Home Lighting Control | Home Decoration,Home Design
The march towards smarter homes continues. Radio controlled home lighting solutions are the latest technology trend in new home designs.
Just like the integration of the cell phone into our day-to-day lives, homes are now becoming suffused with new wireless technology products. Wireless routers and radio controlled home lighting systems are primary examples of the wireless phenomenon.
Radio controlled products such as electric garage door openers have been around for years. And many techno-savvy homeowners have already installed wireless routers within their homes to connect to the Internet, and to network computers, printers, and gaming equipment together. However, much more sophisticated radio controlled home building products are right around the corner from becoming standard features within our homes.
Radio controlled home lighting systems are a good example of the inexorable march of wireless technology. There are a number of manufacturers selling some very exciting radio controlled home lighting systems that enable virtually all of your home lights to be controlled by 1 or 2 master controllers (be it remote control or wall mounted).
Some of the benefits associated with radio controlled home lighting, include the ability to turn on or off all, or a portion of, your home’s lights either via a remote control hand set, or by way of a single control button located on a wall within your home. In addition, remote controlled home lighting systems frequently employ dimmer switches that replace older switches within the home, thus allowing the ability to set or control the brightness of lighting in each room within the home.
Radio controlled home lighting systems can also be turned on/off from your car, just like your standard garage door opener. Thus, you no longer need to walk into a dark house when you arrive home in the middle of the night.
Radio controlled home lighting systems can easily be installed in both new and old home construction as no rewiring is required. Typically light switches are replaced with dimmers that have built-in transceivers in them that communicate with a master controller and one or more repeaters that are strategically positioned within the home. Also, some manufacturers offer light dimmers that can be plugged right into existing outlets. Some master controllers are powered via batteries, so no AC wiring is required.
Radio controlled home lighting systems can also be integrated into existing home security systems.
The cost of radio controlled home lighting systems can vary as it is dependent upon how many light dimmers are required, the size of the home (which impacts the number of repeaters that may be required) and the types of master controllers employed. The prices for these systems are somewhat pricey today, but over the next few years these prices should drop dramatically resulting inevitably in the ubiquitous smart home.<!– From http://www.buzzle.com/articles/smart-homes-and-radio-controlled-home-lighting.html –> <!– google_ad_section_end –>
DIY Home Impovement and Remodeling
A DIY Home Improvement Tips and Home Remodeling site for homeowners, offering ideas on how to tackle Do it Yourself home remodeling, home improvement and home addition projects.
Home Improvement With Replacement Windows And Doors
Home improvement projects are an easy way to give your home a face lift and add value at the same time. Replacement windows and exterior home doors will also save you money. That’s one reason why vinyl windows and doors are a popular choice for remodelling projects.
There are many home improvement articles that will guide you if you are thinking of replacing your exterior doors and house windows. A key question when undertaking a home improvement exercise is the choice of material for replacement windows and doors. Whether you’re talking about front entry doors, French doors, sliding patio doors or outside doors, your choice of material is generally between wood and PVC or plastic doors.
Exterior doors made of wood are available in a wide variety of designs and colours, which may be a deciding factor for some home renovators. However, there is no denying that wooden external doors require considerably more maintenance than vinyl or PVC doors. For one thing, wood will eventually rot and will need to be replaced. It is highly susceptible to weather damage and constant weathering means you will need to repaint exterior home doors at regular intervals. With the need for an undercoat and a gloss coat, this can quickly become expensive.
In contrast, exterior home doors made of PVC or vinyl require comparatively little maintenance. They are resistant to weathering, and exterior doors will maintain their finish even after years of constant exposure to the elements. This is one reason why with exterior doors PVCU may be the better choice. In addition to front entry doors, PVCU can also be used for other outside doors, French doors, sliding patio doors, conservatory plastic doors and doors leading to the porch. While the colour choice is not as extensive as with wooden doors, there is still a wide range of designs and finishes, as well as decorative touches such as stained glass panels an frosted glass panels. These let light in while maintaining your privacy and are ideal for doors leading onto dark hallways.
