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March 30, 2008
Lutron Energy Saving Calculator
I have been using Lutron products for years and have attended a few Lutron training seminars, so I knew that dimmed lights save energy and extend the life of a bulb. But I never saw their energy savings calculator. Give it a try here.
On the lower right of the page you can change the room or settings. Under the settings button you can change the type of bulb - incandescent or halogen, the number bulbs and the average number of hours that lights are on. After making the settings you sliding the dimmer up and down will show you the percent the lights are dimmed, the percent energy savings, how long the bulb should last and the amount of money saving by dimming the lights over a five year period.
I selected:
- incandescent bulbs
- 10 bulbs
- 100 watt bulbs
- used 6 hours per day.
Dimming these 10 bulbs to 50% resulted in:
- a 40% energy savings,
- the average bulb should last 10 years,
- and the five year savings in bulbs and electricity is $559.36 (based on a $.10 per kWh and $1.75 for bulbs).
Did know how much money can be saved by dimming lights? Do you install any dimmers in you houses? Lutron, and other companies, sell everything from simple, inexpensive dimmers to whole house lighting systems.
Posted by Bob Gatton at 11:06 AM | Comments (4)
March 24, 2008
Wall Mounted Remote Control from Universal
Universal Remote Control recently started to ship a new universal remote control - the KP-900, it can:
- control up to 255 different devices,
- send both IR (infra red) and RF (radio frequency) signals,
-be programmed on a Windows PC,
and it has a host of other features.
OK, nothing new here. Universal has been making great remotes with this type of capability for years. What is new is the form factor. They basically took one of their remotes and flattened it -- it's only 13/16 of an inch deep -- turning it into a wireless keypad.
You can stick it on a metal surface (the back of the remote is magnetic), mount it on a wall (bracket included), or take it out of the wall bracket and use it like a conventional remote control.
The benefit is that on retrofits you can have keypads anywhere you want them without having to cut into the drywall and pull wires. Why didn't somebody make a product like this sooner?
It is available in white, black or light almond and retails for $500. Universal sells RF receivers if you want to control equipment in another room or behind cabinet doors. More information is available at Universal Remote Controls.
I don't think that Universal is going to sell tons of these remotes; it's a special product for a niche market. But for the right job, it could be a big cost and time saver. What do you think? Have you ever had a project where this remote could have been used?
Posted by Bob Gatton at 9:00 AM | Comments (8)
March 17, 2008
Back Up Your Computer - Corsair 32 GB Flash Drive
I recently got a Corsair Flash Voyager with 32 GB (Gigabytes) of storage capacity. It was only a couple of years ago that a 1 GB flash drive was considered a large flash drive. 32 GB is big! To put this into perspective, it has as much storage as almost 7 recordable DVDs (6.8 to be exact) or over 45 CDs. I am somewhat of a document pack rat on my office computer, but all of my PowerPoint, Excel, Word, pictures and PDF documents, almost 13,000 files, only add up to a little less than 10 GB. And the Voyager is smaller than a pack of gum.
OK, I can have all of my documents on a flash drive that fits into my pocket. What happens if I lose it? Couldn't someone have access to my financial records and other sensitive information? No -- because Corsair includes TrueCrypt, a program that encrypts your files so that they can only be opened with a password. (Note: TrueCrypt is an 'open source' - free software program.)
How tough is the Voyager? I dropped it from the top of a five story building onto a concrete sidewalk, and the fall didn't faze it. Next, I ran over the flash drive with my car. Except for scuffing the rubberized case, the Voyager took it in stride. Corsair claims that the Voyager's MTBF -- Mean Time Between Failure -- is 1,000,000 hours, which is more than 100 years (I wonder how they get this number?).
So now I have a backup of all of my documents on a small secure flash drive. Any downsides? A couple:
- Writing your files to the flash drive is a little slow.
- The Voyager is a bit thicker than some other drives. When plugged into one of the front USB ports on my computer the Voyager blocked the neighboring ports.
The retail price is $249.95. For more information go to Corsair Voyager.
Do you back up your computer on a regular basis? Would it help you if you could have all of your documents with you?
Posted by Bob Gatton at 8:56 AM
March 3, 2008
Picture Placer - Picture Hanging Made Easy
Have you ever ended up with multiple holes in your wall when you try to hang a picture? Or when trying to hang two or more pictures in a row, they ended up not being aligned - the top of the frames were just a bit off. The Picture Placer is a simple tool that takes the guess work out of where to place the nail or hook.
Picture Placer has two pieces:
- a part that goes over the top of the picture frame and
- an arm that has a notch for the frame wire. The arm slides into the first part.
Put the first part on the top of the frame and then hook the frame wire in the notch and slide the arm into the first part. Slide the arm up until the frame wire is taunt. Now position the picture on the wall and gently press. There is a point on the Picture Placer arm that puts a small dent in the wall where you should put your nail or if you are using hooks, the dent is where the bottom of the hook should be.
Simple, easy to use and only $7.99. For more information go to Picture Placer and watch the video.
Do you have tried this product? Or do you have any tips on picture hanging?
Posted by Bob Gatton at 9:17 AM | Comments (7)
