Archive for May, 2010

Focus on Green Homes – Hot Water Systems

Most home use a lot of hot water and heating that water is usually expensive and inefficient. In this third in our “Focus on Green Homes” series, we look at how water is heated, kept hot, and delivered to your hot water faucet in a green home.

 

Heating the Water – A standard water heater has a major flaw. A conventional gas water heater has a tank with a tube in the center of it and a burner under it. The hot gas from the burner travels up the tube and heats the tube which in turn heats the water surrounding the tube. Now we come to the flaw. The problem is that the water heater is very inefficient since the gas entering the tube is very hot and remains very hot even as it leaves the top of the tube. However, when the gas reaches the top of the tube it is no longer heating the water. A new generation gas fired water heaters overcomes this flaw by using all the hot gas to heat the water.

 

Another way to heat water is solar water heating. Have you ever taken a drink from a garden hose during a very hot summer day and burned your mouth because the hose had been laying in the sun so long? If so, you have just experienced solar hot water heating. Similarly, a special solar panel (one that heats water rather than making electricity) can separate water into tiny little lines and run the water across the panel, heating the water. The sun heats the water very quickly and the result is pumped back into a larger line that leads to a water tank in the house that stores the hot water until it is ready to be used. On a cloudy day, the tank reverts back to a conventional water heater. Solar heating is only cost effective for very sunny areas of the country.

 

Keeping the Water Hot -Insulation is the key to keeping the water hot. The more insulation surrounding your water tank the longer the water stays hot.

 

Getting Hot Water to Your Faucet – To get the water to your faucet while it is still hot, an alternative to copper pipes is needed. Copper pipes conduct heat, removing heat from your hot water while on the way to the faucet. Using materials that don’t conduct heat as well, such as inexpensive Pex tubing, is one way to solve this problem. In addition, a smaller line can get the water to the faucet faster. Pex tubing can be used in green homes to get the water there now, while increasing the efficiency of the entire hot water system in your green home.

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Smart Strip SCG5 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology and Modem/Coaxial Surge Protection 2 PACK , Use 1 For Your Computer System & Use 1 For Your Entertainment System – Great Deal & Great Gift For All Occasions + FREE SHIPPING

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Smart Strip SCG5 Energy Saving Power Strip with Autoswitching Technology and Modem/Coaxial Surge Protection " 2 PACK " , Use 1 For Your Computer System & Use 1 For Your Entertainment System - "Great Deal & Great Gift For All Occasions" + FREE SHIPPING
 
Manufacturer: SMART STRIP
Customer Rating:
 
List Price: Varies based on product options
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Product Description

" Highlights Of Smart Strip "

This Smart Strip Was Shown On OPRAH and Regis & Kelly

Smart Surge Protector Automatically Turns Your Peripherals Off - Even If You Forget!

The Smart Strip Makes Shut Down Fast, Easy & Complete.

Turn On/off Your Computer and Your Peripherals Turn On/Off Automatically

Works With The Sleep Mode Of All Computers

No More Bending Over To Turn Off Your Surge Protectors or Turning Off Multiple Switches

Stop Wasting 260 Watts Or More Every Hour(as per Long Island Power Auth.)

Cuts an Average Of 113 Kilowatts Per Month From Your Bill

Pays For It Self in Energy Savings in As Little As Six Weeks - 3 Months Average

Product Details

  • When You Shut Your Computer Off All The Little Power Users - Monitors, Speaker Systems, External Hard Drives, Printers, Shredders, Electric Pencil Sharpener, Cordless Phone, Camera Dock Etc. Will Turn off As Well !!
  • When You Shut Your Entertainment System Off All The Little Power Users - Tv, Vcr, Dvd player, Dvd recorder, Playstation, Xbox, Wii, Speakers, Stereo Receiver, A/V Diverter, Indoor Antenna, Wireless Transmitter Etc. Will Turn off As Well !!
  • The 7 plug, auto switching powerstrip protects your electrical devices and saves energy
  • Offers up to 40db line noise reduction and superior EMI/RFI filtering <> Provides 3-way, 130-volt, 48,000-amp protection
  • Designed with conveniently-spaced outlets and a 45-degree, angled space saver plug <> 1225 joules of surge protection keep your equipment safe from harsh power spikes

Video Reviews

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Customer Reviews

Product Performance
 
Review Date: February 26, 2010
Reviewer: LHH, Virginia
The product delivers power to all devices so things are "essentially" working fine. However, the "smart strip" function of turning devices off when the master is turned off does not work. I have adjusted the sensitivity but still no response. Perhaps the biggest argument is that I have phoned numerous times to get technical support and left messages with what appears to be an answering service (real person) without reply. It makes me question its ability to guard against surges. I would not recommend this to anyone until the aforementioned has been resolved.

