Seven Lesser Known Devices That Can Help You Conserve Resources in the Home

Reader Contribution by David Glenn
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Everyone knows the basic ways to conserve energy and resources in the home: turn off lights, water your lawn less often, don’t rely on the thermostat as much, etc. These are certainly all great suggestions, but to really reduce the shoe size of your carbon footprint, you need to get a bit more innovative. Here are seven lesser known gadgets that can help you help the environment (from the comfort of your own home).

1. Thermal leak detectors. One of the biggest energy wastes comes in the form of heat loss. This is because most homes are anything but airtight, and the expensive heat that we pump into them when things get chilly tends to escape back out into the word through leaks around doors, windows, and in poorly insulated walls and roofs. Patching up some of these leaks is actually fairly simple, if you can find them. That’s where thermal leak detectors come in handy. The Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector, for example, works by taking a basic reference temperature reading from within your home, and then identifying areas with temperature variances.

2. Water powered appliances. Although this is a relatively new technology, there are a few devices on the market that are able to take advantage water’s ability to provide electricity. The beauty is in the simplicity, an internal converter draws electrons from the water reserve and acts as a fuel cell. Although the water powered car is probably still a ways off, small devices such as clocks and radios are picking up the slack. And it’s not as though you need a steady stream of clean running water to make these work, a few ounces or rainwater will generally do to keep your device running for days.

3. Occupancy sensing light switches. Regular incandescent light bulbs produce visible light by pumping an electrical current through a tungsten filament, which then becomes hot and glows. The glow provides us with the light we use to go about our daily activities, but it also produces a massive amount of heat as a byproduct. In fact, conventional bulbs waste about 80% of their energy in the form of heat. Newer types of bulbs (such as LEDs) can cut down on this waste, but in the end the best way to keep your lights from wasting energy is by turning them off. Occupancy sensing switches automatically turn off lights when no one is in the room. These often come standard with certain home automation packages from providers such as Vivint. Reviews are available online to help you choose an option that is right for you.

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