From the monthly archives:

January 2009

The Best LED Desk Lamps For 2009

January 31, 2009

Well, LEDs are now dominating the flashlight market, but there’s only a handful of LED desk lamps available in 2009. Many LED desk lamps are designer lamps costing $300 and up. That’s unfortunate, because a desk lamp LED-based desk lamps have a lot going for them. Besides being energy efficient, LED lamps run much cooler [...]

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Lenovo’s New Monitors Are Greenest Available

January 27, 2009

Lenovo has released a range of new LCD monitors that are probably the greenest monitors available. The new Thinkvision L2440x monitor received Greenpeace’s highest rating in their Green Electronics Survey 2008 (PDF File).
Recently, I had a chance to review the Thinkvision L2440p 24″ widescreen LCD monitor. The L2440p uses only 30 watts to power its [...]

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The Best Toasters of 2009

January 18, 2009

What makes a toaster efficient? Read through reviews of popular toasters, and you’ll see that many people seem to care more about the bells and whistles — automatic lowering of bread, pleasant dings when toasting is complete, and the like — than anything else.

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The Best Water Filters Of 2009

January 15, 2009

Note: To jump straight to the water filter reviews click here.
If your are looking to find the best water filter, you’ll probably encounter a lot of misleading claims. Much of the misinformation comes from manufacturers eager to sell expensive water filters. Government sources also tend to gloss over issues of water pollution — it’s not [...]

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Tankless Water Heaters: A 2009 Review

January 11, 2009

Tankless water heater have been used in Europe and Asia for 50 years, and they are gaining popularity in the US. Right now they represent about 8% of new sales in the US. Tankless heaters, also called on-demand, flash or instant water heaters, qualify for a $300 federal tax credit.
How efficient are tankless water heaters?

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On Meta-Optimization

January 9, 2009

Optimize your meta-techniques.

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Unified Theory Applied To Bathrooms

January 5, 2009

A unified bathroom theory combining hygiene theory, universal theory, green theory, vastu theory.

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A Unified Meta-Theory Of Design

January 5, 2009

A Unified Meta-Theory Of Design combining optimization theory, green design theory, universal theory, design pattern theory, and zen theory.
Meta-efficient in 2009.

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The Best 12V Solar Battery Chargers

January 1, 2009

Happy new year! This post on 12V Solar Battery Chargers has been updated for 2009.
Solar cells really shine at charging your batteries at remote location or on a boat. They are also useful for maintaining a charge on a 12V battery, such as a car battery. The best (and most expensive) solar battery chargers are [...]

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