Homes account for more than 10 percent of the total energy consumption in America, including transportation. About half of the residential energy consumed is for heating and cooling, with the rest going for lighting, heating water, appliances, televisions and computers.

Each degree cooler a house is kept in a heating season (winter), or warmer in a cooling season (summer), translates to a 5 percent energy saving. So shifting consumption patterns, say, four degrees on average can mean energy savings of 20 percent, experts say.

Since the average home spends $1,000 to $1,500 a year on heating and cooling, that would translate to $200 to $300 in lower energy bills. It would also mean fewer power plants built and lower carbon emissions.

From an article about the soon-to-be-introduced Nest thermostat. It comes from former Apple employees, so I'm inclined to believe their trust in design and purpose. I'll look into the device when it's available.

His effort is part of a broad technological effort to make “smart textiles”: wearable fabrics with embedded electronics that can collect, store, send and receive information. His lab is focusing on the sending-and-receiving part, trying to transform military apparel, hospital gowns, even everyday T-shirts into antennas.

From a New York Times article about the work John Volakis is conducting at Ohio State. Some of this seems a little over the top, but I'd welcome apparel that eased the hookup and use of medical monitoring equipment,

A medical clinic in California is having particular success at treating patients better by using new technology to monitor patient health at home. A bathroom scale which transmits health data wirelessly to the CareMore clinic is just one example. When physicians noticed that 82 year-old Ellen had gained three pounds in 24 hours, they called her and requested she come in immediately for a check up. "Had the warning signs not been noticed and addressed so quickly, she might easily have suffered a long, painful, and expensive hospitalization."

What's the Big Idea?

By using technology to catch early-warning signs of declining health, the CareMore clinic is able to provide better and more convenient care. The clinic "is routinely achieving patient outcomes that other providers can only dream about: a hospitalization rate 24 percent below average; hospital stays 38 percent shorter; an amputation rate among diabetics 60 percent lower than average." More impressive still is that by treating problems 'upstream', the clinic preempts lengthy and costly procedures 'downstream', reducing overall costs. 

Music to my ears...