

The Future

Amphiro has now become fully part of Oras Group. Our continued commitment to offer quality services for water management, legionella prevention, and energy savings ensures the well-being of our everyone using our faucets, the sustainability of our environment, and the efficiency of building operators.