Earlier this week we posted on cutting labor costs associated with Cellulose insulation installs. It occured to me in some of the comments that we have never posted on our “magical” electrical strategy to help improve the insulation and air tightness of our homes. The truth of the matter is that we actually don’t use any magic (especially the kind shown on the right). Simply a bit of common sense and a sleek wireless lighting system. I will explain.

A bit of background on how this originated

After the 100K project, we started to really focus on how to improve air tightness and insulation values in our walls. We weren’t sure if we would keep using SIPs which can making running electric difficult.  We also weren’t sure if we wanted an interior or exterior air barrier, or even both. This got us thinking a lot about those wires, light switches and outlets in our walls that were taking up valuable insulation space in our exterior walls and also creating weak spots in our air tight drywall layer.

One of the most valuable things I learned while teaching myself Manufacturing Engineering in college (please don’t stick to only the books your profs recommend for you kids) while going for my Industrial Management degree was that “the best way to improve a slow or error ridden process or component was to eliminate it.” This jewel of knowledge came to me one day. All we need to do is eliminate those pesky wall outlets and light switches to improve the efficiency of our wall assemblies! OK, now how do we do this affordably?

Eliminating outlets in your walls

Let’s start with the easier of the two, eliminating outlets. This was relatively easy once we thought about it. Simply take your wall outlets and move them to the floors. Simple. Easy. Done. Yes, this costs a bit more in floor outlet material and labor, but you only need to do it on exterior walls. This keeps the additional cost very low, especially in row homes with only two very short exposed walls. Here’s a shot of one of ours in the recent Skinny Project below.

Eliminating light switches in your walls

This guy didn’t come to us as quickly. Luckily we remembered one decent product from Green in Boston a few years ago. That valuable trip was sponsored by Bolt Bus, Nic’s Aunt in the Boston burbs and our ability to stretch two, one-day floor passes into full 3-day passes. The product I am referring to is the Verve Living System for wireless control of residential lighting.

There are many expensive and complex commercial wireless lighting systems out there, but the bright people at Verve have packaged some of that same technology into an economical residential package with just the right amount of functionality. The basic system incorporates a fancy 10-channel controller where you can wire up to 10 lighting circuits (it can also do ceiling fans, outlets and now wireless thermostats). Once the lights are wired to the controller, they can be easily programmed to be controlled by one of Verve’s wireless switches which can simply be adhered or screwed to any location in your home. The switches are powered by the motion of clicking them so there are no batteries to replace ever. All wiring from switches to the actual lights are eliminated, so the labor savings in installation account for the extra cost in materials from Verve for the most part. Our electricians actually love the system due to reduced time of install and we love it because it eliminates all wires and leaky switch boxes in our exterior walls. We’ve found that our clients also love it as they can rearrange where the switches are located, how they are programmed and even buy more if they want.

That’s it. After searching the Verve site for this post, I found a few new products we have been waiting for from them, so hopefully we’ll have a new post in the near future on added functionality and uses for their system.

The conversation on my original post on energy monitoring and controls has been fantastic. Great ideas have been presented and examples that approximate my wishful thinking have been shared. Thank you to all of you who added your input.

After looking through all the links and concepts shared in the comments of the last post, I still think there is room for someone to develop a more intuitive, comprehensive and affordable solution. Most of what actually exists right now is either designed for highly complex commercial applications or falls far short of the whole vision for this system. There are residential home automation solutions and energy monitoring options, but as far as I have seen, nobody has integrated the two smoothly. So, we are going to dream a little more.

I imagine a system in which each point of power use (ideally), or each collection of points (if each is impossible) is provided with a watt meter and a wireless switch. These switches and meters would be capable of communicating with a web based software application which could, in turn, be controlled by cell phone applications and desktop widgets. The main application, in my fevered imagination, would be a dashboard based web interface that looks something like this . . .

Keep in mind, this is just a very rough concept. Ignore the logo and the content and just imagine how nice it would be to bring something like this up on your computer. You could quickly view energy usage of your entire home, compare it to past usage and check the status of various sources of use. Now imagine you want to change the state of various outlets, lights and appliances . . .

