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Energy efficiency and technology are big topics at this year’s Greenbuild show taking place in Phoenix, Ariz., where the movers and shakers of the growing green movement are urging attendees to go beyond plucking the “low-hanging fruit” of energy savings and take the extra steps toward deep energy savings. “We are in a time now where we really have to make big changes,” said Al Gore, in the show’s opening plenary session on Wednesday night. “It’s time for us to shift to a new kind… View this story
Lighting Control • Fixtures and Switches • Power Management • Home Control Systems • Green Technology • Info and Answers

What are the biggest energy hogs among electronics? Contrary to common “wisdom,” it’s not data centers for the Internet and large, commercial IT operations that are the biggest energy users among electronics today, says Bruce Nordman of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “By my estimates, data centers are perhaps 20 percent of electronics’ energy use.” In other words, the great majority of our energy use is not in data centers, but in our buildings and homes. Nordman has been collecting figures from various reliable sources… View this story
Computer Systems • Displays • Industry • Power Management • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, where electricity usually isn’t an issue, you’ve probably heard about standby, phantom, or vampire power. (They’re all the same thing.) It’s the phenomenon that occurs when your home electronics or appliances continue to consume power—even when they’re “off.” This is caused by ghostly apparitions, pixies and blood-sucking ghouls who perpetrate this when we leave our electronics alone or go to sleep. Just kidding. Standby, phantom, or vampire power—whatever you want to call it—is caused by digital clocks, LED… View this story
Power Management • Line Conditioners • Surge Protectors • Home Control Systems • Green Technology • Info and Answers

I’ve always been skeptical of power conditioners—could they really make that much difference in an entertainment system’s performance? It didn’t take much time with the Tributaries T100 Power Manager, which conditions and protects power, to answer yes, they really can. Setup was simple. The slim black box took the place of a Monster PowerCenter HT700 surge protector, and I followed basic guidelines suggested in the T100 manual while transferring power cords. The T100 includes nine outlets, divided among four digital “always-on,” two analog “switched,” two… View this story
Power Management • Line Conditioners • Surge Protectors • Reviews • Product News

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) hails the smart grid as one of “5 Technology Trends to Watch” in 2010. The CEA’s annual list is a barometer of emerging technologies. CEA research finds that 70 percent of Americans are concerned about the cost of their monthly electricity bill, which is predicted to rise with growing demand. In writing on the smart grid, Chris Ely states: “Energy efficiency and green-energy production (including solar, wind and hydro) is a growing component in national energy policy. In fact, the… View this story
Industry • Power Management • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Almost everyone by now knows the long-term benefits of a smart grid: It will displace much of our country’s oil imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But arriving there could take decades. Even arriving at a workable smart grid is a massive undertaking, necessitating the establishment of hundreds of standards so the grid’s many pieces and parts can work together in a reliable and secure way, according the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in its draft of a Framework and Roadmap for Smart… View this story
Home Control • Industry • Networking and Communication • Power Management • Green Technology • Info and Answers

The fight over proposed sales restrictions of energy hogging TVs in California is raging on, with both sides making impassioned cases before the California Energy Commission (CEC) in a public hearing yesterday, Oct. 13. The CEC has proposed limiting the sales of TVs in the state to only those that meet energy-efficiency standards, starting in 2011 and with a second, stricter tier of requirements in 2013. Trade groups such as the Consumer Electronic Association (CEA) and the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) oppose… View this story
Displays • LCD • Plasma • Industry • Manufacturers • Installers • Dealers • Retailers • Power Management • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Q. Along the lines of the Green Theme in the recent issue of Electronic House, is anyone working on developing a technology to harness all of the heat generated by PCs, TVs and CE devices and use it to heat things like the hot water in a house while at the same time cooling the devices? - Steve, Dallas A. Frank Federman of Active Thermal Management weighs in: Unfortunately, this is completely impractical. The plumbing needed to move the heat around to a central point… View this story
Power Management • Green Technology • Ask a Pro

You’ve probably heard of this smart grid. It’s coming. And with it, we’ll be doing a lot more home energy management. The smart grid is a way to enable a more efficient distribution of our electric power, and can save the United States a lot of energy that’s wasted in inefficient systems and transmission. And although a lot of it will happen behind the scenes, it will affect each and every one of us. Here are three things you need to know: 1. The smart… View this story
Industry • Power Management • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Power ... control ... regulation ... support ... insurance ... paranoia ... Sound like a mishmash of all the best descriptors of what’s missing from our ailing economy? Maybe, except for the last one. How about all the trappings of a maniacal super villain? Possibly, though I’m not sure how well those guys are insured or regulated. More importantly, it’s most of the witty verbs I could come up with to describe today’s deals.  That’s right, I have a pair of deals for you today,… View this story
Power Management • Remote Controls • Deals • Product News

Here’s what I’ve been waiting for: a surge suppressor I can use to charge my iPhone and other mobile devices and which will only charge them during the times I specify. That means I can leave the charger cords plugged in without wasting energy. Some of the biggest power “vampires” are the chargers we use to power up our cell phones and other mobile devices, especially when we leave them plugged in. You can waste energy even after a full charge if the device stays… View this story
Power Management • Cell Phones • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Power conditioning is gaining acceptance as a solution for many power-related issues in homes. CE pros and consumers have become educated about the fundamental problems that plague electrical lines, including: Dirty electrical lines Radio frequency (RF) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) Power sags, brownouts, spikes and surges Dave Keller of Furman Sound and Dick McCarthy of Richard Gray’s Power Company (RGPC) have been at the forefront of the power conditioning market. According to the CE Pro 100 Brand Analysis, the five most popular power conditioner brands… View this story
Power Management • Line Conditioners • Surge Protectors • Home Theater • Product News • Slideshows