Inhabitat Earth Day special: seven gadgets that help you save energy
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. Today is Earth Day, so we're happy to have Inhabitat contributing this energy saving guide for you.
The Energy Detective The first step to saving energy at home is knowing how much energy you use. This $145 household power monitor comes with a transmitting unit that taps into a circuit breaker, dual current transformers that are attached to power cables, and a receiving unit that plugs into a wall outlet to display real-time power use. All that hardware hacking is worth it, though -- TED displays energy use for your entire house, and it connects to Google PowerMeter, which means you can easily access energy data from your Google account.
Energy Orb Another great way to cut back of energy use and save on your bill is to avoid using energy when the grid is overloaded. The Energy Orb is an ingenious eye-catching energy monitor that changes color to visualize the current grid load, thus displaying the relative price of electricity at any given moment. As creator Mark Martinez says, "It's non-intrusive... it has a relatively benign effect. But when you suddenly see your ball flashing red, you notice."
Visible Energy UFO Powercenter Visible Energy's series of smart powerstrips gather information on energy consumption every 5 minutes for all devices plugged into the outlets. An LED status light on the unit changes color from green to yellow to red depending on how much power is being used, so you don't have to check the numbers every time you want to see how much energy is being sucked up by your computer. Each outlet can also be set to turn devices on or off at specific times. No word yet on pricing for the powerstrips, but they're set to debut later this year.
Kill-A-Watt The Kill-A-Watt is an oldie but goodie in the world of home energy management. The device is simple to use: just plug it into an outlet and connect any gadget to find out its energy consumption by the kWh. Kill-A-Watt can also calculate energy expenses by the day, month, and year. It's easy, cheap ($20), and effective -- what more could you ask from an energy-saving device?
Wiser Home Control If you're really dedicated to saving energy, consider investing in a Wiser Home Control system. The Wiser Home Controller can connect nearly every device in your house -- lighting controls, security, air conditioning, audiovisual equipment, irrigation systems, motorized blinds and curtains, etc -- so that you can control everything via Internet or cell phone. So if you forgot to turn off the air conditioning, for example, you can easily do it from work or on your commute. The system comes with a range of options, so prices will vary.
SunPower iPhone App Say you've already installed a photovoltaic array on your roof and you're looking to glean even greater energy savings. SunPower offers an innovative iPhone app that lets you monitor the energy your solar system produces in real time. The Solar Electric Home Energy Management System allows you monitor energy produced by SunPower solar systems verses your household's net energy use, so you can make smart decisions about when to use electricity.
Wattson This futuristic power-monitoring device features a sensor hooked up to power cables, a wireless receiver and a readout on top of the box that shows energy consumption by the kilowatt or by cash spent. The box glows red, purple, or blue depending on how much energy is being consumed, so you can take a quick glance at Wattson to estimate your power usage. The device costs $280.
Cool
@Randomdude
If you want to save energy, stop using energy! Stop buying devices that consume energy to build and operate, no matter how "green" they are.
@spass
Lighten up and get off your high horse. All he said was "Cool".
Why not share your Gilligan's Island technology you use to power your electrical devices (like your computer).
@spass I personally think that if people are aware of how much they are consuming and are given visual feedback for when they are over-consuming, that they eventually curb their bad habits.
People need to know that the changes they are making in their lives are actually making a difference. They need to see "Hey I used to consume x amount, now I assume x-y amount. Yay me"
A bunch of gadgets that use up electricity monitoring the electricity usage of other gadgets.
If you really want to use less electricity, buy a frisbee.
@Ducman69 They're also 100% unrecyclable. Take that Ma Earth!
@Rami98
Thats good cauz they're not working on my PC either. (And I won't mention there is no such thing as an itouch- oh, that doesn't count as a mention).
"But when you suddenly see your ball flashing red, you notice."
Oh this is too easy...
The Energy Orb looks pretty cool and fun to have as some decorative piece.
Is it just me, or are all the images broken? Shutting down some servers for Earth Day, eh?
just checked it out. the picture you have of TED is for the model 1001/1002 and those do not support Google PowerMeter. You'll need the more expensive 5000 series for that. Thanks for the info though!
@credo
it's ok i always call it an itouch because it a lot shorter than saying ipod touch. i think apple should have named it the itouch because its not really only an ipod anymore. and also, now its working on my computer
@Rami98
i meant that its our childrens problem they can fix it. and sorry for the blank post, i accidentaly hit the enter key.
Anyone else see the croped Energy Orb pic on the front page and think "how will the Sony motion control help me save energy?"
15 predictions from the first Earth Day in 1970
“We have about five more years at the outside to do something.”
• Kenneth Watt, ecologist
“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.”
• George Wald, Harvard Biologist
“We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation.”
• Barry Commoner, Washington University biologist
“Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” • New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day
“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.”
• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
“By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.”
• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.”
• Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day
“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.”
• Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University
“Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….”
• Life Magazine, January 1970
“At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.”
• Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
Stanford's Paul Ehrlich announces that the sky is falling.
Stanford's Paul Ehrlich announces that the sky is falling
“Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.”
• Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist
“We are prospecting for the very last of our resources and using up the nonrenewable things many times faster than we are finding new ones.”
• Martin Litton, Sierra Club director
“By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn’t any.’”
• Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
“Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.”
• Sen. Gaylord Nelson
“The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.”
• Kenneth Watt, Ecologist
I have the Kill-A-Watt. I bought it from newegg and yes it's totally awesome.
Right when I got it I started plugging things in to see how much power they used.
I was shocked. I quickly purchased some energy saving light bulbs and started being more conscious of turning off unnecessary gadgets / lights.
Everyone should have one. It's extremely simple to use (no fiddling with circuit breakers etc), inexpensive, and incredibly effective.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.