Timothy Bingham found life just a little stressful with his wife and daughter’s constant usage of electrical gadgets. Especially that "dad-blasted curling iron," as Timothy put it. It seems that his daughter could never remember to turn it off when she was done with it. But there were other appliances as well. For example, the closet lights were constantly left on. His wife had been known to forget to turn off the iron from time to time. Then there’s that coffee maker. Many’s the day that the coffee pot sat on a hot burner completely empty for the day while he and his wife were at work, and their daughter was at school.

"I am concerned about the safety issues related to appliances left plugged in and left hot," Timothy said. "And I’m also aware of the ecological cost of power being consumed." So he figured out a way to keep tabs on all the appliances.

He implemented an ActiveHome macro that systematically shut down the electrical outlets in the bathroom and utility rooms. And he made sure that the coffee maker was on this macro as well. The macro was set to shut everything down only a few minutes after everyone left the house. That way if anyone forgot anything, ActiveHome would make sure that it was taken care of. And later on that evening, when it was getting time for the family to come home from their various duties, the macro would turn the outlets back on, and if anything was left on that shouldn’t have been, they could turn it off that evening. And should they make other plans for the evening, such as a dinner date, or some event, Timothy or his wife could go up to their ISP and change the time when the outlets should come on.

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