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IAQ?

The “healthy home plan” in question revolves around indoor air quality, or “IAQ.” According to the Consumer Public Safety Commission, “the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities.” Why? Mostly because natural gas stoves release fine particles of nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide — compounds that are heavily regulated by the EPA when they’re released by fuel-burning cars — whenever they’re used. Electric stoves release pollution to a lesser extent. Most surprisingly, just the act of combustion in cooking produces pollution, and it even leads to more noticeable issues like excess moisture, foul odors, and grease buildup.

This Old House Idea House

This Old House’s fourth-annual “Idea House” kitchen spotlights the WhisperHood. The project aims to provide the multiplatform brand’s audience “with fresh takeaways, innovative products, and how-to instruction that home enthusiasts can incorporate into their own remodels and new-builds.” Construction of the 2,700-square-foot structure began in April 2018 in Narragansett, Rhode Island. The entire build was captured on a webcam and livestreamed on the This Old House website, and now, the home is being featured in the November/December issue of TOH magazine, as well as in segments of the This Old House TV series. Panasonic Eco Solutions is listed as one of nearly 30 sponsors whose products are included in the house, many of which focus on using advances in technology and design to make homes healthier and more efficient.

A lot of people simply don’t bother running their kitchen exhaust because their systems are notoriously noisy, ineffective, or both. Together, Panasonic and TOH paint a new picture of the kitchen as the “epicenter of your home,” touting the WhisperHood as the ideal solution to quickly clear the air of pollutants caused by cooking. The companies have also placed a lot of emphasis on the hood’s ultra-quiet operation noise, which apparently can’t even compete with the volume of a normal conversation.

The Technology and Design of Reinvented Ventilation

The wall-mounted, chimney-style hood is incredibly sleek, consisting of stainless steel, minimal lines, a low-profile control panel, and energy-efficient LED lighting. TOH notes that it’s design complements both the modern elements of the Idea Home kitchen and the traditional ones, like the custom-crafted walnut shelves. But how exactly is it innovative?

A range hood’s performance is measured in terms of CFM (cubic feet per minute, or how much air the fan can move) and sones, a unit of measurement for loudness. The hood’s HushFlow Technology reportedly allows it to be 86 percent quieter than other hoods — though this is a fairly subjective measurement. Moving air at 390 CFM, its real innovation comes in the form of a “capture efficiency plate.” Simply put, it uses a limited suction area to create more power. You can see this by watching cooking steam being drawn up into the plate. To keep everything clean and tidy, these plates have been designed to be both removable and dishwasher safe.

Panasonic’s Ventilation FAQ page literally reveals the nuts and bolts of their reinvention efforts, reading: “tip speed, blower wheel, exhaust outlet, and motor all combine to form a uniquely quiet design. Panasonic fans feature AC and DC four-pole condenser motors. The four-pole design helps the AC motor fan rotate smoothly and evenly. Not only does this mean reduction in noise, [but] it also makes Panasonic motors among the most efficient fan motors around.” The same design enables the fan to operate at a lower RPM (rounds per minute), which reduces its overall energy consumption.

The WhisperHood promises consumers safe, quality kitchen time, and a lot of it at that. The system is designed to run “about 11-and-a-half years without ever shutting off.”

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Webster’s Dictionary defines “doorbell” this way: “a bell inside a house or building that is rung usually by pushing a button beside an outside door.” How quaint. Now the doorbell has gone all smart. Take Ding, for example. Ding is a smart doorbell that looks sleek and stylish but has more, er, bells and whistles under its charming exterior.

It has three elements that work together seamlessly: a discreet doorbell button that’s fixed near your front door, a doorbell chime that looks cool and alerts you in your home when a visitor arrives and a free app for your smartphone.

Using the wonders of modern technology, the Ding system lets you speak to the person ringing your doorbell from anywhere in the world: When he or she presses the doorbell button, the chime rings in your home and at the same time connects to the Ding app on your smartphone. Just imagine: The FedEx delivery person is at your door and rings the bell. You, speaking from your hotel room in Paris: “Hi! Can you please leave the box with Will Starrett at number 43 next door? Thank you!”

