NeutralAxis

BusinessWeek.com is reporting that this fall as part of the federal stimulus package, there will be a rebate program for home appliances similar to the Cash For Clunkers automobile program.  Certain appliances will be eligible for rebates of $50 to $200 and the old appliance will not be required to be turned in.  This sounds like a great thing for the manufacturer’s but I can’t help thinking its going to prompt a whole lot of people from spending money needlessly on new equipment thinking they’re getting a good deal.

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I’ve been trying to find a nice looking electric outlet to put on my exterior deck but have had difficulty finding anything other than a plain box with a hinged lid.  It seems that painting the box green is what passes for making it a little more attractive.  However, I ran across this recessed floor receptacle box today and it would be perfect.  I can’t find anything similar by a US company, so I have a sinking feeling that its not legal in the US. (continue reading…)

[Update 07/18/09: Weather information is working again.  I presume weather.com didn't change things back, so I'm guessing Irritrol was working as a middleman taking weather.com info and packaging it for their program when it calls back to HQ.  Originally I had thought the program contacted weather.com directly but it looks like that's not the case.  As long as Irritrol is around and supporting this program, that should mean the program can always access the data with the exception of short windows around when weather.com changes their system.  That was a smart design decision.] (continue reading…)

If you don’t mind paying more than 10 times the price of a standard incandescent lamp, a new incandescent technology can boost efficiency around 30% and lasts about 3 times as long.  They’re still not as efficient as a CFL but they’re instantly on at full brightness, which is my only complaint about CFL.  Home Depot and Amazon.com are currently selling them under the Philips Halogena Energy Savers name at around $5 apiece. (continue reading…)

I thought I’d do a little review of the Irritrol lawn irrigation controller they call, unimaginatively, PC-Control.  Its a hardware package with a Windows software module that provides for detailed scheduling and smart operation of a lawn irrigation system.  [Updated July 10, 2009 with information about program errors.][New version 2.0.37 beta software is available and hopefully will be more stable. Screenshot of new software below.] (continue reading…)

I’d always heard that refrigerators were a major energy user within the home, and decided to check mine against the modern norm.  The results were not what I expected.

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For one of my commercial clients, I’ve been looking at ways to save water, and thus money.  The figures for water savings are eye opening. (continue reading…)

No, that’s not a 1990′s caller ID box.  That’s TED, The Energy Detective; a gizmo that monitors your whole house electric usage.  If you’ve ever seen a kill-a-watt, TED is basically the same thing with better data collection, and it monitors the whole house instead of a single circuit.  With a 15 minute installation that’s only mildly deadly, you can get a detailed breakdown of your home’s energy usage. (continue reading…)

The current issue of WIRED magazine has a good article about the need for updating the nation’s electric grid and goes into what needs to be done and why.  Check it out in print in the Aptil 2009 issue, or online.  My electric utility company expects to have smart meters in place by the end of the year.  I’m hopeful they’ve done their homework and picked a good system.  More on that when it happens.

Wired.com

AO Smith and State water heater companies make identical 96% efficient gas-fired water heaters.  But they have what I consider to be a design flaw that can render them unsuitable at best, or useless at worst, in certain settings. (continue reading…)