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[#] Fri Jul 14 2017 12:56:26 EDT from fleeb

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We got a different plumbler on the return.

The issue is fixed, but now we have a large hole in the drywall that he had to cut in order to get at the busted pipe.

So, that's fun.

[#] Tue Jul 25 2017 09:40:16 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

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Yeesh. And to think, there are people who don't want to own a single-family home because they don't want to be responsible for all their own maintenance.

[#] Tue Jul 25 2017 12:52:25 EDT from fleeb

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Aaand, the association is charging me for the repair.

So, yeah, that's... nice...

*sigH*

[#] Tue Jul 25 2017 14:40:25 EDT from Ladyhawke

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So Fleeby, if the Association fees do not cover repairs, what exactly DO they cover?



[#] Wed Jul 26 2017 07:28:57 EDT from fleeb

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Their ass, I can only assume.

[#] Wed Jul 26 2017 12:27:57 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

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The association fees cover the cost of the association hiring lawyers when they sue you. So you're paying for both sides.

[#] Wed Jul 26 2017 12:51:58 EDT from Ladyhawke

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<laughs>  Oh, so they are basically HR.  <g>



[#] Fri Jul 28 2017 10:11:38 EDT from fleeb

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If only they showed even that level of competence.

I haven't responded yet... I'm waiting on the manager to return from her vacation, or ... whatever she's doing, before I start the tedious process of asking her what kind of guaranttees we have for the work they performed on the condominium, etc.

[#] Sat Sep 30 2017 23:23:22 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

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Feh. One of our hot water heaters called it quits (and while I was out of town, to boot). This is frustrating because I'm perfectly capable of installing a new one but not in my current physical condition. It's two solder joints and an electric cable. And of course muscling the old appliance out and the new one in, which is the part I can't do right now.

Now I have to decide whether to just have it replaced, or to combine the two levels of the house onto a single one since it's not a two family house anymore. We've grown accustomed to being able to use a lot of hot water at once (laundry and the shower my son uses downstairs, dishwasher and the shower the rest of us use upstairs).

My plumber has been trying to talk me into getting a tankless heater for a very long time. I wonder if now is the time to pull the trigger on that.

[#] Sun Oct 01 2017 11:52:36 EDT from zooer

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Sat Sep 30 2017 11:23:22 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored
My plumber has been trying to talk me into getting a tankless heater for a very long time. I wonder if now is the time to pull the trigger on that. 

Those instant hot water/tankless systems are better in warming climates. In the north during the winter months the water comes into the house at a low temperature. If the water comes into the house at 45° it has to *quickly* heat the water to the recommended 110°-120°F  (43°-49°C) this requires a lot of energy. 



[#] Sun Oct 01 2017 17:52:36 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

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Surprisingly, when I finally spoke to my plumber he suggested that we are better off just replacing what we already have. He's pretty chill (pun optional) and said we can just buy whatever water heater we want at the home store and he'll hook it up. (Again, two solder joints and an electric cable, if I wasn't on crutches right now I could do the work myself, *grml*)

[#] Tue Oct 03 2017 22:49:58 EDT from Freakdog <freakdog@dogpound2.citadel.org>

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Sun Oct 01 2017 11:52:36 AM EDT from zooer @ Uncensored

 

Sat Sep 30 2017 11:23:22 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored
My plumber has been trying to talk me into getting a tankless heater for a very long time. I wonder if now is the time to pull the trigger on that. 

Those instant hot water/tankless systems are better in warming climates. In the north during the winter months the water comes into the house at a low temperature. If the water comes into the house at 45° it has to *quickly* heat the water to the recommended 110°-120°F  (43°-49°C) this requires a lot of energy. 

I live in Indiana and it gets pretty freaking cold in the winter time...my tankless has to push hot water all the way across the house (down from the 2nd floor, through the walls, into the cement slab and up into our shower) and it's been awesome.

The electric heaters are probably less adept and energy efficient when it comes to that quickly heating the water. Mine's gas.



[#] Thu Oct 05 2017 13:09:53 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

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I think that's the case. The electric tankless heaters have about a third of the flow rate of the gas ones. So we just put in a new tank ... with a higher capacity and bigger heating elements than the previous one. My wife and my daughter both like to take baths, and they are very happy.

