Tanya Ewing with her energy monitoring device.

A PERTH woman who has spent the last seven years battling a debilitating and potentially life-threatening disease has come up with an invention branded by energy industry insiders as the "most exciting" in years.

Tanya Ewing's life has taken a remarkable turn after she produced an innovative energy monitoring device.

She refused to let illness stop her and now has a global patent pending for "Ewgeco," a "revolutionary" device which clearly shows how much gas, electricity and water a household or business is using at any point in time.

The 38-year-old says her invention will allow home owners to keep a close eye on utility bills, while also showing in simple terms how practical changes like not leaving a television on standby can save hundreds of pounds over a year.

Tanya has already gained a huge amount of influential industry backing, with experts confidently predicting Ewgeco will "change people's attitudes to their consumption of gas, water and electricity for ever."

House builders, local authorities and a major household catalogue have expressed a firm interest in the product.

As she showed a prototype to The Courier yesterday Tanya explained how the idea for Ewgeco came to her.

"With utility bills making up an ever increasing slice of the monthly outgoings I wanted to see at a glance how much water, gas and electricity was being consumed at any point in time and how this related to energy bills," she said.

Tanya's dedication to the new product is all the more remarkable as she has coped with Lyme disease, a little known condition that creates physical and neurological difficulties in everyday life.

Tanya also has no background in electronics and is six months pregnant-but has not let any of that get in the way as she works to attract more backers.

Tanya predicts that the device will teach children and adults alike how leaving a light or the TV on costs money.

"The majority of the population is unaware of the true cost of appliances and by saving just 1p an hour this adds up to annual saving of £87.60," she said.

Searching the internet for any other visual devices that would give "real time" energy readings proved fruitless and led Tanya to apply for a patent.

She then contacted the Innovators Counselling and Advisory Service (ICASS) for Scotland and the Electronic Development Technology Support Centre (EDTC), both of whom have enthusiastically backed the project.

Chief executive of energy efficiency charity SCARF (Save Cash and Reduce Fuel) Jean Morrison said, "Ewgeco is straightforward to use...and will encourage people to switch appliances off rather than leaving them on standby."

Meanwhile, Edinburgh based Shore Design took Tanya's sketches and produced the model of Ewgeco. The units should be ready for sale by late next year.

Allan McDougall of the company said, "Tanya's enthusiasm and belief in Ewgeco is infectious."

"She had a clear vision of how the product should look and we have enjoyed interpreting her ideas. Indeed, Ewgeco is the most exciting project the team have worked on this year."