Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
This is so cool. I bought my first LED house light this afternoon.
I had a small Home Depot list going on, so I thought I would do a little shopping today. This morning, I told Laura that I was going to head up the Glastonbury to get some stuff and she informed me that the night light bulb went bad last night. We like to have a night light in the hallway to avoid falling down the stairs when it’s dark. I put that on my list and off I went.
I knew that an LED bulb was the way to go, especially for this application. Since the night light is so far away from us when we are sleeping, the light the bulb gives off doesn’t need to be necessarily “pretty.” I think LED bulbs have a long way to go in that department.
The only thing I was concerned about was whether or not the Depot had any LED night light bulbs.
When I got to the store and the bulb area, I didn’t see any of the bulbs I was interested in. I actually had a 4-pack of the regular incandescent bulbs in my hand and was ready to stand up to put them in the cart, when I saw the little LED bulbs to my right. I think the 4-pack of incandescent bulbs were $3 and change and the 2-pack of LED bulbs were about the same. When I read that the incandescent bulbs had a life of 3,000 hours each and the LED bulbs had a life of 50,000 each, the decision was a no-brainer.
The really cool thing is that each bulb only costs $.25 cents per year to use. Now, you please tell me if that’s a good deal or not. I have absolutely no idea how much it costs to run a night light. I am sure there are some hours involved here because people don’t really keep night lights on all day long. Either way, $.25 sounded good, even if it was creative marketing.
Here are some photos of the LED night light bulbs.
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Eternalite LED bulb package
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Three LEDs in the LED bulb
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LED night light giving off blue light
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Monday, March 16th, 2009
Yesterday, I was out cruising around when a funny thing happened. The gas warning light came on.
I knew I was running low and that I needed to fill up. It’s not so strange that the gas light went on…that’s happened a million times to me. I really hate to stop for gas. The strange thing is that a warning “type” light went on in the instrument panel on the dash. For a while, I didn’t know what it was and why it turned on. Today, I made an effort to reset it and discovered a few things in the process.
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Average fuel consumption indicator lamp – 2008 BMW X5 3.0si
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Cruising range indicator lamp – 2008 BMW X5 3.0si
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Average speed indicator lamp – 2008 BMW X5 3.0si
The light that turned on was actually the “Cruising Range” indicator lamp. I am guessing that the minute the low fuel lamp comes on in these cars, the cruising range light comes on telling the driver how many more miles they are able to drive on the fuel left in the fuel tank. I think that’s pretty nifty.
When I was buying this car, the sales guy kept telling me, “Jay, there is so much engineering in this thing, you can’t even imagine.” It’s weird, because I keep discovering things that just make sense. It’s a very intuitive vehicle.
While I was sitting in the parking lot of Whole Foods in Glastonbury this afternoon, I read all about the computer displays in the instrument panel on page 73 of the owner’s manual. There are a few options you can check out by clicking the “BC” button on the turn signal lever.
If you take a look at the photos above, you will see photos of the cruising range, average speed and average fuel consumption (not necessarily in that order) indicator lamps on the instrument panel. A while back, I discovered a few of these features in the i-Drive system, but this is like a little short-cut to the simple views.
I know this post doesn’t really make sense or good reading to many of you who might be looking at this, but I did get some response from the last post I wrote about the various features that BMW offers in their newer models. I’m just writing for the interested. Tomorrow, I will probably be back to lawn care.
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Sunday, March 8th, 2009
Every year, many of us get a little tickle in the stomach when we set the clock back for daylight saving time. It’s basically the activity that tells us winter is pretty much over and spring is about to begin.
As I have mentioned over and over, I hate short days. This extra hour is going to add a little something to my life. No longer will we have to go for our walks in early afternoon. Now, we can head out at 5PM or 6PM. Each day, we can go a little later. During the summer months, we walk even later than that, but our reasoning is basically to avoid sweating as much as possible.
