Whole House Switches – Turn off your house when you leave!

I read an aricle today that reminded me of this technique on EcoGeek.org about an idea to use an iphone or any similar device that has computing and GPS capability.  The idea is that the program would interface with your switch using the GPS to turn things on as you got closer to home or even moved from room to room in the house.  Sounds pretty neat, when can I buy one?

However the idea of a switch to turn off all of those things that can be shut down while you are gone is not a new idea.  A good start at explaining the concept is found here: http://www.yankodesign.com/2007/05/30/house-off-switch-by-jack-godfrey-wood/

An example of a green switch uses wireless components that would then allow you to select which devices or outlets to include in the one button on and off program.  As reviewed (http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/958/)  and the on the company website (https://www.greenswitch.tv/salesinfo.aspx#stop) it would seem an average residential building would cost around $1200.  This seems a little high and I wonder if you would really see a payback in under two years.

I think that this could probably be easily accomplished by any of the home automation products on the market (http://www.x10.com/promotions/cm15a_am466_large_autotab.html) for a lot less money.  Also if you were building a house from the ground up or doing a major remodel this might be fairly easy and cheap to do as well.

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