Monday, December 21, 2009

Cooking Safety

Laurie Orlov (http://www.ageinplacetech.com/ )was kind enough to provide a link for a home safety device in a comment to my last post. I thought I would add it here to ensure it gets noticed. This is an aftermarket device that can be added to improve safety for electric ranges. It is the latest generation of a type of product that has been on the market for awhile and certainly is something to consider.

However, a point I was trying to make is that features like this are more effective and generally more functional when they are designed into the product in the first place. The nice thing about the fire fighting faucet is that the technology is integrated so it looks better and works continuously in the background. Similarly, more faucets could be designed that inherently limit the scald risk. And devices like stove could have better safety features built in--is it this type of technical advancement I'm hoping to see (at affordable levels)

Until then, the aftermarket solutions will have to do.

http://www.cookstop.com/


Friday, December 11, 2009

Smart technology that protects everyone

I came across this article in the NY Times today about a faucet that fights fires. Seems that the faucet is linked to a fire alarm. When the alarm trips, a special valve opens and a pump under the sink produces high pressure jets of fine mist. This mist immediately turns to steam around the fire and robs it of oxygen, putting the fire out.

I would love to see (read that as I have been WAITING to see)technology built into stoves that can sense when a pot gets too hot or when one has been left unattended for too long and lowers the temperature. That would be a better first line of defense. But having seen the effects of fires caused by overheated pots and pans or even unattended air poppers and other countertop appliances, this device will be a nice, non-intrusive approach to solving one of the worst after effects of "a senior moment."

http://tinyurl.com/y9zxxu8