Items Tagged With hvac

In our experience smart homes use lots of electricity. Perhaps this is a model to at least reduce electricity costs and their associated impacts on the environment...

"According to Professional Builder, the first zero energy home costing less than $200,000 has been built in Oklahoma. This house produces as much energy as it consumes in a year and combines "renewable energy technologies with advanced energy-efficient construction." This environmentally friendly house is just a prototype and not available for sale. But as it has created lots of interest, I would not be surprised if its builder decided to add it to its catalog. Read more...

Idratek is still a little known brand in the Smart Home industry, but it has an impressive array of hardware modules and software features. The aesthetics and form of the modules have always been controversial, but there's no doubting the Idratek networks functionality. UK home automator, David Gumbrell, is blogging his Idratek installation and it's a great insight into what the system is capable of. With lots of photos and screen grabs it's a great home automation diary...

Submission by Steve Edwards - I recently changed my central heating boiler and took the time to set it up to be controlled by X10 via homevision, for local control I had a X10 Maxi controller in the kitchen...

Submission by Steve Jones - I wanted to improve the control of my central heating system by utilising my home automation controller (HomeVisionPro) whilst still retaining the original central heating timer so it could easily be switched back on if the controller was down or if I needed to take HV out if we moved...

Submission by SensibleHeat - "Exhibiting for the first time at the recent CEDIA Expo, Sensible Heat demonstrated the unique Hometronic Wireless Automation system, which offers comprehensive control of heating, ventilation, cooling, blinds and awnings, shutters, and lighting - all without wires! As well as the established Hometronic products, Sensible Heat unveiled, for the first time anywhere, their new Data Server; this exciting new product gives users the ability to control and monitor their house from a local computer or their TV (using Windows Media Center), or from the web, or from another control system. Sensible Heat are also pleased to announce the opening of a Scottish Sales Office, which will enhance the sales and technical support on offer in Scotland...