Turns out the new Electron Stimulated Luminescence (ESL) R30 light bulb by Vu1 Corporation, which we first mentioned in January 2011, will be available at Lowes.com in December 2011 and in Lowe’s stores nationwide in February 2012, according to a company statement. The flood light is expected to retail for $14.98.
The average home spends more than $2,200 per year on energy bills and roughly half of this amount goes towards heating and cooling, according to the Department of Energy. When a programmable thermostat is set and used properly, a homeowner can save about $180 annually. But the problem is, virtually everyone with a programmable thermostat doesn’t set or use it properly. Nest Labs, a Palo Alto-based start-up, aims to solve this problem with a new thermostat that’s simple, sleek, intuitive, and smart.
A few months back, the New York Times put a spotlight on the obscene energy use of cable, DVR, and other set-top boxes. There are 160 million set-top boxes in the US, according to the EPA, and these boxes annually consume about $3 billion in electricity. What’s shocking is the fact that about 66% of this electricity is spent when no one is watching and no shows are being recorded. In the home, the DOE estimates that two set-top boxes will use about 500 kWh of energy every year — more energy than it takes to run a new refrigerator!
*This is a sponsored article in association with Plastics Make It Possible.
In conjunction with the Solar Decathlon, Plastics Make It Possible created an interactive home to show people how plastic products can be used to make a home comfortable and energy efficient. For example, window coverings can reduce home heating and cooling, flexible plumbing can be used for direct runs to deliver hot water faster, and plastic-encased solar shingles can blend into the roof while creating energy from the sun.
One of the many friends of Jetson Green in attendance at Greenbuild this year pointed our attention to the ecobee thermostat, a high-tech, wirelessly connected, programmable thermostat. In addition to controlling temperature, ecobee also gives you control over the fan settings (allowing you to have the air circulation operate for a minimum number of minutes per hour). Ecobee measures humidity and can be used to control humidification/dehumidification equipment.
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