Smartphone Key

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Kevo picture borrowed from appleinsider website

Becky and I generally rely on the garage door opener to get in and out of the house.  (We have a door into the house through the garage.)  That also lets us give people the code to the garage door keypad if we need to let someone else have access.  The Kwikset Kevo is a similar option, without the keypad.  The Kevo lets you make a bluetooth connection to your smart phone to unlock the door when you approach.  If you don’t have a smart phone there is a key fob option.  If you need to let someone in, you can give them a temporary code for access.  It’s battery operated, but you can see that there is a key backup.

The control is handled by the a smart phone app.  There is an iPhone app for this, but currently Android doesn’t support the Bluetooth LE necessary… but it should be coming.

I like where this is going, but I don’t think this is there yet.  The fact that it isn’t supported by Android is an issue when you want to give the code to the plumber or your brother-in-law to get in.  Also, I see this needing to tie into other Smart House features rather than being a stand-alone system.  It’s a great start though.

Lost Theaters, Lost Revenues…

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Culver Uptown Cinema picture borrowed from www. maxinkuckee.history.pasttracker.com

There was a recent discussion on LinkedIn about the value of small town theaters.  It linked to another article here.  Both made some interesting points that apply to Culver and Marshall County.  Culver’s theater, most recently the Uptown Cinema (Formerly the Lakeside Cinema and before that the El Rancho Theater in my lifetime.), shutdown several years ago citing costs for upgrading to digital projectors as a major factor.  Around the county, the Princess (or Lido) theater in Argos closed years ago and the same for Bourbon’s Comet and Gem theaters.  The Rees Theater (picture here) is no longer operational in downtown Plymouth.    The Tri-Way Drive-in Theatre has cited the digital projector issue as a potential obstacle to their continued operation.  (More on Tri-Way’s upgrade costs here.)

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Air Purification from Honeywell

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Image borrowed from www.filtration.com

Honeywell’s AirBRIGHT is a 24-V UV air purifier that installs within HVAC ductwork.  According to Honeywell, the system will remove potentially harmful viruses and bacteria from the air as well as eliminating odors from cooking and pets.

For germaphobes such as myself, this is just the ticket.  This is a whole house system that has a similar effect to the Arcalux HRMS disinfecting fluorescent fixture discussed in a previous post here.

The AirBRIGHT system can be installed in existing ductwork.  If this is something that interests you, we can put you in touch with qualified installers.

Remote Control Shades & Blinds

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Pella has introduced their new SmartSync technology that allows remote control access to raise and lower blinds.  This works with the integrated blinds and shades  in Pella’s Designer Series of windows and doors.

Not only does this let you adjust the shades without getting out of your chair, but it can be tied into your home or business automation system through web-enabled devices like computers and smart phones.

This is the first step to using your window shades to help control your environment.  For example, the west facing windows shades you opened in the morning to let light in might soon detect the movement of the sun and automatically close to reflect that excess heat in the summer or vice versa, open when the sun hits them in the winter to pick up that passive heat.  (Pretty cool even if it doesn’t qualify as Green That Saves Green.)  Likewise for security, if you normally close the blinds when you’re gone to keep out prying eyes, you’ll be able to check them and close them from your smartphone or work computer.  No more wondering if you remembered to close them before you left.