Wednesday 29 April 2015

IFTTT If This Then That

IFTTT is an essential, easy-to-use tool that lets you automate your tech life.
IFTTT is truly one of the best free tools for any user. Hopefully this collection of money and time-saving recipes held something for you.
There are uses for it in home security and automation. The first step is checking to see if your system has a channel. The list is limited right now but growing. Even big players like ADT are taking notice of IFTTT. Currently there are channels for Nest, Philips Hue, Life360, SmartThings, WeMo, Quirky, Wink, Android, and iPhone. While home automation companies have started to open the door for developers to create products that play together, IFTTT takes it a step further by letting you connect stupid with smart things in an extremely easy to use 1+1=2 formula. 
The SmartThings team has created a whole list of popular recipes for those not feeling creative. There is a list of Triggers and a list of possible Alerts. Think switched on, off, open, closed, locked, unlocked, activate siren, motion, presence, temperature, humidity, moisture, or brightness as ingredients you can cook with. There are hundreds of possibilities. These ingredients can be used to make your life safer and easier if you want them to. Here are some recipes made by others that I found innovative:
  • Use FourSquare to unlock your door with a #hashtag.
  • Call your phone is motion is detected.
  • Email you if it is freezing!
  • Log events to your Google Drive.

Saturday 29 November 2014

£250 energy saving from new 'black box'

 
A new hi-tech way that is said to cut energy bills by up to a fifth is about to go on the market. The idea is that a “black box” will turn appliances, such as fridges, on and off in response to fluctuations in the wholesale price of electricity, which occur continuously throughout the day.
The devices will be offered to households later this next month by a new firm, Tempus Energy, which claims that customers will be able to save 20pc on their electricity bills by using so-called “demand response” technology that remotely manages their home appliances.
The black boxes are installed in the customer’s home and communicate with “smart” appliances such as dishwashers and storage heaters. The boxes receive instructions from the energy company, which uses complex technology to trade wholesale energy during the day. These prices change on a half-hourly basis.
For example, when energy is at its cheapest, the company’s computer system sends a message to each black box instructing it to switch on people’s appliances. At times of peak energy use, wholesale electricity costs more and the black box is told to switch householders’ devices off. For example, a fridge-freezer may be temporarily turned off in order to cut costs.
Tempus Energy claimed that its technology could cut the average energy bill, currently £1,265 a year, by more than £250.

“Smart” appliances, such as dishwashers and washing machines, that can be hooked up to a mobile phone, are already available in homes. Currently, they can be switched on and off remotely using a customer’s smartphone. The black box technology acts like the smartphone system but turns on the devices when electricity is at its cheapest.
As far as the bill payer is concerned, all he or she needs to do is to prepare, by making sure the dishwasher or washing machine is ready to go before bedtime, for example.
But could your television be automatically switched off during peak viewing hours? Tempus Energy says no. Certain tasks, such as making a cup of tea or watching a television programme, are “time-sensitive” and, therefore, cannot be switched off.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/household-bills/11196763/250-energy-saving-from-new-black-box.html

Saturday 11 October 2014

SMART ENERGY APPS


UK customers can currently buy eight smart heating systems: Hive from British Gas, Nest (soon with Npower), Honeywell Evohome, Heat Genius, OWL Intuition, Tado, Salus iT500, Climote and - fresh out of Kickstarter - Cosy. Another system is in the pipeline from Lightwave RF this summer.
All of them work with the standard British Gas combi boiler, and some work with heating powered by LPG, biogas or oil, or underfloor heating, and even solar power. Many UK homes now have multi-zone systems so that bathrooms, bedrooms and different floors can be heated independently to save even more energy.
There’s also integration with other smart home devices to consider, like light switches and other power controls, monitoring your electricity usage, and even smoke detectors.Nest, Hive, Evohome, Heat Genius, Tado, Climote and OWL Intuition all have installation options, ranging from £40 for the relatively simple Hive, to approved installers who will quote each job separately. Climote is only available with an installation, whether you buy it through their energy partners or direct. Heat Genius currently has a free installation offer, with no end date set as yet.
The Salus iT500 is the cheapest of the hobby-install systems at £139 on Amazon, while Hive comes in at £159 for the system or £199 with installation.
Honeywell Evohome, Heat Genius and Tado all come in close to £250 for the basic kit alone, and each has its benefits, with Evohome and Heat Genius boasting multiroom control (at an extra cost), while Tado claims it’s smart and easy to use.
Multi-room systems like Evohome, Heat Genius, OWL Intuition and Salus iT500 have the greatest potential for cutting your spending by heating only the rooms you need, but you could easily end up spending four or five times the cost of Hive, Nest, Climote or Tado on a four-bedroom home.
Learning systems such as Nest, Heat Genius and Tado could easily outsmart manual scheduling, especially by switching off when the house is unexpectedly empty. Our experience with Hive suggests you won’t always remember to turn off your heating if you’re out having a good time.



 http://recombu.com/digital/news/smart-energy-systems-nest-hive-evohome-heat-genius-owl-tado-salus-it500-cosy_M13058.html



Elon Musk had finally introduced the world to his “D”, which happened to be the inclusion of a dual motor/all-wheel drive option to the Tesla Model S lineup. Included in this announcement was the high performance P85D, which features two electric motors, all-wheel drive and incredible performance numbers of 691 horsepower and 687lb-ft of torque. These figures make the Tesla P85D one of the most powerful sedans in the world. This led to the masses of general EVangelists and Muskers alike to hit the internet and proclaim yet another victory for the all-electric brand. - See more at: http://www.torquenews.com/106/elons-d-cant-hang-dodge-tesla-p85d-slower-hellcat-charger#sthash.4N59d5Gw.dpuf

Monday 1 September 2014

10-year council tax discount for energy efficient homes

Households could save at least £100 a year by permanently cutting their energy bills in a bid to help with the cost of living while simultaneously meeting Britain's climate change targets.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey said his was the only party offering both lower energy and council tax bills, adding: "A 10-year council tax cut will make action to end your home's energy waste a no brainer.