The Home Crowd

While reading through Gizmodo earlier today, I came across this article regarding the installation of wall mounted flat screens and the improper installation of wiring (Not to code) may just void your home insurance.

The problem is caused by those mounting their televisions, yet tired of the eyesore of hanging cords down the wall, that might carelessly and impatiently feed the supplied power cable, and A/V cables within the inside cavities of the wall.  Not to mention the extension cords involved, and possibly power strip/surge protectors.

Well, turns out that the National Electrical Code is not okay with that at all.

From the Gizmodo article -

The National Electric Code (NEC) states:

NEC ARTICLE 400 Flexible Cords and Cables General 400.1 Scope.
This article covers general requirements, applications, and construction specifications for flexible cords and flexible cables.
400.8 Uses Not Permitted.
Flexible cords and cables shall not be used for the following:
(1) As a substitute for the fixed wiring of a structure
(2) Where run through holes in walls, structural ceilings, suspended ceilings, dropped ceilings, or floors
(3) Where run through doorways, windows, or similar openings
(4) Where attached to building surfaces
Exception: Flexible cord and cable shall be permitted to be attached to building surfaces in accordance with the provisions of 368.8.
(5) Where concealed by walls, floors, or ceilings or located above suspended or dropped ceilings

In other words, running power cords through the walls is not a substitute for permanent wiring. You’re supposed to have a new electric socket installed directly behind the TV, where you can plug in the power cord and coil up the slack to tuck underneath. If you drilled some holes and ran cable yourself all willy nilly, in and back out to a power socket, chances are you are in violation of these codes. Should a fire result, your insurance may find reason to get out of covering your losses.

Personally I know quite a few people with wall mounted flat panel TV’s, but quite a few more who are quite content standing them atop a narrow piece of furniture.  Hopefully, for all their sakes, I hope everything is wired properly.

But for those who’ve been waiting patiently for the price of that nice flat screen HDTV to drop into the affordable range before the upcoming football season, please remember not to skimp on the mounting.

Plan it out, or find an appropriate television stand.

• Make certain you plan out your space, and the size the the television you’d like to place in it.  (No one wants an unsightly electrical outlet just above the fireplace)
• Contact a fully licensed and trustworthy electrician, and also possibly a contractor and low voltage consultant, depending on what type of overhaul you’re planning for your home and how A/V and data cables may be routed alongside the permanent electrical wiring.

Here’s a good example, from the entire process article at Digital Home Thoughts. (Really interesting read, and great custom shelves)

And here is also another guide from Crutchfield detailing the “How-to’s” of wall mounting. – Link

This is all great to the homeowners, but suppose you’re renting and don’t feel like losing your security deposit, but appreciate the picture frame-esque clean wall faced televion mount.  There are also various options of furniture that can re-create that look for your high tech, high class pad, such as Crate and Barrel’s “Loop” media center (below)

This, however, may be overkill…  – Link

Well, not necessarily stickers like your kids deface your home with, but large solar panels perfect for flat-roofing applications. The Lumeta Power-ply 380 by DRI companies has released such a sticker, and quite a bit one at that.

Oh, and the kicker, they’re installed in less time than you take for your lunch hour.

- From Wired,

While the panels are lighter and easier to install than traditional tilt-it systems, the downside is that by sticking flat on the roof, they lose the optimal angle to the sun. Torres says that costs his company’s panels about five percent of their power production. As is, the panels claim peak power generation of 380 watts (pdf) in a “typical installation.”

Their promotional video also shows two installers putting together a six-panel grid in 34 minutes. They place the solar mat, plug in and ta-da! The panels have a low-profile slope to prevent pooling of rainwater.

No word on pricing yet, but with the current push of solar power technology, it seems only natural that the prices, will also follow suit and come down in time. Those guys in the video set down a grid of 6 panels that seemed to plug in without any trouble. Perhaps, with the easy connectivity, you may be able to get a starter pack of a few panels, then later on buy additional panels. That might bring solar power within reach to many.

Of course, most of us don’t have flat roofs, but perhaps in the future they’ll develop products which fit in seamlessly with the standard asphalt shingle roof. Yeah, of course you still have several black rectangles on your roof, but it’s still an improvement of the current generation of blocky panels elevated off your roof by some sort of erector set.

(From Wired)

Who likes the idea of having their own solar power grid powering their home? Everyone. Yeah, not to be dependent on some faceless corporation, not to have the idea of some coal or nuclear plant slow-choking the planet? Oh yeah, sign me up!

Who likes the idea of dropping 50K into that solar power system? Not quite everyone. Maybe you catch some of the more affluent crowd, those socially conscious to energy-efficiency, and bona-fide treehuggers. I wouldn’t even necessarily count on Prius owners. Had I known that the early buyers of hybrid vehicles would be exempt from California carpool rules, I’d have been there, outside the dealership, waiting for the first truckload.

Many of those in urban and suburban areas who do have a solar grid complementing their power usage are still juiced into the power grid, thus able to sell-back unused energy when they’re off to work, or just using less power than they’re producing. The upside is that they’re able to draw from the power grid at night, or during the latest tropical/ice storm that’s blocked out the sun for a week.

photo credit: Mike Weston

What about storing that energy with batteries? Of course, there are applications available to those who wish or need the power they created from the sweat of their grid’s brow. That is, you sit inside with the A/C on, your grid sits on the roof sweating. These batteries and storage systems can often cost as much as your solar array, which is of course is the price point separating “I’m saving the planet” from “I’m doing my part”. News now from the daily green (article here) is that Sharp Corp., in conjunction with Daiwa House Industry Co. and Dai Nippon Printing are ramping up to make commercially available, a battery system for those seeking to go “off-the-grid”, or remain connected, yet more self-sufficient.

