#27 The high tech Home - Part 1

For being the techno geek that I am, I live in a pretty low tech house. We do have wireless Internet, but pretty much all the appliances and and elecronics are state of the art 1970s. We did install a geothermal heat pump in the late 90s. We drilled 4 wells in the backyard and ran pipes throgh the wells. Water is cooled or warmed to 57 degrees (the temperature of the deep soil) and then used to heat or cool air in the house. Its a pretty neat system and keeps our electric bills reasonable. It's not really high tech. We have old style mecury themostats the we push levers to heat, cool and select an approximate temperature.

So what would I put in a new house of the 21st century? Despite all the wireless craze, I think I would wire every room with fibre optics. You could use the wire for Internet and Cable/Satellite transmissions. I would definitely pick a heating/cooling system with computerized zone settings and programmed time controls. If your home isn't used much during the day, why heat and cool it for the ladybugs? I also would not put in a hot water heater. The new tankless hot water systems also make alot of sense. Why keep a big tank of water hot when you only need it 2 or maybe 3 times a day? The Rinnai system gets lots of publicity, but Rheem and Bosch also make great systems. Just google tankless hot water heater.

How hi-tech is your alarm clock? Ours plays music or harshly beeps you awake. I think I had one of those in the 70s in college. The latest gadgets put the time and temperature on the ceiling, play music from CDs and MP3 files and talk to you with information you didn't know you you needed to start the day. Any electronics in your shower? Music, massaging rain type water and computer controlled soaping while you sit on the shower bench are all available. Not ready for that? What about the high tech toilet? Surely you've seen the news articles of the Japanese toilets that are heated, salute when you leave and play cute tunes when you sit down. If you can think of it, someone will build it.

More tomorrow!