Highlights From the 2012 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show

Timothy How does the U-Socket save energy and / or energy costs
exactly ?

papahawaii It auto senses if electricity is needed or not, for the USB ports, if nothing is connected, it will turn itself off, if power is required it will turn on, is how they explained that they save electricity.

kateskouros i was going to ask if there was anyone who would install a separate child's sink two feet off the ground. and then i thought about it. yes, there probably is but it still wouldn't be a very smart idea.

farahman01 hmmm... cost of a seperate built in sink that's lower to the ground vs. the cost of a step stool??? well... decision is pretty simple in my book. Also the lower sink will, like all my kids' clothing, be eventually useless. Now you're left with a 6 foot teenager with back problems from bending too low to wash his/her hands. I'd rather spend on really nice floors, stone, art... Hell even overpriced italian furniture beats built-ins with a shelf life parrallel to that of a growing child.
U-sockets are nice!

embracegrace We love the idea of the U-sockets, but they won't pass code in Ohio, so we couldn't put them in our new house.

hiridge Interesting...what is the cost comparison of recycled glass counters and granite? Per sq ft price?

comphyshopper GFI outlets are only required around water. These are more designed for the office area or anywhere you would store your electronics.

tia66m Yeah, the u-socket is probably meant to be installed in the kitchen ... on the counter where everything gets dumped (but not near the kitchen sink) ... as opposed to the bathroom which requires the GFCI outlet. This guy I know DYI installed the u-socket in his kitchen. Looks great! Would love it for the home office, the front foyer, mudroom and in the bedroom.

griffnet I think a better AC outlet adapter for kitchens can be found with Mockett (re: http://www.mockett.com ) check out the catalog and look for the retractable kitchen grommet that has three sockets and is waterproof for kitchen use.

nasafemme I love the interchangeable backsplash panel. It took me such a long time to figure out what to do with area above the cooktop. This would have been a great option for me.

Futuro Futuro Kitchen Range Hoods Re kids outgrowing the "kid sink" - wouldn't it be possible to take out the sink & replace the countertop with a solid surface, creating a useful surface for displaying / storing stuff?

proegos Forget about the "energy saving" quality of the U-Socket. The only advantage to this product is that you have a USB connection port right at your outlet. NO ELECTRICAL OUTLET CONSUMES ANY ENERGY unless there is something demanding energy from it. Most likely they claim they save energy, as opposed to the usual way we charge our electronics: iPods, iPads, iPhones, etc: We leave their chargers hooked up to the plug even when the device is not there. The charger is in fact a small transformer/rectifier that theoretically would use some minimal energy to operate. This amount of energy is neglectable and the U-Socket will be consuming it too (as it also has an internal transformer/rectifier), once your device is plugged in

bubblyjock Is that interchangeable backsplash machine-washable?

griffnet I posted an earlier comment on the Mockett AC outlet adapter (re: http://www.mockett.com ) . We renovated our kitchen and completely redid our kitchen island and incorporated the use of the Mockett adapter. See photos, sorry one is a bit blurry but shows the unit collapsed.