Costco Connection - February 2012

I don’t have to pay people to change the bulbs.” That’s music to the ears of the Department of Energy, which is working hard to educate the public about the benefits of LED lamps. To help consumers figure out which new bulbs to buy, all regular lamps must begin to use the new Lighting Facts label. Similar in purpose and style to the nutrition labels found on most packaged food, the Lighting Facts label ( www.ftc.gov/lightbulbs) points out the amount of light created by the lamp, lists the bulb’s estimated yearly energy cost, how long the bulb is expected to last, its appearance (from warm- to cool-colored light), its lumens and how many watts it uses. Lumens indicate how bright a bulb is. Watts indicate energy use.

“We want consumers to make their buying decisions based on the amount of light created by a lamp, not the watts used to power it,” says Kathleen Hogan, the Department of Energy’s deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency.

Joel Oppenheimer is one person for whom the decision to go LED is already made. He reports, “I’ve bought 150 LED lamps so far, and started to put them in my house as well. You can buy these today, and you’re done.” C

Eric Taub writes about energy and technology for The New York Times and other publications.

Buyer’s pıck

Lester Cox Buyer, Hardware

WE’VE ALL SEEN the car key fob that unlocks or locks a car door from a distance. Imagine the convenience of having a fob that can do the same thing for your home.

With SimpliciKey™, all you have to do is press a button on a remote-control key fob to lock or unlock your door, allowing you to open the door if your arms are full or you need to get indoors quickly without fumbling for a key.

The SimpliciKey features an electronic keypad, hidden beneath a brushed metal sliding keypad cover, that lets you and family members enter a unique code (it stores up to 16) to lock or unlock the door without keys, although standard keys are also included.

The encrypted transmission of the remote control dard keys are also included.

ensures that convenience does not compromise security. Powered by four AA batteries (which last a full year when used 20 times a day), SimpliciKey does not require any hard wiring or additional drilling, allowing easy installation when you replace your old mechanical lock.

Just remove the deadbolt and use the existing deadbolt holes to install SimpliciKey in 20 minutes or less.

SimpliciKey is now offered at most Costco warehouses, with the added value of an extra key fob. C e

The SimpliciKey system lets you use the remote key fob, a key or the keypad hidden underneath a sliding cover to lock or unlock the deadbolt.

You may not see them, but they are in the air you breathe.

Allergens such as mold spores, pollen and even dust mite debris are ;oating in the air that you and your family breathe. Filtrete® Air Cleaning Filters from 3M are electrostatically* charged to attract and capture airborne allergens from the air passing through the ;lter.