I woke up this morning to see that 99% of the snow is gone. It melted overnight. That is very good. Also, I think the ground is defrosting because the lawn is feeling softer under my feet. I am already starting my mid-morning strolls around the yard looking at nothing. During yesterday’s stroll, I was greeted by a little surprise. Oh no…out comes the camera.
Could this be a Daffodil sprouting?
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Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
If you live in the northeast and haven’t looked out the window yet, let me be the one to tell you that it’s snowing again. Ah yes, the snow.
I was talking to my sister last night and mentioned that I have pretty much isolated the things I don’t like about winter. I told her it’s the darkness and the overcast skies. The past week has been cold and sunny here and I have been totally fine. Neither the snow nor the cold bother me in the least. The main thing that gets me down is the darkness and it is actually starting to get lighter in the evening now. Come March and daylight savings, we’ll be back in business.
I crawled out of bed this morning and was really hoping to play tennis. I took one look out the window and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t happening. I began my usual morning routine with tennis completely out of my mind. Then, the phone rang. It was the tennis club asking me if I would be coming to the clinic if they could gather enough people. I said yes and hopped in the shower. I was excited to drive in the snow again and to play some of the game I love so much.
Well, while I was in the shower, the tennis club called back and informed me that there would, in fact, be no clinic this morning. That’s a shame, because I really enjoy the Wednesday clinics.
The lady who called me was worried that I had already left, because I didn’t answer the phone. She showed such concern and sincerity. I loved that. She is really nice anyway, and I really like her. I gave her a call back to let her know that I was only in the shower and for her not to worry. She chuckled, I chuckled. It was like a chucklefest.
So, that’s my story. I almost played tennis today.
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Saturday, January 24th, 2009
Colleges turn french fry oil into fuel
Students have begun making bio diesel fuel by converting used cooking oil from the dining hall.
Overcoming Information Overload
Daniel Tammet: “Our world is generating more information with more resources and technology now than at any time in history: through TV and radio programs, cell phones, magazines, email, websites, blogs, and other media… Being overwhelmed by a continuous maelstrom of information can be just as damaging to our minds as having too little of it…”
Dark flow: Proof of another universe?
For most of us the universe is unimaginably vast. But not for cosmologists. They feel decidedly hemmed in. No matter how big they build their telescopes, they can only see so far before hitting a wall. Approximately 45 billion light years away lies the cosmic horizon, the ultimate barrier because light beyond it not has not had time to reach us.
Sweden’s Fix for Banks: Nationalize Them
The Swedes have a simple message to the Americans: Bite the bullet and nationalize. With Sweden’s banks effectively bankrupt in the early 1990s, a center-right government pulled off a rapid recovery that led to taxpayers making money in the long run.
War against ivory trade takes to the sea
It’s the “other” ivory. And this week, conservationists in London stepped in to stop its sale. It might not be as well known as the stuff that comes from elephants, but the ivory from the narwhal, the tusked whale of the northern seas, is just as much in demand – and with that demand comes a threat just as severe as the one elephants face.
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Sunday, January 18th, 2009
I hope you forgive me for typing this post with dirty hands. I just got finished cleaning out the St. Croix Prescott EXL pellet stove.
Actually, I gave it more than a regular cleaning, I gave it more like one of those seasonal cleanings that everyone says you should do, but no one does. I even took some pictures.
The reason for this post is really to follow up from a comment left by “Linda” over at my original pellet stove post.
Apparently, many fine pellet stove owners out there are having issues with their #2 light blinking. I received tons of great comments on my other post regarding this. We have all been looking for the answer. Linda offered a lot of insight, so I decided to give her ideas a try. I think the main point of her comment was to say that cleaning out behind the “ash clean out covers” is very important. I thought I had been doing that, but she mentioned that what I was doing, wasn’t enough.
Okay, so let’s get going. I am going to show you some pretty interesting photos in this post…photos that are hard to find. Sure, there are tons of good pellet stove shots out there, but usually when people start cleaning out their stoves, they forget all about the camera. Not me, my friends. Not me.
