Re: X10 still around?

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Marc F Hult" <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ecc0j19fiv85nu1n3g3r4p1pjpnvob3n7m@xxxxxxxxxx
> On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 21:34:46 -0400, "Robert Green"
> <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> <RaOdnSFgAOJE9LLeRVn-2w@xxxxxxx>:
>
> On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 00:51:10 GMT, Marc F Hult
> <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> <8v2si15jbjkunvlbpem78a4m29cl1p68is@xxxxxxx>:
>
> >> -- What is their efficiency ?
> >
> >An interesting question.  I wonder if HA really contributes to lowering
> >the national energy consumption in any significant way?  Most of the
> >existing HA technologies have a pretty serious "standby" current
> >consumption that has to be considered.  In the next iteration of HA, I
> >am going to try to lower the standby power consumption at least 50%.
> >If Zigbee arrives it time, it could be a big help since its design
> >addresses standby power consumption.
>
>
> I once did a calculation of how many power plants could be 'eliminated'
> (hypothetically) if we just all reverted to 100% efficient wall switches
> from dimmers with their inherent semiconductor band-gap losses. Gave
> pause for thought.

It wasn't until I was involved with spec'ing green PCs for some very large
organizations that the savings became meaningful to me.  The difference
between a 60W PC and a 150W one really add up when you get into the tens of
thousands.  The differences between machines that put their components into
standby mode and those that don't are also profound.  Ecologists are quick
to point out that the standby consumption of electricity in the average home
and workplace has been steadily on the rise, but so have the capabilities.
Manual typewriters drew no standby current, but that's no reason to embrace
them!

> Progressive energy policy in this country has been set back by the
> current administration. The change in the proposed January 2006
> reduction in EER for new air conditioning from 16 to 15 EER is but one
> small example of attack by a thousand knives.

We're oil addicts and the current administration seems to think that Alaska
is the ultimate big fix for trouble that has been brewing for over 50 years.
The upside of this $3 a gallon gas is that it's going to improve the solar
payback equation and maybe even get solar into play in a big way.

> Stubborn, ill-informed resistance to change like them folks what are
> jist plain agin compact fluorescent because of what maybe usta kinda  be
> is an example where 'we' are part of the problem.

CF's have their place, yet there are places where I'd rather not use them
and, in fact, it pays NOT to use them because they fail prematurely if
cycled too often, as in a bathroom light.  I credit CF's and HA with keeping
my bill relatively the same, year to year, even though the price of power
has skyrocketed.  Probably more credit has to go to the CF's though.

> Of course recognizing the cost of what we do and completing an adequate
> economic and environmental analysis is part of the responsiblity that we
> typically abrogate to the home builder for whom paying in the short-term
> fro  long-term efficiencies can negatively affect their bottom line.
> Hence sprawl, inefficient design and a litany of societal woes
> reinforced by short-term profit by a few at the expense of long term
> benefit of society as a whole (Can we count the ways Katrina shined
> light on this too?)

Katrina's going to shine a light on bad environmental practices just the way
the dustbowl did early in the last century.  Let's hope the Great Depression
II doesn't follow Katrina and her siblings.  There's already a great
upheaval of people, just like dustbowl caused.  Balloon mortgages are back,
too.

> There are many ways in which homes can be built to be more efficient,
> self-aware and self-controlling. Why don't discussions in
> comp.home.automation newsgroup more often include how computerized home
> automation could address this?

I think it's because the bloom is off the rose for many HA enthusiasts and
now that they've built their systems, they have to spend all their time
updating, rewiring and fussing with their systems.  That tends to turn
newsgroups into help Q&A sessions, and not strategic planning ones.

It doesn't mean those sorts of discussions *can't* happen here.  I'll be
building either a new house or an addition soon, and I'd sure like to have a
plan for automation that's affordable, effective and maintainable by at
least one person other than me.  One thing I've learned from a number of
folks here is to document everything.  It's a bear to do correctly, but once
you get the hang of it, it gets easier and easier.

I've become more and more inclined to examine what I really want an HA
system to do for me.  I think your background in sensors leads you ask why a
house can't be made more "self-aware."  It's a good question.  Ever since we
discussed lightning and thunder detection I've been thinking of what a truly
complete home "nervous system" should look like.  Recent weather events have
led me to consider how to design those systems so they can run a long time
from very little power - maybe indefinitely if there's enough sun.

--
Bobby G.