Linq Smart Vents on Kickstarter

The results of home automation are glamorous. They make our homes seem like something out of a sci-fi novel, adapting to our every whim and anticipating our every move. The actual pieces that create that effect however, are often anything but glamorous. Strange sensors embedded in walls, wires running every which way. Light switches, door hardware, it's all very boring stuff we tend to try not to think about. And there's a new home automation product on Kickstarter that's going one step further: The Linq Smart Vents.

These devices aim to replace the vents attached to your AC and heating system. A very un-glamorous part that we never think about. But, like many of the stranger home automation devices out there, what they do is really interesting.

All AC vents have switches that allow you to open and close them, giving each room of your house more or less air. In my house, we typically use that vent once or twice a year, maximum. It's kind of a pain to adjust, and I usually never think about it. The Linq system can also open and close, allowing more or less air into a room. But it can do it via a battery powered motor, controlled by a hub. And it can do it automatically.

Why would you want this? It may not be obvious at first, but think about it. You're only ever using one or two rooms of your home at once. Yet your AC system is heating or cooling the entire house. Why should it? That's wasted money. Linq has built in motion and temperature sensors that can detect which rooms you're actively using at any given moment, directing airflow to those rooms while cutting off the others. It focuses your AC's efforts, and based on their studies, saves you a boatload of cash.

It had better save you cash, because it's going to cost quite a bit to get into this system. A package on Kickstarter with just four cents is $350, with each extra vent after that costing another $50. But you have to admit, for such a weird part of your home, it's pretty darn cool, no?