Your home improvement and remodelling project might also include windows replacement. Again, you have the choice of wood or PVCU and UPVC windows win hands down because UPVC double glazed windows are so effective. The membrane that provides the insulation in vinyl windows can be of varying thickness. It is sandwiched between two panes of glass, hence the name ‘double glazing’ or ‘double glass windows’. These windows are weathertight and will reduce heat loss from your home, helping your central heating system to function more efficiently. And in the summer, you will still be able to keep cool. Many double glazing windows allow you to leave a small space for airflow while locking the window for security.
There are several window styles that are available for your UPVC home improvement and remodelling project. Casement windows and sash windows are both options for your replacement house windows and you may also want to consider tinted windows if you live in a sunny area. Finally, to complete your home improvement project, consider adding a conservatory with UPVC windows and UPVC doors. This is guaranteed to add value to your home.
Electric Light Bulb – The Origin of Modern Technology
Unless you live in the Hurricane Belt or Tornado Alley of the United States and have experienced lengthy periods without electricity, chances are you’ve been taking the luxury of artificial lighting for granted.
The electric light bulb seems to be a boring subject of conversation for most people, but without its invention, a lot of the things which make our life fun and exciting would not exist today. The concept of a central electrical power plant as well as power cables, generators, switches, sockets and wiring came about as there has been a need for a source of power to illuminate the early versions of electric lighting.
Most of modern day music, cinema, video games, the internet and countless other things that entertain and give us comfort today would not be around without electrical power. As such, we owe the lowly light bulb and the brilliant minds that helped pave the way for its development a bit more appreciation.
Thomas Alva Edison, the “Wizard of Menlo Park”, is credited by the general public to be the father of the modern-day electric light bulb as we know it, but he is far from being the only one responsible for its research, development and production. Englishmen Sir Humphrey Davey and Joseph Wilson Swan, Canadians Henry Woodward and Matt Evans as well as several other brilliant scientists and researchers all contributed to the emergence of the modern day tungsten-based electric light bulb.
The first forms of artificial electrically-powered illumination were known as ‘arc lamps’ which needed significant amounts of electrical currents to stay operational. These arc lamps were excessively bright and thus were an impractical way to illuminate individual average-sized rooms.
Gas-powered lamps were the accepted norm during the late 1870s when the earliest attempts at incandescent lighting first surfaced. Incandescent lighting is the process of running an electrical current through a thin strip of resistant material, making it hot enough to glow and give off light without catching on fire from the excessive heat. Scientists eventually discovered that encapsulating the filament in a vacuum did away with oxygen-fueled ignition and this is how incandescent light bulbs are made today.
Platinum was the first metal that showed potential in producing light, bright enough to be used effectively as a filament. Sir Humphrey Davy and Edison himself both attempted to harness this potential but due to its high value, platinum didn’t really become a practical choice for mass-produced electrical light bulbs.
In his quest for a viable medium for illumination in incandescent light bulbs, Edison tested numerous carbonized plant fibers- hickory, cedar, flax, boxwood, bamboo, even arranging the shipment of plant material from the far-off tropics. “Before I got through,” says The Wizard from New Jersey in an interview, “I tested no fewer than 6,000 vegetable growths, and ransacked the world for the most suitable filament material.”
The first generation of incandescent light bulbs that were deemed practical enough for widespread use had carbon-based filaments but these thinned-out too fast and blackened the insides of the bulbs thus reducing illumination. It was the General Electric Company, itself a product of the merging of Edison’s companies and the Thomas-Houston Electric Company, that found a low-cost way to manufacture tungsten filaments and got the first patent for the modern-day incandescent light bulb. Tungsten filaments burn out longer and glow brighter than the carbon ones that preceded it.
From the incandescent light bulb the more cost-efficient fluorescent lighting and longer-lasting halogen lights were developed. Today these find uses in several fields of society from live entertainment, photography, medicine, industrial and home applications. Without low-wattage lighting, which has been made possible by the invention of the electrical light bulb, our working hours would be shorter and hence production would slow down by the time the sun sets.