If you’re looking to do something unique with a backsplash, shower stall, bathroom wall, or what have you, SensiTile offers “motion sensing tiles.” The tiles sense the movement of a passing person and create colorful ripples in response. The tiles are passive and don’t need to be powered; they use ambient light and daylight as their source of power.
The Tanita Innerscan Body Composition Monitor is a bathroom scale designed to tell you not only weight but body fat percentage. As those of us with big bones know, weight isn’t always the best measure of health. Skinny people can have a lot of body fat while stocky people can weigh more but have less. The Innerscan scale doesn’t stop with body fat though. It reads: your body water percentage, metabolic age, bone mass, visceral fat and daily caloric intake. It works by sending a low-level electric pulse through your body. The scale can “remember” up to four users so you can compare results over time, and there’s also a guest mode. It’s available via Amazon for $120: Tanita Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor
Oh, come on. You’ve never dreamed of a motorized paper towel dispenser? Point and Cut’s “No Touch Paper Towel Dispenser” means no more goobering up the rest of the paper towels or the rack with sticky fingers when you need a sheet. This motorized paper towel dispenser mounts under a cabinet so as not to take up counter space, and comes in stainless steel to match the rest of your classy kitchen appliances. Just wave your hand once to unroll the desired length, then wave again to cut the towel.
Air purifiers can be helpful additions for homeowners with allergies, but putting a humming box in your bedroom or living room maybe be a decorating faux pas for some. You may consider hiding that air purifier in… a tree. The Amcor Group offers an air purifier that doubles as an artificial ficus tree. The purifier’s filter is washable, so you don’t need to order replacement parts (and the tree never needs to be watered). The price listed on their site is $89.50 though Amazon has it for a few dollars cheaper.
Ficus Tree Air Purifier
http://www.amcorgroupusa.com/
The Sharper Globe Message Center with caller ID has sort of a high-tech scifi look to it. When a call comes in, the call information (caller name and number) scrolls via LEDs across the globe-shaped top. The message center also doubles as a clock with the time and date. Reviewers over at Amazon say the globe makes it easy to see time/date/call information from anywhere in the room whether the lights are on or not. So, if you’re one of those people who are too lazy (er busy) to walk over to the phone to see who’s calling, this might be just the gadget for you.
Whether your house is 1,000 square feet or 5,000, we’re all looking for ways to save energy. Why pay more than you have to? It may come as a surprise to you to realize how many devices in your home are sucking up power 24/7. Some of of them are obvious: alarm clocks, VCRs and DVD players with clocks, cable modems, your computer if you leave it in stand-by instead of turning it off… Other devices are less obvious. For example, my cable box doesn’t have a clock or any LED indicators that would suggest it’s on even after I’ve flicked it off, but electronics like this continually use power in order to remain receptive to the remote control signal.
So, how can you save energy at home? Well, an easy way is flick off the power strip that controls your computer, home entertainment system, etc. at night, but who wants to reset clocks everytime you use them? It might be easier just to look for appliances and electronics that use less energy than others. How do you do that? That’s where P3 International’s Kill A Watt comes in.
By attaching your devices to the Kill A Watt, you can figure out how efficient (inefficient) they are. This will help you know which energy hogs to replace with more efficient models down the road. To work Kill A Watt, you just plug it into a wall outlet, then plug the device you want to test into the Kill A Watt meter. The LCD screen displays energy consumption by kilowatt-hour, much like the utility company does. It shows volts, amps, and watts. It also forecasts costs so you can figure out a device’s electricity expenses by the hour, day, week, or year. Cost is about $40 for the Kill A Watt unit.
True luxury is being able to find space to plug in all your cool electronics and appliances, right? In theory a powerstrip can handle several things plugged into it, but it seems like everything comes with a double-sized bulky plug these days, the kind that blocks two other outlets on the strip. The Powerstrip Liberator
Source: Cool Hunting
