Panasonic Electric Rug Might Save A Lot of Energy
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 08.28.07
Panasonic has introduced electric radiant rugs into the Japanese market. Normally we would say this is just another electricity waster, but we used to have prototypes for a heated carpet that never went into production, and until we gave them up after the rubber backing started drying out they were absolutely wonderful; even if the house was at 55 degrees one could sit on that rug and feel warm as toast. The kids and the cat were glued to it. A 2 tatami mat sized rug is rated at 500 watts, but heats up to 114 degrees, which is way more than you need for comfort. Our old one drew 200 watts and was more than enough.
Why heat the whole house when toasty feet are all you need? Panasonic, bring those rugs to North America. ::Freshome
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SOMEONE SCREWED UP ROYALLY! aLL THOSE THAT HAVE INTEREST IN THIS PRODUCT BEWARE WHEN YOU CLICK ON THE FRESHOME LINK. IT TAKES YOU TO ANOTHER ARTICLE PAGE AND IF YOU CLICK ON THE LINK TO "RUG" IT TAKES YOU TO AN APPALLING SITE!!!!!! WHOS THE IDIOT?? I WILL NOT BE SUPPORTING WHOEVER FRESHOME IS!!!!!!!!!!!!
LA: Freshome subscribes to a service called contentlink which is like a built in google ad. they are annoying and can take you almost anywhere.
Re: my last comment... be aware the rug link toggles between different rug sites. One time the site could be a normal rug site, then when you refresh the page.. IT LINKS YOU TO HIGHSIERAFURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE REMOVE THE POST TREEHUGGER
I spent some time in Japan a few years ago (during the cold months) and was impressed at how efficiently they carved out little "islands of warmth" in their homes. One simple example is the use of electric blankets. I stayed in a cabin where the heat was completely turned off at night and all I had was the electric blanket. Very efficient (why heat the whole house); of course, this was in the north...and it was just above freezing inside (makes night-time trips to the toilet rather jaunty).
This looks like a good way to "zone" heating in one's house if you can't readily re-work the whole existing system.
What about the noxious fumes this thing will put in the air in your home? The formaldehyde in regular carpet is bad enough...so then you heat it up so it emits carcinogenic fumes. I'll take a putting on a blanket when I'm cold any day over breathing cancer causing fumes.