thermostat
Saving Energy Helps You Lose Weight
Please excuse the sensationalist title, but it was just too good to pass up, and oddly true at the same time. Research into the links between the increase in weight and the warming temperature of our homes has resulted in some startling news- Warmer homes contribute to weight gain.
Now before you turn your house into a meat locker, you ought to know that small changes can have an effect. Just turning down the thermostat a few degrees can not only boost your energy savings, but also help shed ‘brown fat’, which lingers around the necks of adults.
The research focused around 1500 adults and found that over a six year period, those who kept their home temperature warmer (in the top third of the group), were twice as likely to become obese. To think that for every degree (F) you lower your thermostat below 68, you will save 3-5% off your heating costs. › Continue reading
Intelligent Auto Learning Thermostat – NEST
Ever taken a good look at your heating or cooling bill and wanted to do something about it? Well, even if you have and bought a smart programmable thermostat, you may be spending more than without one.
A recent study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that “as many as 50 percent of residential programmable thermostats are in permanent ‘hold’ status.” Even the the governments Energy Star program removed their endorsement from all programmable thermostats primary because people don’t have the time or patience to program them properly, and the thermostat controls half of the homes energy bill. That is a lot of power for a device that effectively works no better than your sprinkler system.
Enter the NEST Learning Thermostat, the brain child of Tony Fadell, the iPod hardware designer and former iPod and iPhone division VP for Apple, after trying to decide on a thermostat for his new green home in Tahoe. A complete departure from anything you find on the market today, it is an iPod in a world of cassette walk-mans. › Continue reading
Ecobee Energy Efficient WiFi Programable Thermostat
A blend of energy efficient smarts and technological geek, this is a really cool product- if you know how to use it. The great thing is that no matter what, it will save you energy and bucks on your heating and cooling bills. A beautiful interface and clean design would compliment most any interior in some fashion as it has the appearance of a small flat screen TV. What really makes it unique is the WiFi feature, and this is where it starts to get interesting.
Once hooked up to your home network via WiFi, it can do a lot, and I mean A LOT. It has a personalized web portal which you can program your heating and cooling routine into, just as with most programmable thermostats, but this goes a bit further. You are able to control much more through this interface, enabling all kinds of home automation. With additional ZigBee expansion slots in the unit, you can automate all kinds of things.
What really gets the techie in me excited is the ability to do all of this remotely, from anywhere with a internet connection. Say you are at the office and you are going to be home early and are dreading a cold house. No problem! Send an email or login to your web portal and adjust the temp just right. Now with web based phones, you can even do this upon landing at the airport on the way to baggage claim. Never have you had so much control over your thermostat. Makes saving energy that much more fun! Priced at $385, it’s not your everyday run of the mill gadget- however, the manufacturer states that the unit will pay for itself in energy savings within the first 12 to 18 months. I would guess that would be based on replacement of a manual unit, but you can decide for yourself. Check out all of the tutorial and demo videos at www.ecobee.com.
[Sourced from: engaget]
