Kill-A-Watt Review

Have you ever wondered just how much energy that lamp was using?  Maybe you’d like to see how much power your computer pulls even when it’s in sleep mode.  If you’re curious or if you want to start charting your power consumption patterns in an attempt to cut down your electric bill, you may want to invest in a few of the Kill-A-Watt products.  These handy little monitors make it possible for you to see exactly where all of that energy is going.

To use the Kill-A-Watt, all you have to do is plug it in to an outlet.  The device has another plug on the front that you plug your actual device (lamp, computer, etc.) in to.  Once you’ve done that, use the device as you normally would.  Kill-A-Watt will monitor how much power your appliance draws.  Knowing this information is the first step towards assessing how energy efficient your appliances and devices are.

So what can you do with the information Kill-A-Watt provides?  A lot.  You can see just how much energy something draws even when it’s not turned on, which can tell you what appliances you need to unplug when they’re not in use.  You can also see which of your appliances aren’t as energy efficient as they should be, so you know what to replace first.  Finally, you can get an idea of how to save power.  Maybe it’s worth running your laptop off its battery more often than you’ve been doing.  Perhaps there’s a better lamp out there that provides more light but uses less power.  You never know until you see exactly how much energy your appliances actually burn.

Solar Gorilla Review

Don’t you hate it when you’re on a trip or out of the office and suddenly your cell phone goes dead?  Or you’re working on a very important presentation on your laptop when it suddenly runs out of power and you don’t have any place to plug it in?  This happens to everyone, but it doesn’t have to.  If you have the Solar Gorilla and Power Gorilla Solar Charger Kit, you can power up any of your devices just by placing the charger kit in the sun for a few hours.

The Solar Gorilla combines two other Gorilla products: the Solar Gorilla Laptop Charger and the Power Gorilla Battery Pack.  These two items combine to create and store hours of solar energy.  You can then use the variety of ports on the device to charge up your many different electronic devices.  A great feature of the combo unit is that it doesn’t just charge up your devices like some do; it will also store power so you can use it to supply power to your phone or laptop later or after the sun goes down.  You can even plug in the Power Gorilla and let it charge up from an outlet, then use it as a battery later.

The Solar Gorilla is compatible with many different cell phones, mp3 players, laptops, and other devices.  It’s even compatible with Apple notebooks if you have a specific adaptor.  The devices are very lightweight and compact, easily fitting inside a standard laptop bag or even a purse.

If there’s any downside to this device, it’s the price.  The Solar Gorilla will cost you $500 or more.  However, if you constantly need to power a device on the go, it can be an invaluable tool.  It can also be great if you want to stop using electricity to power your cell phone or mp3 player.

You can check out the Solar Gorilla's by clicking here

Solar Powered Cell Phones

Previously, we discussed the innovations at Kyocera and the fact that they were working on a motion-powered cell phone.  Well, they aren’t the only cell manufacturer who is working on creating a green cell phone.  Sharp and AU have added a solar panel to one of their newest phones.  They aren’t the first company to add solar power to a cell phone—Ericsson and Motorola both have models on the market or coming out soon.  However, solar powered cell phones are still quite limited, even if they are becoming more popular.

Sharp’s newest solar powered phone will be debuting in Japan in June of this year.  The device features a solar panel embedded on the phone’s lid, making it easy for users to simply set the phone near a window or other sunny location.  Leaving it in the sunlight for around ten minutes charges the battery enough for it to last for about a minute of call time or around two hours of standby time.  That’s not a huge amount of power, so it’s obviously not a way of continuously charging your phone.

While the amount of power this solar powered cell phone generates isn’t really that much, the fact that it generates any power at all is impressive and a step in the right direction.  Someday, it may be completely possible to power your cell phone via solar energy.  If everyone invested in one of these solar powered cells, it would save a lot of energy every day.  Seeing how many phone manufacturers are already jumping on the idea is certainly a very hopeful sign.

New Kyocera Cell Phone Could Be Charged by Kinetic Energy

You may not think that charging your cell phone uses up that much energy, but think about how often you charge it.  If you have a smart phone or other PDA, you may need to charge your phone every day.  This can add up over the days.  Your cell phone actually uses way more power than you think it does.

But what if there were some way to charge your cell phone without using traditional power?  That’s what Kyocera, one of the larger cell phone manufacturers, has asked themselves.  Kyocera designer Susan McKinney then took this idea and has created a conceptual device she calls the Eos.  Her cell phone folds in thirds, is very flexible, and contains tiny piezoelectric generators.  What do these generators do?  Basically, as you walk and move, these nano-scale generators convert the kinetic energy of your body into power.  While the device will most likely include a traditional charger, the power generated from your body may be enough to power the phone.

In addition to the nano-scale piezoelectric generators, the device has several other very innovative features.  It uses shape memory that brings keys up from the surface of the device when it is in use and fade down when it’s not.  The screen is also very flexible.  It is about the size of a wallet when used for standard phone calls, but it can actually be unfolded to make a larger screen when you need to see more.

While we won’t be seeing this amazing device in stores just yet, Kyocera plans on making use of its many new features in the next few years, so expect to see flexible screens, shape memory, and even a few amazing kinetic energy-powered phones in the future.

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Most of the time when we think of recycling we don't really think of getting paid, but if you've got one too many electronic gadgets cluttering up your space this might be a game changer for you. The following 2 websites are offering cash for your used electronic devices
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