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#212315 12/29/13 09:28 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445
Likes: 2
Cat Servant
Member
Looking at the latest "Kitchen & Bath" issue of "Fine Homebuilding" magazine, I see LeGrand has several imaginative takes on the ordinary wiring device.

Among the receptacles are:

1) The "Pop-Out Outlet" from LeGrand: http://www.legrand.us/adorne/select/outlets/arptr151gm2.aspx#.UsCuoPt0mmQ , at $50/ ea, can sit flush, concealed in the wall - or pop-out for a side-feed;

2) Legrand also re-invents the duplex with the On/Off Outlet: http://www.legrand.us/adorne/select/outlets/arps152m4.aspx#.UsCuLft0mmQ . The design includes a switch to turn off the chargers they expect you to use with it.

The ordinary light switch has been improved upon with:

1) The "Touch Switch" http://www.legrand.us/adorne/select/switches/asth1532m2.aspx#.UsCvcvt0mmQ is certainly a different approach; and,

2) The "Wave Switch" http://www.legrand.us/adorne/select/switches/aswv1532m2.aspx#.UsCv1vt0mmQ doesn't even need your touch.

Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 7
J
New Member
Seems like something that's going to be looked upon 30 years from now the same way we look at the fads from the 70's

Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,273
T
Member
I would expect that USB charging ports will become ubiquitous very soon -- starting with Wi-Fi hot spots -- perhaps Starbucks.

Hauling around a wall wart will be passe... a stub-whip from iPad to USB will be considered common as dust.

These ports will augment/ supplant Cat 5 ports... but with an eye towards the new mediums.

PCs are yesterday's revolution -- sales are dropping -- from 330,000,000 per year to only 300,000,000 per year. (They must be staying in China.) iPads and its clones are simply exploding across the planet.

USB ports stop local super-saturation of WiFi networks.

===

And there is a movement to make LED lumieres powered via Cat 5e ... which can then be digitally mapped by an App... up and down the scale: both brightness and color and color temperature.

In this scheme, the fixtures can be cabled and re-cabled by DIY owners, at will, and without any fire hazards.

Certainly, this will be the wave of the future for hazardous locations -- in very short order.

We may have to re-install every lumiere ever made during the next twenty-five years.

Certainly, this is the death of the Edison A-19 lamp/ bulb... until more sense prevails.

(There are no end of short-life applications where the A-19 classic makes perfect sense. Instead of out lawing them... these energy pigs should have had a nuisance excise tax applied... Just nothing too drastic. As it stands, we're not supposed to have them -- even when the lumiere is a period piece in a historical setting. Perfection is the enemy of the Good.)





Tesla
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445
Likes: 2
Cat Servant
Member
I'm a little disappointed at the lack of response to this thread - and the lack of enthusiasm for these devices.

That they exist at all suggests that there is a market for things that are not simply the cheapest possible option. Remember- we're businessmen, not auditors. We're supposed to CHASE the money, not follow it!

Further viewing of that magazine shows all manner of lovely kitchens- all missing required receptacles. The worst offenders are the islands- I expect the pop-out (out the side, not the top!) is a solution designers might like.

The On/off outlet flies in the face of those who argue for 'ground up,' but it incorporates a switch - a feature common overseas. These things might just become 'mandatory' in the next code edition frown

The switches suggest all manner of new approaches for devices exposed to the weather, or other challenges.

Of course, I look at these new gizmos from my own unique point of view. In my home, I expect the cats would quickly find all manner of amusement, popping outlets and switching lights in the wee hours laugh

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 9,923
Likes: 32
G
Member
I am not a fan of unnecessary complexity.


Greg Fretwell
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 984
Likes: 1
G
Member
I'll grant you that the on/off outlet is cute, but is it less expensive than the Leviton 5245 switch/receptacle that fits in the outlet box you already have?

If it's not cheaper (by a lot) it's going to be an uphill battle to sell these in any kind of quantity.


Ghost307
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,273
T
Member
Any germ-o-phobe is going to want touchless in his powder room.

Thermal influence switches are already big in the faucet market.

I can see them being big in retro-fit bathrooms.

They're sure to be a hit with the elderly: close is good enough.

I can see them becoming the basis for pet activated doors... either intermediated by pet owners... or not.

I can also imagine that the retail price is destined to slide... a lot.


Tesla
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,381
Likes: 7
Member
Remember the Leviton 'Touch Dimmers' with the silver or gold metalic touch plates, either oval or rectangular??

It wasn't the 'iPad' type touch.

I have a pic in my phone of an Adorne duplex that I took in a new SFD that was done all 'Adorne'...from GFIs to 3 & 4 ways.


John
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 9,923
Likes: 32
G
Member
They need one of these ... 50 cents

[Linked Image from homedepot.com]


Greg Fretwell
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,158
Member
I remember when advertising for sp pole switches were mentioning how quiet the new switches were no more snap noise smile

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