I first went downstairs and shut the stove down. When it cooled itself and shut all the way down, I unplugged it. That’s very important, so make sure you do it. After that, I gave it a quick once over to make sure there were no large piles of ash anywhere. I didn’t give it a good cleaning, because I just did that yesterday. It didn’t need to be done again. I did push some ash into the ash pan and empty it though.
What I want to show you here are those ash clean outs that the owner’s manual talks about so much. I just realized this morning that there are about 4 warnings to keep these things clean. I guess it’s pretty critical. I have been doing this every time I clean the stove, so I really didn’t think I needed to do it again. Linda mentioned that we should be cleaning these out with a bottle brush or something like that to really clean them well. Good thing I had bought one of the bottle brushes from Lowe’s a while back. It’s really made for a fireplace or stove, but I was using it to clean bottles for my home brew.
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Left pellet stove clean out cover – closed
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Left pellet stove clean out – open
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Cleaning the pellet stove clean out with a bottle brush – straight up
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Pushing bottle brush into pellet stove clean out – towards center
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Right pellet stove clean out with ash showing
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St. Croix Prescott EXL exhaust fan
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Fan blades of a pellet stove exhaust fan
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St. Croix Prescott pellet stove exhaust vent
Notice how there really isn’t too much ash in there? I’m talking about inside the hole. I just vacuumed this out yesterday, but I can imagine what it would look like if someone never cleaned these out. Probably like a packed wall of ash.
I didn’t take pictures of the right side, because it is identical to the left side.
By pushing the brush straight up, I didn’t get all that much ash to come out. There really wasn’t all that much up there. By pushing it sideways, I got a little bit more. I’ll show you in the next photo.
To get the pile of ash in the photo above, I basically pushed the bottle brush straight through, from the left side to the right side. I actually saw the brush coming through the right side.
I figured that was done, since I saw all that ash coming out. I decided to move on to clean out the exhaust fan. This is one of those things the book tells you to call the dealer for. It took me about 15 minutes to do the whole job, so it’s up to you.
To remove the fan, I took off the 6 nuts that surround the motor. I believe I used a 9mm 6-point tall socket. I also removed the vacuum hose and took off the vacuum switch wires as well as the fan wires. After everything was removed, the motor and fan popped right out.
With the fan in hand, it was easy to clean the blades (if you call them that). You can use an old paint brush or a rag or something like that. Just get the ash off the blades. The owner’s manual says this fan does not require oiling.
I also decided to take a photo of the rear part of the exhaust vent. This is one of those things we always wonder about, but unless you have taken a pellet stove apart, you will most likely will never see.
As you can see, there wasn’t really too much ash buildup on either the fan or the exhaust vent. I brushed them off and put everything back together. I lit the stove up and watched it burn for a while. I haven’t yet put the wires back on the vacuum switch. I still have them jumped. I’m not sure I have the heart to go through that again, since the stove has been running so wonderfully the way I have it now.
Questions, comments, concerns?
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Saturday, January 10th, 2009
Did anyone else see the moon last night? I wanted to grab a photo, but gave up because I knew it would never work.
Lately, we have been walking after dark. While this is not the safest thing to do, it’s nice because it’s peaceful. 20 degrees during the day is the same 20 degrees at night, so it really doesn’t make too much of a difference when we walk during winter.
On our way back last night, we rounded a bend and I saw my shadow on the road. The road was all lit up, which struck me as kind of odd, because I didn’t remember seeing a street light around anywhere. When I looked back to look for the light, all I saw was the moon. Holy smokes.
I informed Laura of my discovery and she was just thrilled. Eh hem. Yeah right. I got more of something like, “Oh really?” She is so polite.
I just want to say that last night had the brightest moon I have ever seen. Later on in the night, when I was looking out the window to the backyard, I saw all the oak tree branch shadows very clearly. The snow made it even more pronounced.
I think aliens may have something to do with it, but you didn’t hear that from me.
