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I'd really like to kill the heat when I go to bed and have it kick back on about an hour before my alarm goes off. If I owned the thermostat in my apartment, that would be worth the upgrade.

It's only $30. I suggest gifting the upgrade to your landlord and enjoy it for yourself as the current tenant.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Honey...

Some of these self-check outs don't even work like at Lowes on Friday that required a human help/assistance. :(

I've found the fastest way is to cut them at the roots then rake them up. I've used an action hoe to clear out more than one backyard that has overgrown weeds. It acts as a blade that goes just under the surface, you can then rake up the weeds (or however you collect seasonal leaves) and toss them. Since you are killing them at the root, they don't come back. Though whatever seeds are left *may* grow new weeds.

Is there a machine that washes the dishes? That would be news.

There is! Robots that wash dishes are called dish washers

If we weren't inside city limits where there's a no gunfire ordnance I'd have probably already done a very similar thing to his drone.

Keep it clean now :-)

http://www.lowes.com/c/Pressure-washers-Outdoor-tools-equipment-Outdoors

Not really weighing in on the making clothes analogy, but if you wanted a thermostat to control without the cloud. The Vera Lite controller can work independent of the Internet.
http://getvera.com/controllers...

While their site provides conveniences like easier connectivity without port forwarding, the entire setup can be done without any connectivity to their site. Then couple that with Z-Wave devices like this Honeywell Z-Wave Thermostat I looked up (I haven't used it, but have a Trane Z-Wave thermostat and a 2GIG Z-Wave Thermostat):
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hon...

Personally, I've been writing my own node.js based z-wave controller using a Z-Wave USB stick plugged into a Raspberry Pi. But that's only by choice. I ran the Vera Lite for a couple years and it worked fine. Admitted, this is a 2 part solution, but the Vera Lite would be your Z-Wave controller for other devices such as light switches and such. For something you can buy at Lowe's or Home Depot:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_650029...

Thermostat
Home Security System
Bank

How long do I get security updates for any of these devices?

Depends on the manufacturer and carrier. Anywhere from never to for several years or more. Google's "Nexus" devices often have the longest official support but unofficial support/updates through the community is available for long after the manufacturers/carriers have forgotten about the device.

Those things are great - they sell a 3-gang "tandem" that gives you one 220 and two 110 breakers in 2 slots. Most of my 220 circuits are done this way... can make it more of a challenge when a breaker goes bad, but oh well. Last year my heater circuit went bad and so I had to poach from elsewhere in the house until the online order was delivered. None of the local electrical supply places had my odd combination of 220 and 110V 15 and 20 amp circuits.

Here's an example of a "triplex" breaker.

US version: http://www.lowes.com/ProductDi...

I know, the foil hat theory...
But seriously, science backs up that foil works to block RF
(and when done well could approach Faraday cage tightness)...

Phifer 48-in x 100-ft Brite Bronze Copper Screen Wire

Don't forget the windows, if you just cover the walls you lose.

http://www.lowes.com/Search=di...

MB, CA?

To the OP, you can't bury lines; all you can do is bury a duct bank and give a pull string for the telco. Unfortunately, they will require dedicated pathways, so you can't have competing providers in the same conduit or boxes. If they aren't even amenable to that, provide your own network and build an "association clubhouse" at the main street. Get the fastest service (or two) to that point, and distribute out on the network.

I replaced nearly all incandescent bulbs in my house with bulbs similar to these from Lowe's the first few months after I bought it a few years ago. They cost a little under $3 per bulb, so you're off by an order of magnitude there.

They turn on instantly, and it wasn't difficult to get used to the color difference. Anymore, the color quality of incandescent looks odd to me.

My only real gripe is that when I started using CFLs, I learned that the equivalency rating to incandescents in power consumption just isn't right. A 13 watt CFL looks a hell of a lot dimmer than a 60 watt incandescent. Maybe it's just me. I've found 18 watt CFLs to be acceptable replacements for 60 watt incandescents.

You have a valid point about dimmers. That would be one application I'd probably keep incandescents for, but I don't have any dimmers in my house. If I were looking to purchase one, I'd seriously consider a CFL dimmer, but I haven't looked into how much more the upfront cost is.

That being said I don't need the federal government to get me to make decisions that will reduce my power bill, and I find it appalling that the federal government apparently has the power to prohibit the production of a product that does no more harm than eat a little over 3x as much power as a competing product.

What governments should be doing if they want to engage in market manipulation is subsidizing installation of solar panels for roofs. That would probably be more productive than forcing everyone who wants to keeps their incandescents to moving to a bulb that they're not happy with. Hell, it'd probably help the economy, too.

Another thing governments can do is investigate what we would need to build new fission power plants and move away from coal and natural gas. Perhaps some kind of anti-NIMBY legislation and some real critical thinking about how we safely build and operate fission reactors without allowing greed and bean counters from creating disasters.

A third alternative is stopping this nonsense with corn ethanol and promoting biodiesel. Petrolchemicals may be the best way to store energy, corn ethanol is not the best petrochemicals to use for that purpose, and maybe plants are the best way to harvest energy from the sun.

We're consuming energy at an increasing rate as a species, and we're only going to need more and more. That isn't a bad thing. The bad thing is being dependent on fossil fuels. Those are only renewable on scales measured in millions of years, which isn't of much utility to human progress.

Forcing people to use a bulb that, judging by comments here, even the thought of using causes visceral rage will probably be no more than a drop in the bucket compared the above.

At the end of the day, it's your power bill. It's not like you're somehow using incandescants and only being charged for the power consumption of CFLs. Hell, I'd bet certain individuals who seem to be physically incapable of turning a light off once they've left a room would see more of a savings from doing that than switching to CFLs.

