Category: thermostat

  • Earth Day Number 3 (of 4): Energy Efficiency (EE)

    Number 3. Energy
    Efficiency
    . The savings for energy efficiency at home (and at the
    office, church, etc) can easily be 20% to 35% with a fractional investment.
    Ring up the local power company to schedule an energy audit. With very
    inexpensive fixes like duct tape, caulk, programmable thermostats, and timers, the
    utility savings can easily be $30 to $100 per month. (Payback in a couple
    months.)

    ToDo
    : Buy a couple Compact Florescent
    Light (CFLs) bulbs and start to use them in place of the most frequently used
    incandescent light bulbs. CFLs (and LEDs) cost more but they will save $30 to
    $40 in electricity over the life of the bulb. (Save 5-15% on utilities, payback
    2 to 8 months.) Oh, make sure to buy the special versions if the light is
    adjustable on a rheostat.
    ToDo: Get (and program) a programmable thermostat. Adjusting
    the thermostat 1 degree warmer (and 1 colder in winter) can result in about a
    10% savings. 
    It makes you wonder. If your power
    company suddenly charged you an extra $1,000 or $2,000 per year, you would
    break out the shotgun and go have a talk with them about it. Right? (Well,
    maybe not the shotgun, but …) 
    But
    virtually everyone everywhere can take $1,000 to $4,000 off of their annual
    bill, starting within one month. AND, that savings would be realized for years.
    Forever, really, if you continue to pay attention to the WATTS.
    And we
    are all not doing this…. Why?

  • The iPod’s Inventor: a far better Thermostat?!

    The iPod’s Inventor Strikes Out On His Own, And Invents…A Thermostat?! | Co. Design:

    Oh, you are gonna like this. Programmable thermostats should, theoretically, save you a ton on your utilities.

    But you will love this. Only about 6% of programmable thermostates are actually — you guessed it — are actually programmed.:-(
    So maybe, just possibly, the answer is better training for the users. Nope. That will never do. How about something more intuitive and easier to use.
    That’s the ticket.
    It is iPod intuitive. Sounds really cool. Check out the promo video.
    A programmable thermostat that works intuitively with and for you.
    Hummmm….