GREEN SPECIAL.... 7 smart, green devices heading to your new-age home

7 smart, green devices heading to your new-age home

These state-of-the-art products not only bring cutting-edge technology to your life, but are also environment friendly

Our homes need to get smarter and less wasteful if we want to address big problems in our world like climate change. Fortunately, some of the smartest minds on the planet are coming up with ingenious ways to make that happen.

Nest -the self-learning thermostat

Self-programmable thermostat Nest can lower your heating and cooling bills by 20 per cent.It does this by learning your preferences and automatically adjusting the temperature. It learns your temperature setting patterns, can sense the weather, and will automatically change the temperature when you are out of the house.

RavenBrick -a smart window that heats and cools your house

The RavenWindow is a smart window for homes and office buildings that reflects the sun's heat. When it's hot, it darkens and blocks heat. When it's cool, it lightens and lets the sun in. It saves up to 30 per cent on bills, without using any electricity.

Toto -a smart toilet that eliminates use of toilet paper

To most people, going green in the bathroom means a toilet using less water. But to Toto, it means a toilet that gets rid of toilet paper. The Toto Washlet is a toilet and bidet in one.By cleaning you with water and using warm air to dry, it reduces the need for toilet paper.

CeeLite Technologies -a new kind of flexible lightbulb

CeeLite Technologies has created a flat and flexible light bulb. It uses energy-efficient `light emitting capacitor' ( L EC) tech nolog y and can turn any surface, flat or curved, into a light source. CeeLite has moved its manufacturing facilities out of Taiwan and into the US in 2011.

Philips -WiFi moodenhancing light bulbs

It's not enough to eliminate incandescent bulbs from your home in favour of energy efficient varieties like CFLs and LEDs. The smartest homes can control their light bulbs via smartphones.A mon g t he new Wi F i bu lbs that have hit the market, Hue is impressive. The bulbs display white light and a number of other colours, controlled through an iPhone app.

HomeGrid: The smarter alternative to WiFi

There's a new way to set home networks besides WiFi. It goes by a bunch of names: G.hn, Gigabit home networking, and HomeGrid.It creates high speed in-home networks using existing household wires from phone lines and cable TV. Not only is it a faster alternative to WiFi, but power companies plan to use it for Smart Grid applications to help manage a home's power use.

ThinkEco -an upgrade to the humble electric outlet

Smart plugs are devices that you plug into your outlets. You then plug your appliance into the smart plug, which helps reduce your energy bills. Smart plugs ratchet down energy consumption when an appliance is in standby mode. Some of them let you control your appliances remotely over the internet.

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