Hansa's temperature sensitive faucets

Guilty as charged: we love LEDs, especially so when used to convey information (see: Ambient Orb). So you know there's no way we could resist Hansa's temperature sensitive faucets, even if their pricetag turns our pockets inside out. How accurately do they gauge the temperature? We're not entirely sure how much we care.

[Via Inhabitat]

[cecil @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Bathroom, and kitchen no... I think I would use this if I was building a wet bar in the den or something.

[Will @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

The first sentence of this post has the dubious distinction of being the least comprehensible I've ever read. And the second isn't much better. You guys need an editor?

[dick @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Booo, done long ago by the Counter Intelligence group at the Media Lab... and published at CHI, for that matter.

[Cullen @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

I would like to apply for senior editor in chief of all the blogs in the world.
wait, this is a blog, who gives a fuck

although i agree, i still dont understand those sentences. and if you DO need an editor/writer, let me know..

[Joe @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Yeah, that sounds like it was written in a different language and translated with Babelfish or something.

[Joe @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Yeah, that sounds like it was written in a different language and translated with Babelfish or something.

[Jayson Elliot @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Ryan, are you studying Engrish as a second language?

[Jonathan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Sounds like a Chinese person wrote this.
...or, at least someone who was ESL.

[Jake T @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

I never notice the bad gramar until someone points it out...

[Jonathan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

as for the faucet...

This looks like the work of either the Japanese, or some ultra modern Home Depot design decorator. This would only look good if you had a stainless steel sink and a similarly wierd toilet.

[Me @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Ehhhh, come on, it's readable... why not comment on the sink now?

[Laine @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Because it's so much fun to ridicule the poor writing we see here!

[Jake T @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Really cool sink, I want one.

[Ryan Block @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Thanks for the kind words! I'd like to see how good your writing is at 7:30AM. And yes, we are looking for copy-editor, if you're interested in the position.

Best,
Ryan

[Will @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Actually, yeah, I am, but how does one contact you for it? Just a general comment to Engadget?

(by the way, the edited version of the post is much better than the original)

[jc @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

you don't need a copy-editor... you have us

;)

[Peff_D @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

So does the saturation of color behind the water change with the quantitative value as the temp increases and decreases?

It is purple when its luke warm or completely clear?

Yes, the LEDs maybe showing information, but if 70 degrees F and 200 degrees F have the same color red, then the visualization of this information has failed.

I could have the just right temperature to clean some dishes, or I could have water to pontentially scald my skin from my flesh. That coding of the temperature severely impacts your ability to make a decision.

Your representation of the information must be an accurate portrayal of the world.

So yes, by all means its trick, but trick doesn't save you from 3rd degree burns.

[lach mullen @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Peff_D, if you're getting 3rd degree burns from your sink, you need somehting more drastic than this. ;)

[Justin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Wouldn't this be a pretty easy DIY? Just make the faucet with the red and blue LEDs insside, Hook the hot and cold knobs up to potentiometers (or whatever those things are called) so that the more you turn the hot knob the more power the red LED gets, and the same for the blue. Seems like anyone with some metal working skills and a little electrical know how could do this. If only I still had that kind of time on my hands...

[Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

#17, and this visual information is any worse than the visual information sinks current have (i.e. NONE)?

[Michael @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Justin...
You would want something that reads the actual temperature of the water, not how far each knob is turned.

[christopher @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

They used to sell faucets with temperature readings in LCD right above the spout. Would save you from the rare 3rd water burns, or as more commonly known, liquid hot magma.

-C

[Ben @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Obviously, you guys don't have kids. This would actually be a kinda useful feedback to a kid. Especially when the faucet is one of those one-handled jobbies that you just push up and twist to left or right for hot or cold.

[Grow Up!!!! @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

"Anyone nit-picking enough to write a letter of correction to an editor doubtless deserves the error that provoked it."
-Alvin Toffler

[O_o @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

If water hot; what color water displays if man is color blinded? Black?