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Friday, October 17th, 2008
In Downturn, Solar Industry Sees Bright Days Ahead
People in the solar industry are hopeful that the sun is a good place to put money these days. To be sure, the financial crunch is rippling through even the fast-growing solar business: With falling house prices and general belt-tightening, consumers may be more reluctant to purchase solar panels.
The New Prius Looks Like the Old Prius
Toyota confirms photos making the rounds of the interwebz are are indeed shots of the 2010 Prius that no one was supposed to see until the Detroit auto show in January.
New Solar Hybrid Panels Will Boost Efficiency and Power
The new hybrid material – an electrically conductive plastic combined with metals including molybdenum and titanium – is the first that is sensitive to all the colours in the rainbow, allowing it to absorb all the energy contained in visible light at once.
Special Report: How Our Economy Is Killing The Earth
Most of us accept the need for a more sustainable way to live, by reducing carbon emissions, developing renewable technology and increasing energy efficiency. But are these efforts to save the planet doomed?
Could Solar Power Satellites Beam Down Gigawatts of Energy?
How pie-in-the-sky is Ben Bova’s space satellite scheme? Mr. Bova, the president emeritus of the National Space Society and a prolific science fiction author, calling on the next president to build an armada of solar power satellites (SPS) — basically large accumulations of solar cells — to help meet a substantial chunk of our energy needs.
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Sunday, October 12th, 2008
European Union Bans Incandescent Light Bulbs
The switch to energy-saving bulbs was approved by EU ministers this past week. Advocates claim that replacing the worst-performing lamps with today’s best available technology will reduce domestic energy consumption for lighting by 60 percent; equivalent to preventing 30 million tons of CO2 pollution every year.
Is Cheaper Oil A Good Thing?
It has plummeted nearly 40% in just three months, from about $147 a barrel in July to below $83 on Friday, with no obvious bottom in sight. If that sounds good, you are probably a driver who winces these days at filling your gas tank. But the downward spiral could mean trouble for oil-rich countries and for the environment.
2010 Toyota Prius Adds Muscle at Expense of Fuel Efficiency
A Toyota spokesperson said the changes were to increase the vehicle’s mass-market appeal, but with the changing economy and increased concern for the environment, it remains to be seen whether top speed will be among buyers’ concerns.
Introducing the World’s Largest Solar Powered Winery
The largest solar installation of any winery in the world is set to be built for Constellation Wines’ Gonzalez winery in Monterrey County, CA by Pacific Power Management.
Exposing the Bi-Partisan Myth of Clean Coal
There’s at least one topic the candidates in the US elections won’t be wrangling over: so-called “clean†coal. That’s because they all support it.
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Friday, August 29th, 2008
There is something that really bugs me about myself. I think I’ll tell you what it is. My brother has the same problem. We I get something in my head, it rarely leaves until I satisfy it. Many times, it has to do with a project I am doing and it involves me going to the store to buy something. I am a pig.
With that said, I decided to beef up the landscape lighting I installed the other day. I mean, it looked good and all, but I didn’t think it was enough. Ever since I went to Punta Cana and saw what the resort did with landscape lighting, I have been intrigued. I like the effects of landscape lighting at night. In my humble opinion, it’s really cool.
Now, I know you remember the six landscape lights that I set up just the other day. I bet you thought that was pretty cool. Well, that was nothing and personally, I thought it was a bit wimpy.
I decided to go back to Home Depot to get six more lights, but this time I got six Malibu low voltage flood lights. They are wicked cool. I also had to upgrade the 121 watt power pack to a 300 watt power pack because there were more lights in the system. That wasn’t hard, it just cost more money. By the way, if anyone wants to set up their own landscape lighting system and needs a 121 watt power pack (good for about ten low voltage lights), let me know and I will give you the old one.
So now, we have six low voltage sidewalk lights and six low voltage flood lights that face up towards the house.
Take a look at what I’m talking about…
Home landscape lighting
Home landscape lighting
Home landscape lighting
Home landscape lighting
How cool is that? Just a few lights brought the place from dark and boring to warm and inviting. I think it looks great, but would love to hear what you think.
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