Check out the Telkonet thermostat. I’ve previously written about the Nest thermostat and the Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostat. Telkonet claims to take it another step further. Not only is their thermostat programmable, accessible from the Internet and “smart”, but it can calculate roof comfort by aggregating data like time-of-day, solar load, brightness, humidity and occupancy patterns. It’s Ecoinsight feature determines when a space is occupied or vacant and reverts to preset temperature limits. Check it out at their site here.
The Ecoinsight thermostat is more for commercial applications than the other two. While it has Internet connectivity, it may require special networking in order to access it. This is more efficient where you have multiple installations.
American Green Technology has a light fixture that does double duty as an air purifier. From their website:
“Hospital-borne infections are a leading concern for medical professionals and patients. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 to 10 percent of all patients contract at least one hospital-acquired infection during their stay in an acute-care hospital. There are indications that the future of surgery as we know it may be affected because of uncertainties and fears of post-operative infections. The CDC estimates that 1.7 million hospital-associated infections (HAI’s), from all types of bacteria combined, cause or contribute to 99,000 deaths each year and is now the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, greater than Breast Cancer, Aids and Automobile Accidents combined.”
Isn’t that depressing! That makes me feel good about my next hospital visit!
Homewerks Worldwide has developed a bathroom exhaust fan with bluetooth music streaming capability. The fan will move 90 cfm at a noise level of only 1.5 sones.
I didn’t realize music in the bathroom was such a thing! Previously I told you about the Kohler Moxie Showerhead (here) that streams music along with the water. (See what I did there?) Before that I told you about the Amerec’s Ipod Shower Docking Station (here). I guess no one sings acapella in the shower these days.
I spent last weekend picking up walnuts. I lost count on the number of buckets, but I’m estimating I picked up over 200 gallon. I was too lazy to drag them up and weigh them, but they weren’t light. We have four walnut trees and we had a bumper crop. I have a Nut Wizard that works pretty good for picking them up, but this year they were so thick that even that was a challenge. It does well with one nut, but when you are running across a clump of 5, it doesn’t have the opportunity spread out and pick them up.
I got the picture to the right from my cousin, Joe Easterday at Van Haren Electric, after he saw the previous post. He said this was sent to him by one of his electrician friend when he was working at Gaylor Electric. It is amazing what some people think is acceptable…
Too many novices take electricity for granted and don’t realize the risks involved.