Energy management and other power saving technologies are becoming more popular with consumers as we all look to save money and consider the environment 2011 is the first year we have seen a real boom in this industry. As technologies and manufacturers improve their products, we are seeing cost effective solutions for individual families, although some areas are still lagging behind.
Photo: Tekneco
Only the most progressive electrical services professionals should be employed when installing these new devices and technologies. Here is a look at some of the areas of automation and power saving technologies currently available for homes.
- Lighting. Lighting management systems can save you a bundle. Even if you cannot afford a full blown lighting control system, you can still install other simpler switches and timers. Dimming your lights by 15% will barely be noticeable but will save you by 15%.
- Phantom Load Shedding. Using power that you do not see, such as when your devices are plugged into a socket when they are turned off, could be costing you a good portion of your electricity bills. Smart surge strips or load control modules, can be used to cut of power to appliances that are not being used. Reducing the phantom load on the average home could be saving you up to 20%
- Home Control System. These home automation systems automatically shuts things off when you are not there, and can be preset to do a number of functions. This is a complete home and power management system, normally operated by a computer and software. More than just having some very cool functions, it can add that high-end feel to your home.
- Motorized Windows. Although there is a considerable investment, these devices can capture sun when it is needed, and block it out when not. Automated sun harvesting is becoming more popular in commercial properties because of the large number of windows, and therefore, the technology is filtering down to the home level.
- Smart Appliances. We are still waiting for these products to arrive, although the more modern your appliances are, the less power they will use. Modern appliances that are truly smart will regulate the amount of power they use and will also regulate the time they use it.
- Car Chargers. Electric cars are coming, and this is going to mean you will need to charge your car at home. Chargers that can get the most out of your home’s electrical system, and charge your car for the least amount of money, are what we need.
Photo: DDOTDC
Expect the utility companies to have a range of power rates each day. Currently, we normally only see peak and off-peak times, but in the future there will be many variations in one day, which may change depending on the number of simultaneous users. As these systems develop, we will need homes and products that can adapt to these changes.
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Chinese are trying, as we speak to re-engineere American theoretically feasible Thorium fueled LFTR reactors. http://Www.theoildrum.com/node/4971 says it better tham I can. Will this new electricity source help the American energy cause? America runs on oil! The end of oil was predicted by American scientists, as soon as this year. This prediction was valid. This prediction was made long before the huge oil demands of the new and burgeoning growth in Asia – drinking up alm ost as much of the world’s oil resources as the U.S.A. this year, and predicted to ecceed even that amount each year for the forseeable future. If American scientists from the 1950′s were correct, if Hubbard’s curves were right and are still valid, America is in deep Shiite!
Google and see for yourself: China now buying upwards of 60% of Saudi output, all of Iranian output, and bidding the market up with powerful Yuan for more oil each day. This great dark cloud on America’s horizon indicates that a shift from foreign, imported and very expensive oil may soon not be practical, and a switch to domestic energy sources will be needed, Solar, Wind. Wave, Hydro, Tidal, Geothermal, Biomass, Anaerobic sewage digeation, Thorium fueled LFTR reactor technologies, are all possible as domestic electrical sources, none offer gasoline or oil! Question is: Can America, and Americans adapt to this impending paradigm shift? Will they have a cuoice? No , not really. There is noy enough “potential Oil” in all the North American continent to fuel the U.S.A. for more than a few decades, even if it was all developed and up and running today! Super insulations, once denyed the American public much the same way the EV-1 electric car was, will have to be investigated again, as will sustainable sane and sensible housing for the masses, and home gardening, off-grid technologies, all will come into play as the oil disappears or moves to more lucrative Asian hands for prices, in Yuan that Americans simply cannot pay. The sands of time have shifted, and America must follow. The golden Age of Cheap oil Era is passed now. China calls the shots now, we owe them, cannot even affort the interest on the loan! proverbs 22:7 Advice of the ancients, freely given by the Jewish people. We ignored the teachings. now, we will suffer.