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Belkin AG110030-04 Energy Saving Surge Strip for Home Theater

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Belkin AG110030-04 Energy Saving Surge Strip for Home Theater
 
Manufacturer: Belkin Inc.
Customer Rating:
 
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $45.22
Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description

Going green has never been easier. With the Belkin 8-Outlet Conserve Surge Protector, you can eliminate the wasteful standby power that many of your home appliances generate, lowering your overall energy consumption and saving you money on energy costs. Featuring a convenient remote control, the Conserve Surge Protector gives you the option of completely shutting off devices that consume standby power without having to reach behind furniture or beneath desks.

Product Details

  • Eight (8) Remote Switched Outlets
  • Two (2) Always On Outlets
  • Detachable Wireless Remote Switch with Wall-Mount
  • Coax Protection (1 in, 1 out)
  • ; Cable Management

Video Reviews

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Customer Reviews

Belkin Conserve BG108000-04
 
Review Date: December 19, 2008
Reviewer: Donald, High Desert, CA
I waited over 6 months to get my hands on these. I saw reviews back in Feb. 2008 and started searching. None for sale. Belkin site said summer. Got to be summer and in July Belkin site said September. Started searching again in September and no retailers listing it. Then I spotted 1 small search results buried in all the others. WalMart (sorry Amazon) online had the 10 outlet version for sale. Got a friend with a WalMart account to buy 4 for me. Final price was $34 each, shipped! They were dropped shipped direct from Belkin. Before they arrived the listing was gone from Walmart site (12/19 still not there).

I think Amazon (and Belkin) do a disservice by tagging this one with the Home Theater moniker. I use mine to control 4 PC monitors and several USB hard drives.

Item works as designed. Set the dip switches in the unit and remote to the same settings and you are now a power controlling monster! And if you need to control more than 8 devices set the 2nd unit to the same dip switch settings and 2 units will be controlled by the same remote.

While the unit has 2 outlets spaced apart from the others to allow controlling 'wall warts', wider spacing on all the outlets would have been better. The unit also can surge protect a coax connection. No telephone line protection, though.

Overall, I am happy with the item.
A Money Saving, Convenient, No-Brainer of a Purchase
 
Review Date: July 5, 2009
Reviewer: P. Colin McGraw, Castle Rock, CO
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RACQ8Z6TK9IRJ Studies suggest that 5% of America's power usage is consumed up by "phantom load", when devices that you turned off continue to consume at least some electricity. Turning power strips off cuts off "vampire" devices and prevents them from using electricity, but I tend to leave my power strips on because they're hidden under a desk or behind furniture or sometimes even in a different room.

That's where the Belkin Conserve power strip comes in, offering a convenient way to turn your power strips off with a remote switch that you can mount on top of your desk, near your TV couch, or by a light switch. You can even configure a single switch to power off multiple power strips, or just have each strip operate on its own frequency with its own switch.

I've been using my Conserve for about two months, and it's worked flawlessly the entire time. I even tested how well it shut the power to my devices off and, sure enough, my Kill A Watt instrument showed that power usage dropped to near 0 watts. What impressed me most about that number is how little power the Conserve apparently uses waiting for a signal from the switch.

In my case, I ran the numbers, and using my Belkin Conserve will more than pay for itself within the first year of use, and save me hundreds of dollars over my equipment's lifetime.

If you have a situation where you need a power strip in an out of the way place, then buy this product! It's only marginally more expensive than other power strips, and chances are that you'll make up the price difference within only a few months of use.

The Belkin Conserve is one of my biggest recommendations on Amazon.
I love Belkin's Conserve Surge Protector
 
Review Date: February 25, 2009
Reviewer: K. D. Lamphier, Central Texas
I needed a surge protector for my office to consolidate several older, smaller ones but also had a need for always-on outlets for digital phone and wireless gateway. Belkin has it all here, along with a coveted remote switch, so I no longer have to crawl behind the desk to click off the power at the end of the day. Its surge protection was recently tested with a local power issue and it passed with flying colors. I recommend this product and look forward to the next iterations of it.
Belkin Ag110030-04 10 ------- A must +++
 
Review Date: April 28, 2009
Reviewer: Jaime Cayo, Charlotte, NC
Was waiting for it to come out and ordered it.
It is really great, works as described, going to need 4 more for the house.

One con is the wall mount does not come with the screws, and the 2-8 should be 4-6. and a bit more spaced out.

Nothing is perfect, but once you get it you will love it.

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