IBS Roundup

Innovative new products from the International Builders’ Show

In February, Insight spent time at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando. We aimed to unearth new and clever product ideas builders could use to help differentiate their homes.

With thousands of products on display, there were plenty to choose from; however, we focused on products that seemed to offer unique benefits. Here we present 10 innovative new products designed to appeal to today’s home buyers.

After-Bath Luxury
At the Jacuzzi booth, company president Phil Weeks described his firm as "a feel-good company." In a time when consumers increasingly buy experiences, anything that makes them feel good will help a home stand out. That's the philosophy behind its new Home Spa Towel Warming Drawer, which fits into a new or existing cabinet and has specially designed heat-generating poles. The poles won't dry wet towels, but they will heat dry ones to a toasty 120 degrees in 15 minutes. The drawer is offered in 24-inch ($1,980) and 42-inch ($2,590) sizes, and it is powered by a standard 115-volt outlet.
www.jacuzzi.com

Panoramic Flames
The Xtreme Fireplace by Fireplace Xtrordinair should appeal to buyers who like a touch of drama in their homes. It offers a truly different visual experience than other residential fireplaces. "We wanted to offer something chic, unique and nontraditional," says company president Kurt Rumens. Not only does the fireplace have a panoramic viewing area (5 feet by 2 feet), it also boasts a unique burner design. Rather than using the ceramic logs found in most gas fireplaces, the base of the model we saw was lined with shards of broken glass. Firelight is refracted through the glass and reflected off the brushed stainless-steel liner. The manufacturer says another option is a river-stone floor for a more organic, refined look and feel. The fireplace's 95,000 Btu heat output can be directed into two heating ducts serving different parts of the house, or it can be vented to the outside. Hand-held and wireless wall-mounted controls are available and will regulate all functions including power, temperature and flame height. The fireplace is scheduled for national distribution in fall 2007. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) should be about $5,000.
www.fireplacex.com

Gentle Giants
If you offer washer-and-dryer combos with your homes, your buyers might like the option of upgrading to one that saves water, is gentler on clothes and makes less noise. Miele rolled out a new line of Honeycomb Care super-large-capacity washers that offer all of these benefits. Sensors inside the 4-cubic-foot washer determine whether it's holding a full load of clothes or just a sweater, and set the water level and time accordingly. Direct-mount technology stabilizes the drum during spin cycles. The washer’s MasterCare system offers 11 single-button wash settings, including programs for specific types of items: outerwear, beach towels, dress shirts and comforters, for example. Drums in the washer and dryer have a honeycomb pattern stamped into their surface, which Miele claims will extend the life of clothing by a factor of four. Much wear and tear is caused when clothes rub against, or are sucked into, the drums’ water and air exit holes, and the honeycomb pattern keeps clothes from coming into contact with these holes. The machines should be available in spring 2007. Price: $1,899.
www.miele.com

Ultimate Source Control
Self-ventilating toilets aren't a new idea — patents for various systems date back at least to 1980 — but try to get one from your local plumbing supplier. We know of one model that appeared on the market a decade ago with ducts venting odors to the outside, but the product quickly disappeared. The problem, according to Scott Pinizetto, CEO of San Francisco-based Brondell, has always been that these systems were too complex and too expensive. That's why he made sure that his company's new Breeza Vented Toilet Seat is simple and can be retrofitted to nearly any toilet. The back of the Breeza includes an internal fan and a carbon filter that the company claims can absorb 80 percent to 100 percent of odors. There's also an optional aromatherapy insert. The seat comes in unheated ($169) and heated ($199) models. The former runs on D-cell batteries, while the latter requires an AC outlet within 4 feet of the toilet. The company is marketing the seats to builders as an upgrade. A builder’s plumbing contractor can order the seats through plumbing suppliers.
www.brondell.com

Food Server
Gaggenau's Lift Oven is unique as well as practical. The 24-inch oven is meant to be hung on a wall — without a cabinet — which opens up placement possibilities in small spaces, and lets people with large homes put a secondary oven in a bar or entertainment area. But the oven's signature feature isn't its size; it's the ceramic base and frame that lower 18 inches from the bottom of the oven to present food to the user. Gaggenau says the oven offers "commercial grade cooking, with 11 heating methods, automatic programming, precise electronic temperature control and a self-cleaning program. And it's sleek enough to appeal to status seekers. Look for it in July 2007 at a cost of $3,300.
www.gaggenau.com

