Hey there Sunshine! Welcome back to Save Our Happy Place, your weekly pop of environmental and climate activism. We aim to help you make easy and personally sustainable changes to save the places you love from climate change, and with that goal in mind, comes this week’s topic: climate innovation in the home.

On both large and small fronts it will take innovative shifts in how we live our lives to mitigate our use of CO2 in order to keep global temperatures from rising. Excessive electricity usage serves as one of the leading causes of harmful CO2 emissions. This week we are taking a look at some novel and exciting but still critical ways that can help curb your electricity usage at home and save you money in the process.

Stop Phantom Load

What is it and how can we stop it?

Phantom Load
Noun
The electricity consumed by an electronic device while it is in standby mode or turned off.

But I turned my devices off...

Most people assume that when they power down their devices, they’re saving energy and stopping the electric meter from running on that particular device. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.

Energy bills in the United States increased by an average of 10% (some areas as much as 50%) in 2021. Plus phantom load is likely contributing to up to 10% of your electricity usage.

Who are the main culprits?

Not all items that your plugin have a phantom load, but there are definitely some major offenders, including, but not limited to, televisions, surround sound systems, stereo equipment, gaming consoles, computers, printers, cell phones, and battery chargers.

Tell me there is a solution

We’ve got good news. Forget crawling under furniture to unplug your gadgets... The Teak Smart Power Cube by Revert has got you covered. Teak's AI will learn when you power each device on or off and ask you for your permission to remove the residual phantom load when it’s been detected. If you grant it permission, the outlet stops the wasted energy flow just as if you unplugged the device itself from the outlet completely.

How Much Could You Save?
10% potential savings off of your electricity bill

Get Pre-Launch Access and Discounts for the Teak Cube

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Three More Smart Home Devices

To Lower Your Carbon Foot Print

1. Smart Thermostats detect movement in the room and can turn up or down the air based on whether or not it is being occupied.

2. Smart LED Light Bulbs are an easy addition to any abode. Regular LED bulbs alone are 80% more energy-efficient than regular bulbs and an easy win for the planet. Upgrade to smart bulbs so that they turn off when the room is empty and you can adjust the brightness.

3. Smart Composting is a great solution if you don’t readily have access to other means of composting. The smart composter use sensors to detect moisture levels and can add water if the compost is too dry.

Some Rays of Sunshine

The Headlines We’re Happy to See

Climate Innovations Edition

• MIT ramped up a high-temperature superconducting magnet in pursuit of a fusion power plant that can produce more power than it consumes. - Read More

• The first hydrogen train in Japan to hit the rails for a test run. - Read More

• Detroit is getting the first public EV-charging road in the US. - Read More

• Carbon-recycling startup LanzaTech is going public for $2.2 billion. - Read More

• SupPlant raises $27 million to bring irrigation tech to climate-embattled farmers.- Read More

• The DOE announced $150 million in funding to reduce the climate impacts of energy technologies and manufacturing. - Read More