Which must come as great news to those in rural areas. Those without the benefit of a good community infrastructure, those with vacation cabins not wanting to listen to a nearby generator all day and night, or perhaps the creepy weirdos living in the wilderness living in their armaggedon shelters (I say that, in hope that they’re plenty far away from a wi-fi hotspot).

Whether or not your on board with solar power, the current energy crisis, and legislation currently in place and to come affects everyone, and will only be a bigger hot-button issue in years to come. Presently, here in California, the “Million solar roofs initiative”, Senate Bill #1 subsidizes consumer solar power purchases, and adds about 15$ annually to everyone’s power bill. This subsidy lasts until 2015, which hopefully by then, the cost of self-sufficiency will be within reach of more consumers.

Because after all, a power bill of a few hundred dollars vs. a personal energy system which costs more than the family SUV is a tough pill to swallow

(Battery article via The Daily Green)

Also, here’s the site for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy from the U.S. Dept. of Energy. There’s many great ideas here from small to large scale projects to help you be more efficient and save yourself a few bucks along the way.

In London, military-grade thermal imaging is currently being used to measure the heat loss in homes during a cold winter night. The thermal maps are then merged with traditional maps, and homes were given a color code, from red properties being the worst offenders of energy efficiency to blue properties which were more efficient.

(Interactive Haringey Heat-Loss Map)

Outside of comparing your heating bills to your neighbors who live in comparable homes, are there many useful tools to judge your home’s energy-efficiency? Seems like this would be a great wake-up call to the occupants of an inefficient home. Of course there are simple and inexpensive fixes such as weather-stripping and plugging the various leaks your home may have. And then there are major projects such as efficient door and window replacement and installing proper installation, however, they require a more robust budget. The intention of this such map however, is to “shame” the residents into undertaking home improvements.

-From the Times Online UK,

Making the information available to the public is intended to raise awareness of how much energy is being used needlessly, putting up bills and contributing to global warming.

It is hoped that homeowners with high wastage levels will be shamed into improving the property’s insulation.

Almost 60 per cent of a household’s heat is lost through uninsulated walls and lofts, according to the Energy Saving Trust (EST), costing the average home up to £380 each year.

Insulation is estimated to reduce each home’s carbon emissions by about two tonnes annually.

Hmm… Shame wouldn’t be the angle I would throw at the public. But saving money? There’s a global common denominator right there!

In London, of course, it’s common for heating to be the big issue, but here in the U.S., and most notably around summertime, cooling and the loss of conditioned air would be the big efficiency factor. I’m not sure the thermal imagine spy planes would work as the entire map might look more of a red blob, than any sort of distinguishing map.

However, maybe we can convince the good people from the Google fleet that have been photo-cataloging every street in the country to make a second pass with some sort of imaging photography that could point out our home’s trouble spots. Zero in on that window leak! Find a better weather seal for that entry door! Get the damn kids to quit leaving the refrigerator door open! Okay, that last one is a bit of a leap, but my father would’ve been the first to sign up for that.

Sony recently showcased their newest OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display.  The display boasts an 11 inch 960×540 pixel resolution screen, but most importantly a screen that is 0.3 mm thick.

Now, we all know there will be some will see the as both “Must Have”, and “Must have right now” and will shuck out major bucks to have a pretty, thin TV first.  But do yourself a favor, wait it out a bit.  Enjoy the giant LCD/Plasma you bought last christmas “for the family” (yourself) and have nicely affixed to your living room wall.  There’s still debate going on with which to get of those two “should I have a bright picture or better picture, or better picture and not so bright?”.  You can almost bet though, that by the time that battle has been won, OLED TV’s or possibly the next ‘big’ thing in TV’s will be available.  Right now, as it stands, LCD’s and Plasmas consume alot of energy.  Plasmas suck alot of energy, and LCD’s use a backlight as a source of their brightness.  The OLED screens, however generate their own light and are more energy efficient.  The downside right now of the OLED is that the organic materials used in manufacturing degrade and break down over time, rendering the picture diminished much sooner than the LCD/Plasma units on the market today.

But inevitably, you’ll be able to replace that bulky flat panel on the wall, which of course, replaced that giant plastic box you had sitting in an entertainment center with something that resembles the thickness of the posters on your kids’ walls.

From Engadget

DB Fletcher Design out of the UK, has this table which I saw for the first time a couple of years ago, but I still find it impressive with its circular expanding action, for which I can’t even comprehend the machinery within the table itself.

Its intended uses are for the home and the deck of a yacht. I don’t have a yacht, so I’m not even getting into that discussion, but I could imagine how great it’d be to have one of these at home. How? Well, you’re definitely volunteering to host thanksgiving dinner upon delivery for one. Difference is, you likely won’t set up the table until after all the guests have arrived. And as soon as all the oohs die down, you can bust out the ol’ centerpiece. The kid’s table, would be of course, your previous dining table.

Here’s a video of the Fletcher Capstan Table

At their site they have 3 videos available, but I found that one to be the best, as it is the only one with sound. And for good reason, that thing’s loud! I’ve heard quieter pin-setters at a bowling alley.

Anyhow, interested? It’ll set you back about 50-70K according to their website. And it only comes in circle-shaped. Seems like a square shaped table would be great also, so long as it could shape-shift on a 90 degree turn so as to still keep you squared off in whatever dining space you place it in.

DB Fletcher – Link.