Of course, the instant-talk feature could be handy in other situations too, such as if you’re bathing a child when the visitor rings the doorbell. You can ask them to wait for a minute until the baby is safely out of the tub and all dried and dressed.

The British design team of John Nussey and Avril O’Neil came up with the Ding system to strike a balance between old-fashioned and too complicated.

“At the moment there are either ‘dumb doorbells’ that come with your house or are bought in a rush from a hardware store or ‘smart doorbells’ that are driven by technology, offering you more features than you could ever use,” they explain.

They wanted their smart home solution to be simple to set up and use; beautiful, since the chime will be seen in your home; and smart, to keep pace with all the other life conveniences you have on your phone already.

We think they succeeded.

The doorbell button fixture is small and simple, and it comes in a choice of colors to match your front door. Its slim profile means it can fit on your door frame itself, so there’s no need to drill into walls. The chime is a fabric-covered speaker, and again, it comes with choices, this time letting you select the material to complement your decor. The chime can either sit on a shelf or be mounted on the wall, depending on your preference.

As for setup, you can either hard-wire the Ding to your home or run it on battery power. The button connects via Wi-Fi to the chime, and it has a range of around 120 feet.

Find the chime too loud? No problem. You can use the Ding app to lower the volume or change the sound, and you can even set it to mute when you’re heading off to bed.

Ding hit its funding target on Kickstarter this month, and Nussey and O’Neil are now accepting preorders.

The post Ding! The Smart Doorbell of the Future, Today first appeared on Dornob.

Think a ceiling fan can never be attractive? Then you’ve never seen this one by Drii Design. Rather than being purely functional or overly gaudy, it’s a minimalist air-moving dream with an attractive silhouette.

A lovely legible design that also saves space when shipping, this simple-looking ceiling fan is explicitly the sum of its parts, and that is the beauty of it.

Like IKEA but with perhaps a bit more class, the components of the B-Fan by Drii Design are made to be assembled on-site by the end user, but require almost no instruction as it is clear how they piece together.

The four bamboo slats are themselves flat, but naturally tilted when slipped into the black metal circle that joins them to the central spinning element in the middle of it all, which, in turn, locks them into place where they overlap.

“Concept: The B-fan is a Ceiling fan which made by bamboo. The four bamboo sheets twisted by the inner and outer circular component. and the twisted curve is suit for the fan’s rotating. Moreover, the for bamboo sheets cross in the center just like a flower’s stamen.”

Project specifications:

Title:四分
Type of Work: Ceiling Fan
Material: Bamboo . Metal . Electronic Component
Size: 70*40 cm
Year:2011

About Drii Design:

“Drii was original named tek-sia design studio (founded in 2009), setup by design director Camo Lin , and changed his studio into Drii design company in 2012. Through presentation of their masterpiece in countries such as Japan, France and Italy, Their work has been influenced by the cultural interchange between the East and the West. Drii design is working in their speciality field of lighting, as well as product, furniture, interior design, and based on craft material. From their design studio in Taiwan, Drii collaborates with some of the foremost Taiwanese and international craftsman, and presents the most gorgeous design craft product.”

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No need to swap out your existing deadbolt with a newfangled device – this circular switch slots right over your locking mechanism, but shifts the method of unlocking to entirely new territory.

Designed by Jason Johnson and Yves Behar, the August Smart Lock can sense your approach automatically, saving you the trouble of taking out your virtual ‘key’, or can be activated remotely for house guests or a forgetful child or spouse.

Further settings include the ability to allow certain persons to key in codes at particular times or on particular days, so a delivery can be made, dog can be walked or house can be cleaned, all without handing over a full-time means of access.

From the creators: “Have you ever lost your keys? I am willing to bet that 99% of us have. In the last year, 20% of Americans have been locked out of their homes at least once. Humanity has been carrying keys, sharp pieces of metal in our pockets, for 200 years… it’s time we think of something else.”

“At a time when we easily use technology for our banking, retail or lifestyle tracking, it is logical to transform the way we access our home. The August Smart Lock works with your existing deadbolt, and allows you to send a virtual key to guests or contractors to gain entry into your home without the need for a physical exchange of keys. You can specify the number of guests, how long the keys are virtually active for and disable them at any time – making access simpler and more secure. As the homeowner, or a guest, arrives at the door it will auto-unlock without the need to pull ones phone out of the pocket, and auto-lock behind the user.”

