Green Gadgets

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Intermatic Electronic Seven-Day Timer can be used either indoors or outdoors. courtesy CableOrganizer.com

Amid the current economic recession and flourishing energy conservation movement, home and business owners and lessees alike are looking to cut costs and conserve electricity however they can. “While clipping coupons and being more conscientious of electricity usage can help, one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to save is through technology,” says Paul Holstein, COO of CableOrganizer.com – an online storefront offering a wide selection of energy management solutions.

“Many ’green gadgets’ are very inexpensive, and can help easily manage and reduce electricity consumption – and the utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions related thereto.”

Below are a few representative devices CableOrganizer.com offers to help consumers to go green, without having to spend a lot of green:

Intermatic Electronic Seven-Day Timer

Forget about living with a single timer setting, or paying for electricity that’s wasted when you leave lights on all day so you can return to a lit house. Intermatic’s Electronic Seven-Day Timer can be used either indoors or outdoors, and has several programming options: either set it for 24 hours, or customize it for an entire week. In addition to utility bill savings, the Intermatic Seven-Day Timer can also enhance your home’s security. With just the touch of a button, you can set the timer to Random mode, which varies lighting patterns to give your home a more believable “lived in” look. ($31.41)

Leviton Decora® Occupancy Sensor Switch

Nothing runs up the electricity bills like forgetting to turn the lights off. But now you can still save money even when you forget, thanks to the Decora® Occupancy Sensor light switch from Leviton. Simply put, this affordable sensor switch cuts down on the amount of power wasted by automatically switching off the lights when it no longer detects movement in the room. In addition to giving you the option to manually switch on and off at any time, this motion-sensor also lets you control your own savings by allowing you to choose how long the lights will stay on: 30 seconds, 5 minutes, 15 minutes or 30 minutes. ($30.75)

SmartStrip Power Saving Surge Protectors

Known as “vampire electronics” because of the way they suck power even when they’re not in use, many peripheral devices in your home and office are bleeding your budget dry as well. Luckily, products like the SmartStrip Power Saving Surge Protector are putting an end to the waste. When the SmartStrip detects that a main device (for example, the plasma screen in a home theater setup, or a computer) has been turned off, it automatically cuts power to that device’s peripherals. As a result, the average home can save as much as 260 watts of electricity per hour, or trim 113 Kilowatts per month from its utility bill. ($30.44)