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Simply stated… just knowing how much you are using will lead to your own behavioral changes that reduce energy consumption. Multiple studies have proved this point, measuring typical savings in a range from 5-15%. Some studies show these savings as high as 25%.
At eLifespaces, we have developed a tool to help achieve energy savings by simply knowing. We have created a connection between the HUE and the TED that measures and reports “live” energy consumption in a home or business. A LED lamp changes color (green for good / red for bad / and variations in between) based on the facility’s “live” kWatt consumption.
If your family or organization wants to save energy, it’s important that everyone become aware of their present energy consumption. Simple changes in people’s behavior can quickly lead to significant energy savings, but such changes will only happen if the people are aware of the energy consumption that they have the power to control.
Everyone knows that saving energy is a good thing, but most people will only be motivated when you can demonstrate just how much energy they are wasting, and just how much potential there is for them to improve.
For more information, contact the staff at eLifespaces and visit: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=implement_plan.raise_awareness
Talking About a Home, “A Home Show on the Radio,” airs every Saturday, from 1pm to 2pm on 94.3 WSC-FM and online at www.943wsc.com. This week Tim Barkley with Charleston Home + Design will be airing their show “On Location” at our location – eLifespaces on Meeting Street in Charleston!
Each week Tim features advice, antics, and information about local companies who can help bring your home up to its fullest potential.
Tune in on Saturday for the show to learn more about Charleston’s home + design community.
Our weather data goes live as eLifespaces connects our weather station to the great folks at Weather Underground. Find us at: http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KSCCHARL34
Weather Underground has developed the world’s largest network of personal weather stations (almost 23,000 stations in the US and over 13,000 across the rest of the world) that provides our site’s users with the most localized weather conditions available. Embracing the community aspect of the web, we have developed WunderPhotos, a section where our members upload and share photographs of weather related content; our popular Blogs section allows members to post weather-related blogs in addition to Jeff Masters’ widely-read WunderBlog.
In July 2012, Weather Underground became part of The Weather Channel Companies.
With the latest overall +6% increase, SCE&G has successfully bulldogged its 12th (that is in the past five years) rate hikes to its customer base. Unfortunately, my office and home are within their service area. The only group celebrating are the shareholders of SCE&G who has somehow convinced our public service officials that they are entitled to a profit and an guaranteed growth of stock their value. You can check out their stock performance at:
But truthfully, no fault can be levied against SCE&G; they are simply providing goods and services at a profit – the all-American institution of capitalism. The fault belongs with me for not doing my part while trying to assess blame elsewhere. OK then, it is time to stop my complaining and DO something about it!
Therefore, my goal (at least my first series of steps) is to reduce the amount of energy I purchase. Jumping on the “green” wagon, I proclaimed our initiative, even going so far as to post official corporate rhetoric on our web site as follows:
In our becoming more and more cognizant to the effect our lifespaces and we are having on the planet, adaption of new behaviors will need to be learned for the preservation of life.
After all of the pontification was completed, it was time to create a real tactical plan that would create results. That is where this series of BLOG post will explore. Stay tuned…
Just when we think we have seen every electronic device possible, welcome to the world of extravagance where the “techno potty” addresses every millimeter of your body’s pampering. Yes – most everything for your “under the hood” maintenance experience, the techno potty addresses:
It even has a “green” energy saving mode. The only thing that it is missing… Ethernet (or WiFi) connection to allow my PAN (personal area network) device to track my every activities (not that I would want to!). One last word of warning – do NOT use in the event of power failure. 
Amazing what can be done in 360 hours!
We are not the only advanced technology nation on this Earth. Time to pay attention. :-o
It will be hard to dodge the hullaballoo manufacturers will be making over 4K televisions this season, after all… based forecasted 2012-2013 TV set market saturation, it became increasingly important for them to determine what benefits and advantages would be most appealing to consumers to ensure continued TV growth and encourage them to purchase or change TVs to drive new stimulus again.
As its name reveals, 4K ultra-high-definition TV (UHDTV) offers four-times the resolution of a 1080p TV displays, at 4096 X 2304 pixels. That is over 9 million pixels, and the displays provide a very impressive picture.