“Once installed on your existing deadbolt, August simply uses a Bluetooth LE connection with your smartphone to lock and unlock the door. Whether a guest comes to stay, the dog walker is scheduled, or a delivery is expected, the August app can be used to send a virtual key that will open the door at your specified time, tailoring access according to the person. Once this time window expires, guests lose access privileges and you can be assured they no longer have access to your property – and with encrypted security, your virtual key can never be copied.”

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They get bent by use, flip, flop and flap around in the wind, get in the way and sometimes even hurt people by sticking out. Surely, there had to be a better way to keep doors and gates latched securely — and now someone has found it. It’s refreshingly simple, yet it may just be the best door hardware idea since the invention of the lock.

The change is simple: get rid of the orientation that tends to hang open in the open doorway, getting snagged and potentially causing injuries.

YankoDesign explains, “The traditional door catch is still being used in many countries. Although simple to use, the design has two major flaws. Because of its orientation, the catch tends to get in the way and hurt people and as a result, it bends and gets deformed. The simple solution is to change the vertical hinge to a 45° angle. This ways the moving latch hangs down flush with the door (thanks to gravity) and doesn’t come in the way. And like the design team puts it, ‘Safety is ensured and the lifespan of the latch is extended.'”

And while this type of latch is not often found indoors, it is frequently used outside — which, in many ways, makes them even more subject to abuse by weather, strangers and so forth.

The genius of this update on the design is not just in identifying the problem, or even solving it as such, but the incredibly easy resolution that requires essentially no more time, work or material than the original. A modest twist in orientation extends functionality, durability and safety. The extensive design team of Liu Xiangyu, Prof. He Xiaoyou, Ma Xiaodong, Geng Tao, Tang Xiaobo, Yu Lu, Zhang Ye, He Fang, Han Ya & Tang Hui are quite worthy of their Red Dot award.

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Perhaps this design is best viewed as social commentary – its creator comes, after all, from a country with a mixed history in terms of police, privacy and security.

Nikita Kovalev of Moscow, Russia, has created this series of Bang-Bang handles to mirror the official weapon of the Soviet (and after) law enforcement – hard to imagine getting used to gripping such a thing each day to go between rooms (let alone both ways).

An elegant replica, it terminates midway up the barrel, and is shown in a variety of sleek finishes – including almost disturbingly elegant silvers and golds.

A summary of the source firearm: “9 mm Makarov (PM, GRAU index – 56-A-125, unofficial name – “Makarov”, “Makar”, “Macaroni,” “Makarych”) – semi-automatic pistol, designed by the Soviet designerNikolai Fyodorovich Makarov, in 1948. MP from 1951 until now is the personal weapon of the Soviet and post-Soviet armed forces and law enforcement.”

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While there will be no explicit ban on incandescents as such, the bar is being raised for energy efficiency with 100-watts disappearing this year, then 75 and 60 until even 40-watt bulbs ceasing to be restocked in 2014.

Still, if this sounds like the end of the world as you know it, not to worry: the stereotypes of other bulbs casting poorer-quality or oddly-hued light are overstated, at best – and the options will only grow as the traditional type is phased out.

LEDs are the higher-quality replacement option, being far longer-lasting than CFLs and having additional features (like the ability to be dimmed on demand) as well as having fewer hazards for disposal (like mercury). For more on these options and other details, check out this how-to article on Inhabitat.

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A great case of design being transplanted and thus transformed, the Doorclaxon is a simple hand-held horn taken out of context and installed in your entry door.

When someone reaches for the handle, they may or may not notice it is a tad pink and perhaps a little more rubbery, but they will understand when they grip tight only to have the handle collapse and hear a loud honk emitted.

Dieter Volkers is an inventor in the classical sense – he tinkers with odds and ends, addressing everyday issues. Of himself and his workshop, he writes: “My shed is a wonderful place. It’s a craft area, a breeding place for a traditional inventor. It is a place where I can set my mind free. The products are the result of functional objects. Objects which are powerful in their aesthetics. My collection represents the actions of our daily lives. Central is the value of ‘normal’ things and acts, such as passing a door.”