I'd better check the anode rod on the downstairs water heater before I end up doing this again. :)

[#] Wed Jan 10 2018 12:48:07 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Oof. I just read the treasurer's report from our church which announced that we took in enough $$$ to cover our budget this year. (Normally we try to go as far over as we can, because we do a lot of missions work, and more money means more missions.)

This year's outreach efforts were hampered by the fact that our building unexpectedly needed a completely new roof.

That's pretty funny, because at my old house, I selected the same roofer that we used at the church. And the work he did was terrible; the roof leaked and a lot of it needed to be redone. Now the church building's roof is shot too.

Two years ago had the roof replaced at the new house (I knew it would be needed when I bought it). This roofer did a much better job, used better materials, great workmanship, etc. etc. So hopefully that's the last time I have to deal with roofs for a while. I've been up on this house's roof a couple of times but I'll probably never go up again. I'm pretty much done with ladders. :)

Raised-ranch houses tend to have an overhang in the front, where the main level of the house extends a few feet forward of the foundation. That's where we've hung our Christmas lights the last couple of years. I went with the traditional gutter mount the first year and it was just too treacherous.

So anyway, roofs are teh sux0r. They cost a lot of money and then you don't get to actually enjoy an improvement to the house or building; you just end up not having any more water damage.

[#] Wed Jan 10 2018 18:00:36 EST from zooer

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Thu Jun 02 2016 03:57:19 PM EDT from zooer @ Uncensored

I put an LED light in my bathroom, the fixture has three sockets and there might be another LED brand bulb in it.  For some time after installing the bulb when I turned on the light I would get a bright flash like an incandescent bulb going out.  I am not sure which bulb it came from I just guessed it was the new bulb, I am unsure if it still does this.

In December the bulb in question failed oddly. After shutting off the light fixture one bulb would stay lit for a few minutes at about 30% of its normal output. Turning the lights back on the bulb operated normally.  I replaced the bulb before it completely failed.  



[#] Thu Jan 11 2018 08:27:10 EST from fleeb <>

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I wonder if there's anything to the solar-powercell shingles Tesla supposedly sells (now? soon?).

[#] Thu Jan 11 2018 10:25:17 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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In December the bulb in question failed oddly. After shutting off the
light fixture one bulb would stay lit for a few minutes at about 30%
of its normal output. Turning the lights back on the bulb operated
normally.  I replaced the bulb before it completely failed.  

Is the fixture controlled by a switch that glows with a neon bulb when switched off?

I have those all over my house. They're built with incandescent bulbs in mind, assuming that the tiny amount of current required by the neon bulb will just use the incandescent filament as "just a piece of wire" at that current.
The problem, of course, is that super-efficient LED will often flicker or even illuminate at that current.

What you're seeing, if you are using this type of switch, is a symptom of the way LED lamps sometimes fail. The bulb in question is made up of some number of emitters wired in series, and when they fail, they shunt to a short circuit. Your "bright flash" is too much current running through the remaining emitter(s), and the "lit for a few minutes at 30%" when the switch is off (again, assuming you have a lighted switch) is the bulb's remaining emitter(s) and the switch's neon bulb in series, trickling a low current and illuminating both.

Cheap LED bulbs aren't worth the money, because they'll fail long before the 50,000 hour service life you should be getting. Buy Philips or Cree.

[#] Thu Jan 11 2018 13:34:41 EST from zooer

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No, it is a standard switch, I thought the bulb must have a capacitor in it.



[#] Thu Jan 11 2018 16:55:26 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Most LED bulbs do use capacitative droppers to bring the mains voltage down to a level that can be used by the LED emitters. Does the bulb still remain lit when unscrewed? That would indicate that the driver circuit does not contain a discharge resistor, or that its discharge resistor has failed.\

(Yes, I spend way too much time watching Big Clive taking apart LED bulbs and lamps on youtube.)

[#] Thu Jan 11 2018 18:05:34 EST from zooer

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The bulb in question was replaced and thrown in the garbage over a month ago. Today I noticed that a bulb in a different fixture flashes when it is first turned on. I will wait until this bulb fails, if it remains lit I will attempt to remove to see if it remains lit after it is removed from the fixture. The fixtures might be on the same circuit, I don't know if it is related to humidity both fixtures are located in a full bath. 



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