The control interface would allow you to operate the wireless switches on individual fixtures, groups, zones or the entire house. Lights might have dimming capabilities or presets. One could easily exclude important “always on” systems from the whole-house or whole-zone off functions. With the integrated watt meters, the user could also easily see how much energy each item was using and the total energy use based on each on/off setting. This would be a great means of educating the user and sure way to increase savings through awareness.

Setup would obviously be a challenging component of this system. The user would have to assign each source a name and then place it in groups or zones for easy control. Each outlet, light and appliance would need to be setup in order for the system to function properly. It will be a bit of a pain in the neck, but in the end, I think the process could be instructive.

This will also probably be the most challenging interface design element. It will be difficult to make such a setup both versatile and intuitive. I imagine something along the lines of  . . .

Users would be able to name each input and assign that input to a zone and group. Each name would be entirely custom and easily changed, so that if the user moves their toaster, for example, it is easy to change the assigned outlet’s name and function. Zones and groups could then be used to simplify controls either via suggested parameters or the user’s own whim. The above is obviously somewhat simplified, but I think the concept is there.

I know, in some ways, this thinking is reinventing the wheel. Much of what I am talking about already exists and some of it is already very well designed. However, at times reinvention is an easier task than combining different systems and concepts to create what you want. I think, to create a fully integrated, easy to use system, it will have to be built from scratch.

So, we ask again, is this feasible? Has it been done already? What key components am I missing? And, most importantly, who wants to build this thing for me?

Comments are open.

I wish there were an easier way from idea to product. Of course, if there were I would have a house full of cool but unnecessary gadgetry (bacon toaster, geothermal beer dispenser, rocket recliner). I suppose the work involved in bringing an idea to fruition forces you to question the viability and necessity of the concept. So, here is something to “work on” by which I mean something to discuss in the comments.

We plan to include an energy monitor with all of our houses. This will allow the homeowner to monitor energy usage and will take advantage of the Prius Effect to help reduce energy consumption. Basically, it seems, if a person can see what each action is costing energy-wise, they will adjust their behavior. Transparency can be a beautiful thing.

The TED system which is pictured also includes an application for additional monitoring and data crunching. It basically offers a dashboard on your computer which tracks usage and presents the data in a variety of useful ways. There are major problems with it of course, the biggest of which is the fact that it only works on Windows at the moment, but more on that later.

The second major system we are considering introducing into our homes is a wireless switch system. Conceptually this is based on what the people at Verve are doing. Basically, wireless switches control lights and outlets. These switches can be assigned to as many fixtures as desired, meaning the integration of a whole house off switch that excludes necessary appliances or “always on” outlets becomes relatively simple. It also means that there is potential to control the lights through an alternate wireless signaling source (in addition to switches), and that leads us to my idea wish.

What I would like is a system which integrates energy modeling and wireless switch technology to allow energy usage to be viewed and controlled from a central location. I picture a web application which receives the energy monitoring data and the electricity control information. It presents this information side by side so that energy usage can be matched with the current state of lights, outlets and appliances. One will quickly get an idea of specific energy usage and of losses to phantom power. This system could make use of the house’s wireless network to turn outlets and lights on and off. It would be a great way to test various usage loads and lends itself to broader applications.

The web application format could also allow you to access the system and make changes remotely. For example, I can imagine an iPhone app that ties in to this system. One could see the current state of lights and outlets and make changes while away from home. For instance, you are out having a pint and you think to yourself, “Did I leave the lights on in the bedroom.” You pull out your phone, bring up your house application and see that you did. With just the swipe of a finger you turn the offending lights off. Or, maybe you glance at the app and notice your energy use is much higher than it should be with no one home. Checking your outlet activity, you see the stereo outlet is on. With one swipe you kill power to the device and save enough money for a second pint.

This could eventually be applied to a variety of wirelessly enabled switches accessing everything from window shades to security systems. You could adjust your thermostat, check air quality sensors and potential even unlock or lock your doors all from your phone.

Does this exist already? I know the components are all there, but has anyone put them together? If not, is it an idea worth pursuing? Is it useful? Profitable? And lastly, who wants to build it for me?

Comment time, GO!