Whether that matters enough to drive significant sales is a whole different question. If consumers were reluctant to purchase 3D TVs even after flocking to theaters for major 3D movie titles, they may not be lining up for these higher-resolution TVs right away. And similar to the 3D phenomenon, there is lesser available content than 3D at its roll out. Are that many people dissatisfied with their 1080p HDTVs compelling their new UHDTV purchase? Time will tell…
Observations and insights into the trends set forth at CES 2013 prompted the eLifespaces staff to create a presentation to the architectural community.
In the wake of accelerated technological adoption rates, consumer are evolving to expect the electronics in their lives provide solutions to a particular problem and want a developed solution handed to them. The Connected YouTMgives insights into the new demands being placed on our lifespaces and the technological expectations, which lay before us.
See the presentation! Enjoy a refreshed look at how our lives are connected — to each other and the environment around us — and the evolving technological requirements being placed on structures where we live, work, and play.
As preparations for Super Bowl XLVII move into final stages, commuters and visitors to the downtown New Orleans area will begin to see several roads and an exit near the Mercedes-Benz Superdome closed. Since we do not have tickets, no need to concern ourselves over these details — our planning efforts will focus more closely to home.
Pregame preparations:
Game time
Post Game
Know the phone number of your local cab companies. No drinking and driving. Consider engaging the services of several 18 – 20 year old who can shuttle guest home (for a fee). Everyone wins!
Recently, I was asked “Why Cat6 over Cat5e?” Long story short… you decide.
First the boring technical stuff… the general difference between Cat5e and Cat6 is in the transmission performance, and extension of the available bandwidth from 100 MHz for category 5e to 200 MHz for Cat6. This includes better insertion loss, near end crosstalk (NEXT), return loss, and equal level far end crosstalk (ELFEXT). These improvements provide a higher signal-to-noise ratio, allowing higher reliability for current applications and higher data rates for future applications. Because of its improved transmission performance and superior immunity from external noise, systems operating over Cat6 cabling will have fewer errors vs. Cat5e for current applications. This means fewer re-transmissions of lost or corrupted data packets under certain conditions, which translates into higher reliability for Cat6 networks compared to Cat5e networks. Cat6 link and channel requirements are backwards compatible, so applications that worked over Cat5e will work over Cat6.
“Future proofing” From a future proofing perspective, it is always better to install the best cabling available. This is because it is so difficult to replace cabling inside walls, in ducts under floors and other difficult places to access. The rationale is that cabling will last at least 10 years and will support at least four to five generations of equipment during that time. If future equipment running at much higher data rates requires better cabling, it will be very expensive to pull out Cat5e cabling at a later time to install other future type CAT cabling.
The Other Side of the Argument. Currently there are no devices (in typical office spaces) that require 10,000 megs per second of connectivity, so the extra power of Cat6 is pointless. And for that matter, hard-wired connections will soon be a thing of the past. By the time devices require the strength of Cat6, everything will be wireless anyways! As fast as wired technology is advancing, wireless technology is advancing faster. But recent history has shown us that advancements in data and processing power increase exponentially. So the Cat6 school of thought depends on this phenomenon continuing as is.
What you may NOT know… most of the above arguments were made in a time absent of video traffic (VTC, CCTV, broadcast, and others) being present on the network. Within the past year, Cat6e, Enhanced Cat6, and Cat6a have taken hold in addressing certain audio visual transmission protocols including HDMI signals. It will not stop here! Cat7, also known as Class F cable, supports transmission frequencies of up to 600 MHz. It supports 10GBASE-T Ethernet over a full 100 meters, and it features improved crosstalk noise reduction. Additionally, there will be more and more demands on data traffic speeds as “cloud computing” gains significance. Most arguments I read do NOT address these newest of the digital dynamic elements impacting this decision!
Nobody knows what the future holds for Ethernet cables or what will come next in terms of format or performance. No matter what happens, expect faster and faster cables with each passing year as the technology and protocols that support Ethernet continue to improve.
Bottom line… if your business or home needs to upload and download huge time-sensitive files consistently throughout the day, the choice is clearly – Cat6. For the rest of us, though, its a predication game. Will wireless technology improve in bandwidth and reliability? Yes. But, will it improve in time to meet the demands of next year’s devices? Nobody knows.
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