The biggest jolt one gets is from the monthly electricity bill itself. Many of us try and be careful, but somehow the bill always manages to exceed our expectations. With Christmas round the bend, I know that a matter of few days of lights and cheer has a gloomy effect on the bill budget. Avery Holleman is a designer who has worked on the Smart Switch design, which is a system that can be easily installed into an existing home and offers effective power-usage management. The system allows the user to monitor and control power usage throughout the house. The main aim of the project is to fit the design into the house without disrupting the environment. The system consists of four parts: smart power outlets that can be programmed and controlled, smart switches that can display power usage and control multiple outlets and lights, a master switch which gives detailed power usage over time and gives control over the whole system, and a remote which is used to program the system.

The Smart Switch sports a simple universal icon based touch interface. The system uses powerline communication, which uses your home's existing wires, and e-ink displays, which use very little power. The system is re-programmable to suit your needs. With it you get instant, intuitive control of power usage anywhere in the house.

Source Designlaunches