I am a bit of an audiophile, so when we started thinking about developing our own homes, integrated A/V equipment naturally popped into my head as something to offer in our homes. The problem is that when your company’s first project is focusing on affordable and green homes, higher-end options like whole-house audio tend to take a back seat. Nevertheless, we set out to see if we could integrate an affordable option for whole-house audio that would be affordable. Maybe it couldn’t be in the base options of our homes, but it could at least be a viable upgrade that wouldn’t break the bank.

When I started researching this post, the subject was going to be on the different options out there today for affordable whole-house audio. After some research and a bit of hands on testing, it became clear that there is one system that stands apart from the others in terms of features, ease of installation, ease of use and scalability. Dang, I sound like a recent marketing grad. I’ll try to do better.

Why Sonos Multi-Room Music System Stands Apart

The system I am speaking of is the SONOS Multi-Room Music System. Lets get right down to why this system is better than the rest out there and then we’ll visit the technical details of Sonos vs. more traditional whole-house audio setups. The reason Sonos is better is that it can wirelessly play music anywhere in your house (or within a few hundred feet outside) from ALL of the following sources:

• Your music collection on you computer whether it’s in your iTunes library, and MP3, WMA or any of 9 of the most popular digital files.
• Any external source such as a CD player or a friend’s iPod.
• Any internet radio station.
• Any one of the following popular music services: Last.fm, Napster, Pandora, Rhapsody or SIRIUS.

This is the key. They have pretty much left nothing out as far as available sources of audio that the kids like to listen to today. Personally, I listen to Pandora a whole bunch, my iTunes library is a close second and occasionally I’ll dust of my 5-disc CD changer and select 5-discs to put on shuffle for a few hours. My colleague, Nic, is a big fan of vinyl which I can admire and we would both enjoy a subscription to any one of the other music services listed above. Sonos has us covered on all fronts. We can even plug in our friends’ iPods when the stop over to share the latest musical sensation that is pleasing their ears or simply want to take over our party’s playlist when they’ve heard two songs in a row that they don’t like from our own playlist.

No other whole-house audio system that I have come across in my research can claim all of this. In fact, if we were to go with another whole house audio solution, I would still get the Sonos player to hook up to it in order to be able to select seamlessly from all of these different sources.

So how does Sonos work? It’s pretty simple. You can choose from one of three devices that will connect to a wireless router and stream music to up to a couple dozen other Sonos players in your house. The Sonos ZonePlayer 90 will connect to an existing stereo system as well as a router to communicate with other Sonos players in the house. The Sonos ZonePlayer 120 is the same thing, but includes a built-in amplifier to power a set of speakers in a room without a stereo or dedicated speakers. Finally there is the Sonos ZoneBridge 100 that simply connects to your router to transmit music to other players, but does not have the capability of playing music itself. These players run from $500 for the powered version to $100 for the ZoneBridge alone.

All of these players can be controlled by any one of three ways. First, Sonos will sell you a wireless controller with charging cradle for about $400. The unit is quite lovely and very easy to use. If you’re not interested in shelling out the cash for the controller, you can simply use the free desktop software provided. And last but not least, Sonos just came out with a free iPhone App. I am getting to the point where if something doesn’t have an iPhone App, I’m not interested, so this is a big plus in my mind.

How do other whole-house audio options compare?

There are basically two types of whole-house audio systems out there today. Ones that are primarily wireless like the Sonos system and ones that are fully wired. The other wireless options are very similar to Sonos but do not stack up in my book because of the lack of options on the audio source end.

The wired options are very nice, but as you could guess, much more costly and labor intensive to install. They will hook up to a central amplifier and music source often and distribute music signals via CAT-5 cable to various controllers throughout the house that will adjust the music and volume being played to speakers hardwired in that room. Again, the limitation is with available sources of music. With a fully wired system, I would still prefer to have one Sonos player hooked up to the main amplifier in order to select from my desired music source.

Will Sonos work for the 100K House?

The bottom line is that I’m not sure. Adding even the $500 – $1,000 it would take to setup the Sonos system would not make sense on our budget most likely. The great thing is that it could be a very easy upgrade option to offer those interested. We could supply a ZoneBridge for only $100 that could communicate to any number of ZonePlayers that the homeowner desired to install themselves.

