| Energy conservation: Meter's running
Plug in your toaster, hair dryer or radio and turn it on, and you can see how much power it draws. There also are more elaborate devices that can measure the power consumption of an entire household, using a current sensor that clamps around the electric cable running into the breaker box. The rate of consumption is then sent wirelessly to a portable display unit. By carrying this unit around the house and switching things on and off, you can see how much power each draws. The Owl, available in the United Kingdom, is one device that works this way. Its portable display can be configured to update every six seconds or once a minute, which helps extend the battery life of the transmitting unit next to the meter. Total household consumption can be displayed in a number of ways: in kilowatts or in cost per hour (provided you enter the cost per kilowatt-hour into the device).
Wine-import company offers Italian brand
KleeNagel Ltd., a Spring Township wine-import firm known for bringing Castle of Dracula Marsecco to the United States has imported a Prosecco — a light, semi-sparkling Italian white wine. Prosecco and Marsecco are bottled by Ottomar Rudolphe Vlad Dracula Prince Kretzulesco, the modern-day royal descendant of the infamous Romanian ruler Vlad Tzepes — on whom Bram Stoker's novel, “Dracula," is based. The wines are available at The Sheraton Berkshire, Wyomissing, and Bube's Brewery, Mount Joy, Lebanon County; and soon will be available at G Lounge, a new nightclub in Philadelphia. Orders also are available through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's special liquor order program by completing an order form in any State Store. l l l Penske Truck Leasing, Green Hills, opened a 12,000-square-foot facility that offers commercial and consumer truck rental services, truck leasing and contract maintenance in Lubbock, Texas.
January Bay Area home sales hit 20-year low
There were fewer than 4,000 homes sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month, the lowest transaction total in 20 years, a real estate information service reported Thursday. In the East Bay, home sales declined year to year in January by at least 39 percent and median sale prices dipped at least 14 percent, according to records of new and resale house and condo sales compiled by DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla. A total of 3,586 homes were sold in the Bay Area last month, down 29.2 percent from 5,065 in December and 41.9 percent from 6,168 in January 2007. The 3,586 sales were the lowest for any month in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Sales have declined on a year to year basis for 36 consecutive months. Prior to last month, the slowest January in the Bay Area was in 1995, when 4,326 homes sold.
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