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The lighting requirements of every homeowner are unique. Cookie-cutter lighting control solutions just don’t cut it anymore. We collected some of our favorite lighting control installs, including a Super Bowl MVP, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and quirky product inventor. So whether you’re adding lighting control yourself or with the help of a CE pro, here are a few ideas to get your brain pumping. Click here for 7 Cool Lighting Control Ideas. View this story
Lighting Control • Lighting Control Systems • Info and Answers • Slideshows

Now that we’re finally done with the 2009 wrap-up stories and resolutions that will never be kept, let’s get on to the business of dealing with 2010. If 2009 proved anything, it proved that green isn’t all that bad. We saw smarter surge suppressors, LED TVs, progress in LED lighting, really cool energy monitoring and home control systems. What’s not to like? And here’s the thing: 2010 should be even better. Here are six green tech trends we’re likely to see in 2010—and they also… View this story
AV Components • Computer Systems • Displays • Lighting Control • Power Management • Green Technology • Info and Answers

Mike McDonald is proud of his green home—and justifiably so. The stunning 4,600-square-foot Margarido House is the first custom home in northern California to achieve the highest “Platinum” rating in the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green homes program, and it exceeds California’s energy-efficiency Title 24 requirements by 55 percent. It has all the green amenities: 4.2 kilowatts of solar panels, a solar thermal system that provides domestic hot water and that for a radiant-floor heating system, and all kinds of green building… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Lighting Control • Lighting Control Systems • Outdoor Lighting • Shades and Blinds • Green Technology • Cool Homes

Lighting control systems can do many things. Driven by robust processors and versatile software, they can be programmed to turn on and off certain fixtures based on the time of day, the angle of the sun and who’s at home. They can tell the lights to flash whenever your security alarm goes off, and to gradually dim the lamps in the great room in preparation of a movie. They can save energy by keeping the lights at a low level. They’re also good at making… View this story
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He calls himself Lord Dumpling, and his island “nation” has a zero-tolerance policy for incandescent lights. In fact, he claims to have the first fully self-powered nation. He is Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway electric scooter and other devices, some of which are responsible for making his island home self-sustaining—along with a lot of LEDs (light emitting diodes). Kamen’s vacation home is a lighthouse on North Dumpling Island, off the Connecticut coast but technically a part of New York state (click here to view… View this story
Lighting Control • Fixtures and Switches • Lighting Control Systems • Outdoor Lighting • Green Technology • Cool Homes • Slideshows

A more energy-efficient lifestyle is coming for us all. But even if you don’t believe in climate change and the potential effects of global warming, there are compelling reasons to be more energy efficient in your home. And not just with your heating and cooling systems, but with your electricity consumption as well. There’s no reason not to embrace energy efficient technologies, except because of higher prices. But costs are coming down, and those premiums can often be justified by the energy savings that result.… View this story
AV Components • Climate Control • Displays • Home Control • Lighting Control • Power Management • Surge Protectors • Green Technology • Info and Answers

It’s pretty safe to say we’re all glad that 2009 is almost over and we can look ahead with some optimism. Despite the economic woes, 2009 wasn’t a total failure. There were many great products released that ran the gamut from Blu-ray players to projectors, receivers, subwoofers and more. These products revealed several trends that are expected to grow in 2010, including adoption of Blu-ray, 2.40:1 home systems, migration to two-channel audio and more. We’ve rounded up the Best Products of 2009 and broken them… View this story
AV Components • Cables, Wires and Tools • Displays • Furniture • Gaming • Lighting Control • Power Management • Home Theater • Audio • Multiroom AV • Home Control • Product News • Slideshows

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

For legendary blues guitarist BB King, the thrill isn’t gone when it comes to touring. The 83-year-old “King of the Blues” is still on the road with his famous Gibson guitar “Lucille” performing 100 concerts per year. And King gets from gig to gig on more than just a simple set of wheels. King rides in a $1.4 million, 45–foot luxury motorcoach that has more than $200,000 worth of electronics inside, making it a center of inspiration for laying down tracks, reviewing audio and video,… View this story
AV Components • Blu-ray • Digital Media Servers • Multiroom Audio • Multiroom Video • Receivers • Set Top Boxes • Displays • HDTV • Lighting Control • Cool Homes

One of the main tenets of green building is “Do you really need that?” Less becomes more. Smaller becomes better. And 8,000-square-foot homes are not supposed to be. A home that size should not be considered green, says green designer and consultant Michael Anschel of Otogawa-Anschel Design-Build in North Minneapolis, Minn. “The resource consumption, water consumption, land-use are all obscenely out of scale with what is appropriate, let alone required, for living.” Custom homebuilder Margie Hamrick of Ecoexistence in Vail, Colo., would disagree. She’s the… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Lighting Control • Lighting Control Systems • Green Technology • Home of the Year Awards 2009 • Cool Homes

Thinking of buying energy-efficient LED (light emitting diode) fixtures for your home? There are a lot of LED lights on the market today, but buyer beware. Good, long-lasting LED lights are also available—and will generally cost more. Here are some things you should check out as you shop: Where’s the power supply? Most LEDs require low-voltage, so they must have an AC-to-DC adapter, transformer, or power supply to operate them. These can be internal or external to the fixture. Color Temperature, or Correlated Color Temperature… View this story
Lighting Control • Fixtures and Switches • Green Technology • Info and Answers

CEDIA Expo is not just for exploring new technologies and enlightening CE Pros. It’s also a great place for doing your own virtual shopping – virtual as in, “If I had the money, I would buy ….” Virtual shopping also applies to products that are not yet available, and ones that are inexpensive enough, but you couldn’t be bothered to install them. After CEDIA Expo 2009, I came away with a nice shopping list for my own home—some items I’ve coveted for years; others that… View this story
Displays • Flat Panel • HDTV • Video Screen • Furniture • Lighting Control • Shades and Blinds • Safety and Security • Product News • Slideshows