I would argue that we could take this to the next level and bridge the gap between the wired and wireless systems for a nominal upfront cost. How would we do this? Simple. Speaker wire is cheap and easy to install. For about $100 in in material cost and one hour of our electrician’s time, we could have the entire house wired for speakers. Make a nice diagram of where all of these wires are being terminated and leave a spool a couple feet long wrapped at each termination. That’s it. Cover it all up with drywall and make sure to pass the diagram off to the homeowner.

Should the homeowner decide to upgrade the whole-house audio system on their own, the hard part is done for them. Simply drill holes in the ceiling wherever you want to install integrated speakers as shown on the diagram. Hook the other end of the speaker wire either to your own amplifier that is hooked to a Sonos player or to a powered Sonos player. This gives the homeowner the choice of what level and cost of speakers they want to install and how many Sonos players they would like to use. They could spend as little as $500 or as much as a few grand depending on how important this is to them. The beauty is that is costs us almost nothing up front to give them quite a bit of flexibility in setting their own system up in the future.

Sonos saw me tweet about their system a few weeks ago and has offered us a free trial system for a few weeks. I think we will take them up on this and I’ll keep you guys in the loop as far as our plans with the audio system for the houses are concerned.

A couple weeks ago I tweeted about The Energy Detective or TED that monitors whole house energy usage. This led me to do a bit more research on what else is out there that is similar to this device.  Below is what I found on a couple of inexpensive devices available to monitor energy or electrical usage at the home. All of these devices monitor the electrical usage of the entire home by connecting to the main electrical panel. They claim to save anywhere from 10% – 25% on your electric utility bill by measuring and displaying your energy usage in real time so that you can learn to manage your power usage more responsibly.

This is a great concept that I knew right away would fit perfectly with the 100K philosophy. Educate the home owner on energy usage, give them the tools to measure it and empower them to manually reduce their energy usage via low-tech methods. The alternative would be high-end “green” systems that would fully automate the home to reduce energy usage. Cool, but pricey and not fitting for our project.

TED – The Energy Detective [$145]

TED’s cleverness does not stop at it’s name, but also extends to its ease of installation and use. TED comes with two main parts. One part quickly and easily attached to the electrical panel in such a way that if you have ever changed a fuse on your panel, you would have more than enough experience to install TED (I love this name more and more as I type it).

The second piece is a wireless display unit that can be placed anywhere in the house. The display will show in real time what your energy consumption is in kiloWatts as well as dollars per hour. TED also has alarm settings and other tools to alert you when you are really sucking up energy  in order to help keep you on a desired monthly budget.

Lastly I found this informative YouTube Video Review on The Energy Detective. An add-on is a software package called TED Footprints for $45 that allows you to hook up your display unit to a PC to record, track and graph your energy usage in even more detail. This is lovely, but currenly does not work on Macs which make me sad inside. [Aside: Do tech companies really believe that "early adopters" are using PC's over Macs? Product Marketers need to do more homework be smarter.]

The Meter Reader EM-2500 [$215]

The Meter Reader EM-2500 is very similar to TED except that it is more expensive and the display must be hard-wired to the electric service panel and can not be wirelessly placed in the home. It’s a nice product, but honestly I don’t know why you would buy it when the TED is available for less cash.

Web Energy Logger (WEL) [$375]

Another interesting option is the Web Energy Logger (WEL). This takes energy monitoring a big step further and also allows you to add temperature sensors throughout your home to monitor how effectively your HVAC and ventilation systems are working. This looks pretty cool but has a couple of drawbacks for me. One is that it would require a lot of hardwiring throughout the house for the temp sensors. Two is that is is not really a fully commercial product as it was designed by some guy that built his own energy efficient house. Many kudos to him, but I would be a bit nervous. If you are very technically inclined and have some time on your hands, I say go for it.

Final thoughts

I think it’s clear that we plan to go with the TED for our homes. It’s simple, effective, cheap and I can install myself if needed. What could be better? In the future it would be great to see a device like this that could be hooked up to a web application to monitor and maintain all of your information. This could be compared to others around the world using the same web interface. This type of info could also mix well with home automation programs out there and it would be really cool if you could also monitor the usage of other fuel types (gas, oil, pellets…) with a similar device to have the results collected and reported all in one place. I saw hints of people working on this during my search but didn’t find anything concrete. If you see something out there, throw it in the comments for all of us to benefit.