Fit-Anywhere Coolers
Refrigerators and freezers are really just chilled cabinets. Since cabinets come in all sorts of widths, shouldn't there be a market for odd-sized refrigerators and freezers? The people at Thermador think so; which is why they developed the Freedom Collection Refrigerator and Freezer Columns. Although the product line was officially introduced last year, the manufacturer continues to expand it by offering 24-inch- and 30-inch-wide refrigerator columns, as well as 18-inch, 24-inch and 30-inch freezer columns. MSRPs range from $2,899 to $6,999. New at the show are wine columns, which should be available in March 2007.
www.thermador.com

Keeping the Lights On
With power outages and unstable energy prices a staple of the nightly news, Washington, D.C.-based Gridpoint sees a bright market for its Protect and Connect series energy management appliances. Both versions provide instantaneous backup power during an outage, while the Connect will also link to a solar PV or other renewable-energy system. In fact, the Connect includes all the "balance of systems" components needed by a renewable system, including an inverter to convert DC power to AC. Each model consists of a 52-inch-high cabinet that houses a bank of telecom-grade lead-acid batteries and a set of power electronics. It's wired between the home's main circuit panel and a subpanel. If the lights go out, it provides instantaneous backup power to selected circuits on the subpanel. The company estimates eight to 10 hours of backup time for a typical set of circuits (a refrigerator, a well or sump pump, an air handler, and a circuit with a computer and a few lights). Homeowners can manage the subpanel's power use via an online portal: If they have time-of-day electrical rates, for instance, they can direct certain appliances, such as a pool pump, to run only when rates are lowest. The price is $11,000.
www.gridpoint.com

Practical Solar
Chico, Calif.-based FAFCO’s new Revolution system could actually make solar hot water a practical alternative for mainstream builders. It can be installed by a builder's regular construction crew, and can cut homeowners' hot-water portion of heating bills in half, averaged nationally. (Actual savings will vary according to energy prices, climate and the temperature of the groundwater.) The system uses a polymer collector that's unrolled on the roof and fastened in place using proprietary hardware. A section cut from the collector resembles a row of thin plastic straws laid side by side, with each joined to the next at the ends to form a continuous loop. Tiny dimples in the collector's surface create a slight amount of turbulence in the water, which ensures it's evenly warmed. According to Freeman Ford, FAFCO's founder and CEO, the panels are a proven technology, with about 1.5 million of them used worldwide for heating swimming pools. However, he says, this is the first time they have been offered for heating hot water in the home. The system also includes a drain-back tank, a circulation pump, a controller and flexible tubing with self-locking connectors. The revolution is an indirect system: Cold water is pumped to the panels at low pressure, heated, and returned to a heat exchanger, where it gives up its heat to the home's water supply. When the pump turns off, the water returns to the drain-back tank inside the house. The controller will operate the pump only when the collector is warm enough to raise water temperatures by at least 10 degrees, and it won't pump at all when outside temperatures fall below 36 degrees, eliminating any danger of water freezing on the roof. The cost is about $1,800.
www.fafco.com

Sophisticated Simplicity
Carrier Corp. is planning to introduce a thermostat that looks and acts smart. The company won't officially launch its new EDGE Thermostat until late spring 2007, but one was on display at IBS in the NextGen demonstration home. Carrier intends to market the programmable thermostat as something that a builder can blend into any decor or color scheme. It does this by offering interchangeable faceplates in different colors. Carrier will also tout the thermostat’s ease of use, since it includes a graphic display that makes quick work of setting heating and cooling schedules, as well as a patented EXP (Edge Xpansion Port) card that lets homeowners program the thermostat using their home computer. If the homeowner wants to override the established comfort schedule, or not set one, the unit also includes an option with three simple buttons — Home, Away and Sleep — that correspond to various settings. No pricing is available yet.
www.carrier.com

Affordable Soundproofing
Many of today's home buyers want a quiet retreat where the adults can escape from the noise of contemporary family life. The problem has always been how to give it to them at an affordable price. A few years ago, companies started introducing sound-absorbing drywall that lets builders create such a retreat without using complicated framing procedures, but it was priced at several times the cost of standard drywall. Quiet Solution has responded with a lower-priced product. Its Quiet Rock 510 has an MSRP of a little more than twice the cost of standard drywall. The company says builders who buy in volume can get a 20 percent to 30 percent discount. Quiet Solution claims the product will reduce sound transmission by 75 percent.
www.quietsolution.com