Control Lights remotly

One of the advantages of smart homes is that aspects like heat or air conditioning can be controlled remotely. While such capabilities suggest images of someone controlling their home’s utilities from afar, lighting is increasingly being adjusted remotely from both inside and outside the house. Using a smartphone, for example, a user can turn off their hallway and bathroom lights from bed before turning in for the night. The rise in such usages will lead to the emergence of RF-embedded light bulbs in 2013, predicts IMS Research.
According to the organization’s recently published report, “Connectivity Opportunities in Lighting Controls – 2012 Edition,” shipments of RF-embedded light bulbs and their associated remote controllers will top 600,000 in 2013. That number is predicted to rise to 11.7 million in 2017. Several large manufacturers are planning to release new wireless-lighting products using a range of technologies.

Currently, most RF-embedded lightbulb systems, such as Insteon’s, use a proprietary technology or a proprietary IEEE 802.15.4 software stack. Greenwave Reality is currently showcasing NXP’s JenNet-IP protocol. According to NXP, that protocol is being made an open one so that other semiconductor firms may use it.

Meanwhile, the ZigBee Alliance recently launched a lighting-specific profile. Called “ZigBee Light Link,” it is designed specifically to control both the color and light level of light-emitting-diode (LED) light bulbs. Several tier-1 lighting manufacturers, such as Osram and Philips, have already had devices certified using this protocol. In fact, IMS Research predicts that ZigBee will emerge as the main wireless technology for these systems.

Most of the systems are expected to offer remote access via an application or cloud-based service. While this feature is available on current residential lighting-control systems, the cost can be too high for many consumers. The RF-embedded light bulbs will be sold at a more consumer-friendly price, leading to higher residential adoption.

Source:Internet

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Wifi light bulbs monitored, managed and controlled remotely

Lighting is a significant contributor towards home and business energy costs, but for most of us, switching to more efficient bulbs is the extent of what we’ve done to save energy. Dutch NXP Semiconductors, however, recently introduced technology that connects bulbs over wifi, allowing fine-tuned control from any internet-connected device.
NXP’s GreenChip smart lighting solution offers a way to make internet-enabled, energy-efficient lighting networks a reality for businesses and consumers. Using the new technology, every light bulb can have its own unique IP address, and users can monitor, manage and control them all from any internet-enabled device. Lights can be turned on and off individually, for example, from any smartphone, tablet, PC or TV. Dozens or even hundreds of appliances can be connected through a wireless network designed for maximum energy savings, in fact, communicating information about their environment and consumption levels as well as any problems.
With versions for both CFL and LED lighting, NXP’s GreenChip solution fits the necessary electronics in an everyday light bulb; included are wireless IP connectivity, energy-efficient lighting and standby power as low as 50mW. GreenChip-enabled light bulbs will be able to operate on the same wireless sensor networks already common for energy metering, smart appliances and security systems. Low-power, IP-based wireless connectivity is enabled by NXP’s JenNet-IP network layer software. The video below demonstrates the technology in further detail:

John Croteau, NXP’s senior vice president and general manager for power lighting solutions and high performance RF, explains: “For individual consumers, smart lighting means highly personalized, intelligent lighting environments – lights that turn on and off when and where you need them, at the desired level of brightness — while saving power and electricity costs.”
As the latest multi-tasking devices become adopted by more and more consumers, the development and adoption of smart systems such as this is only going to gather pace. One to get involved in early!
Website: www.nxp.com/campaigns/greenchip/pages/smartlighting.php
Contact: www.nxp.com/support

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10 simple actions you can take to help reduce global warming.

You can help to reduce the demand for fossil fuels, which in turn reduces global warming, by using energy more wisely. Here are 10 simple actions you can take to help reduce global warming.

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning
Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home.
Turn down the heat while you're sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

3. Change a Light Bulb
Wherever practical, replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Replacing just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL will save you $30 over the life of the bulb. CFLs also last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use two-thirds less energy, and give off 70 percent less heat.
If every family replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

4. Drive Less and Drive Smart
Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community mass transit system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school.
When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products
When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far less energy than standard light bulbs.
Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

6. Use Less Hot Water
set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.

7. Use the "Off" Switch
Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them.
It's also a good idea to turn off the water when you're not using it. While brushing your teeth, shampooing the dog or washing your car, turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing. You'll reduce your water bill and help to conserve a vital resource.

8. Plant a Tree
If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

9. Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company
Many utility companies provide free home energy audits to help consumers identify areas in their homes that may not be energy efficient. In addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades.

10. Encourage Others to Conserve
Share information about recycling and energy conservation with your friends, neighbors and co-workers, and take opportunities to encourage public officials to establish programs and policies that are good for the environment.
These 10 steps will take you a long way toward reducing your energy use and your monthly budget. And less energy use means less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming.

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