The post Announcing: Delightful Door Horn Doubles as Handle & Bell first appeared on Dornob.

One of the worst feelings in the world is to leave home for a week of relaxation…and an hour later, wonder whether you left the oven on. Scenarios like this can cause unneeded stress and, in the worst case, significant property damage. The Off Door Handle could help prevent both.

The door handle, created by designers Eun Ah Kim, Jinhyuk Rho, and Maria Rho, was a 2011 Red Dot Design award winner. The door handle is connected to the home’s main power and gas supplies, allowing residents to turn both off and on easily.

A small dial at the end of the handle lets users choose whether to turn off the electricity, gas, or both upon leaving. After making a selection, the user presses the button on the end of the handle and then simply turns the handle as usual. The selected services are then turned off.

Upon residents’ return to the home, the door handle re-activates the services that were previously turned off. According to the designers, this inventive door handle can help prevent home fires and wasted utilities. But if you are away from home for a long period of time, it would be a good idea to have your home security system powered on a separate system.

The post Safety-Focused Home Door Handle Turns on Peace of Mind first appeared on Dornob.

Opening a door is usually done in a single motion – we take for granted that this is just not possible when it comes to one with a locking mechanism, whether it be low-tech like a key or high-tech like an iris scanner.

Most fingerprint-reading door locks require that you depress an area, listen for a click or maybe look for a light, then grab the handle and go – not a big deal, but definitely one more step than necessary.

Donguk Seo proposes a simpler model that works with a single motion – just grab, press and push or pull all in the same simple motion, while an LED on the end lets you know if there is any issue with your first try.

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Exhaust fans may be a necessary part of bathroom design, but they are also a decidedly unattractive part. Designer Michael Samoriz invented the Invisible wall-mounted bathroom fan to be both unobtrusive and functional.

The Invisible design incorporates a recessed exhaust fan into a bathroom’s wall, using ceramic tile to camouflage it against the rest of the wall.

When the fan is not needed, it recedes into the wall and is, just as the name promises, totally invisible other than its surrounding LED frame.

When you need the fan to remove moisture from the air, it pops out and air is drawn in through the vents on the sides. The fan only attracts attention when it is being used, which seems to us is the mark of an elegantly designed fixture.

More from the designer

Invisible fan wall mounted

Fan with LED light outline.

We are convinced that the fan should not

The post For its Next Trick, This Bathroom Fan Will Disappear first appeared on Dornob.

When decorating or re-decorating a home, how many of us think of the truly overlooked interior elements? Light switches and outlets might be some of the most aesthetically neglected items in any interior, which is weird when you consider that they’re so ubiquitous – there are multiples of them in every single room. While some people opt for decorative plates, most just keep whatever cheap option the builders chose. Could these small details be a missed opportunity to add a little more personal style to each of your interior spaces? What if you nixed the rectangular format altogether and went for something totally new?

Elo switches, designed by Frédéric Bugnot and distributed by French company Realitem, are gorgeous modern wall switches and outlet covers that are unique enough to make any room shine. The ultra-stylish fixtures come in a variety of finishes, but each is smooth, round and unlike any other wall switches we’ve ever seen. It’s easy to imagine the ones that look like stones or the ones set in wood complementing a modern house with organic details, while the acrylic ones would fit right into most contemporary interiors.

“The Elo range of switches brings together traditional materials and contemporary design. This makes an object more human. It fits in, it finds its place, you can feel it, it stands out, you are aware that it is there, it becomes part of your life. Its very rounded shape brings out the nature of the materials used.”

The gorgeous Elo hardware is also available as (European) sockets, two-way switches and push buttons so you can update virtually every ugly plastic plate in the house. All of them are infinitely more stylish and eye-catching than those boring white rectangles found in almost every structure today. The Realitem Elo decorative wall switches are available at the company’s website for €45-€55 (about $51-$62) in the color and material ranges pictured here.

Admittedly, they’re not for everyone (or at least every decor style.) If you were remodeling your house, would you choose something totally outside the box like these, or go for a more classic or subtle look?

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