[Grow up!!!! @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Will, I guess you don't appreciate free content.
If you are so bothered by subpar content and quality then go start your own tech-blog.

[Lex @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

How about those LED lights that Craig David used all around his home in the UK? It is lit by LED baseboards of some sort. He can control the mood lighthing throughout his entire home, with a simple flick of a remote.

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:Cbzhtspj2H8J:www.mtv.com/bands/az/david_craig/artist.jhtml+MTV+cribs+LED+lights+house&hl=en

[Counter-correction @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

#25-
Gaff= Stick with a sharp hook at the end.
Gaffe= An unintentional error.
Happy to help.

[dragonz911 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

I dont see what you guys are complaining about..

I read it just fine, makes sense to me :P

[Will @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Actually, 28, either "gaffe" or "gaff" is acceptable in the context in which I used it. I prefer the latter, because one never knows when one might need that extra "e" later.

[Will @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Heh. Woops. That's supposed to be "Actually, 27." And the sentence does read okay now. It didn't, this morning. But members of the Engadget staff change things like that, probably when they edit or delete comments.

[Peff_D @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Curses!!!

The plumber hooked up my sink to the active volcano outside and not my well, no WONDER I was getting 3rd Degree burns.

~~~

#20 Oh there is visual information. Those crappy labels around one handled faucets with a chunk of blue which gets smaller, and then runs beside a chunk of red for a while until it ends.

or my favorite, where its a one handled faucet, and there is say a 4 inch handle from the base towards you. On the back of the base, there is an arch with half red and half blue.

So if red is on the left of the base, do you take the handle and rotate clockwise, so that the end of the handle (towards you) is to the left or do you rotate counterclockwise so that the base portion itself rotates to the left.

and don't try to tell me there is a standard behavior, I know its not.

If you're going to display information, do it right. Temp is continuous data, don't code it with two categorical means (one hue of red, one hue of blue).

and yes, the USAToday map is definitely coded incorrectly.

[Jonathan N. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Screw faucets. LED showers. LED baths. Mmmmmm mood lighting.

[Aaron @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

you see, you guys complain about the grammar/context even though it is perfectly legitimate.
it may be slightly confusing if you don't read very much, but it's perfectly logical to me...

i guess it's just a matter of intelligence...
at any rate, cool idea. terribly gaudy, though.. maybe it'd be better if a little line on it changed colors as temperature changed.
just a thought.

-aaron

[jc @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

aaron, they corrected the post pretty much right after they got slagged...

[Tom @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

#8, actually, with how the US school system is now, I wouldn't be surprised if it this was written by a native-born American.

[Counter-counter correction @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Well, #30, the Oxford American Dictionary disagrees. But whatever.

[Will @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

Interesting, 37. All the sources I've double-checked (m-w.com, the American Heritage dictionary, dictionary.com) indicate that "gaff" is a variant of "gaffe." Perhaps it has become correct through gaffs of usage, but it still remains correct. Both were derived from the same source (the Old French "gaffer", from Old Provencal, "gafar" [to seize or hold, which is where the usage as the hooked instrument comes in]).
But whatever.

[mm @ Dec 19th 2005 1:02AM]

I don't really want to play dictionary...

I just thought I would suggest blinking the red led when the temp reaches a scalding level...thermocouple and a flasher thingymabob (what do you call those?) it can't be that much more expense for such an already (apparently--didn't check) pricey spigot. blinky=don't touch!

how about a retrofit unit for the rest of us? drill a hole underneath the spout, insert device (gasket!), insert watch battery (let the water be the contact switch) and be amused. Maybe even a cheapo version that surface-mounts underneath the spout? or just inside the overflow hole? (not as good though)

and for those that have scalding water, do everyone a favor and turn down the setting on the water heater (complain to the landlord if nec.) --save some energy (typical units get less than 60% efficiency = 40% of your water heating bill is toast and the energy is wasted)