Where are you getting your prices from?

Lowes has:

60W equivalent CFL 4-pak - $14.98 or around $3.75 each

The enclosed CFLs are slightly more, but $12?

Not at Lowes: http://www.lowes.com/Search=cfl?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=cfl#!

Not at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/s/cfl+light+bulbs?NCNI-5

LED bulbs at Lowes are closer to your quoted price: http://www.lowes.com/Search=led+bulbs?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=led+bulbs#!

But still there is a 75W equivalent for $19.95.

LED bulbs, however, are "out of this world" at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/s/led%2520light%2520bulbs?NCNI-5

Where are you getting your prices from?

Lowes has:

60W equivalent CFL 4-pak - $14.98 or around $3.75 each

The enclosed CFLs are slightly more, but $12?

Not at Lowes: http://www.lowes.com/Search=cfl?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=cfl#!

Not at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/s/cfl+light+bulbs?NCNI-5

LED bulbs at Lowes are closer to your quoted price: http://www.lowes.com/Search=led+bulbs?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=led+bulbs#!

But still there is a 75W equivalent for $19.95.

LED bulbs, however, are "out of this world" at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/s/led%2520light%2520bulbs?NCNI-5

the Lulz version also uses some screws for structural strength that would be much harder to replace with something non-metallic.

Don't be so certain of that.

Heh... This failure you're showing the video of would have happened with CFLs, LEDs, etc. Anything other than a regular incandescent- and if you exceed the rating of the fixture, you can have a fire there too. I question the determination that LED bulbs in the enclosed fixtures caused the fires- they don't produce enough heat to die and catch fire like is being ascribed. The failure in the video isn't heat related- defective electronics (defective ballasts, etc. can cause fires...).

And, I question the video you're showing us. Strikes me as faked- the squalling noise is arcing in the circuit from 110v AC followed by the LED's failing. IF it was doing as ascribed and not staged, the bulb wouldn't have lit initially on turn-on. Moreover, it's NOT a Sylvania bulb as ascribed in the video- the shown bulb is a $10 Ecosmart bulb from Home Depot- as a Home Depot exclusive.

Shown Bulb

Comparable Bulb from Sylvania purchasable at Lowes

Quite simply, what you linked to is liable to be BS.

A year ago, I had no idea who "Cree" might be.

Then I bought one of these:

http://www.fenixlight.com/viewproduct.asp?id=151

It's the best pocket flashlight I have ever owned. Bright and useful on "low" power (32 Lumens) and very bright on high (105 Lumens). 500 minutes of light (over 8 hours) from a single AA cell on low, or 110 minutes on high. (I'm trusting the manufacturer's numbers here, but I can verify that it actually is bright and lasts a long time.) Anyway, that's a Cree LED, and it doesn't have the horrible bluish tint of older LEDs I have bought in the past.

More recently I bought an Ecosmart light bulb at Home Depot. "Ecosmart" is a Home Depot house brand, and uses Cree LED chips. For $10 I got a light bulb that claims to give equivalent light to a 40 Watt incandescent bulb, but seems brighter than that (I think because it's much more directional; it's in a downward-facing fixture so that's fine).

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202188260/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053

And just two days ago I got a fixture that retrofits a 6" can fixture with an LED light. I bought one with the 2700K color temperature, because I like that better than the "colder" lights (bluer, which actually have higher color temperatures). I walked into the store planning to just buy a bulb for my can light fixture, and now I'm very glad I bought the whole Ecosmart fixture. I found an LED light geek web site, and the guy bought one of these just to do a teardown; he found 5 Cree LED chips inside it. Where I live, the power company is subsidizing these lights, so I only had to pay $20 for this light. This dissipates only 9.5 Watts, yet it's very bright. I love the design: it includes three spring fingers to hold it into place, but if you rotate it the fingers collapse and stop holding it. So two decades from now when the LED stops working, it will be easy to remove.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202240932/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053

So now I want to see Cree make some sort of flush-mount ceiling fixture. I have only found a few flush-mount LED fixtures, and they are all super expensive and I can't find the 2700 K color temperature. I did find one promising looking cheap fixture, but on eBay only and it's an import from China... I have no way to be sure of the quality, other than just buying one and trying it.

My current plans are just to install some fixtures that have air gaps for circulation, so I can use the Phillips LED bulbs (omnidirectional, not directional like the Ecosmart ones). I'm going to install one of these tomorrow and see how we like it. In case the URL doesn't work right, this is a "Project Source 2-Pack White Ceiling Flush Mount" from lowes.com.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_394606-43501-87822-01_0__?productId=3745415

Based on my experience with these lights, we are just on the cusp of these becoming mainstream and common. I've been buying these because they are subsidized, but electronics always gets cheaper over time, and within a couple of years or so LED lights should be cheap enough without subsidy that everyone starts buying them. (Even without the subsidy, they make sense long-term versus incandescent bulbs. If you have incandescent lights, consider LED rather than compact fluorescent.)

P.S. I haven't bought these, but I wish the office where I work would buy them. These are Cree replacement lights for standard fluorescent fixtures. Some companies are making LED lights that are the exact size of a T8 fluorescent bulb, with matching pins; for $60 or $80 or so each bulb, you can replace fluorescents (but you must rewire the fixture to bypass the ballas

No company, huh? Provably wrong. Lowe's Home Improvement does for one.

http://careers.lowes.com/benefits_part.aspx

They look like normal light bulbs that have a huge heat sink on the bottom of them.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_338802-75774-LA19DM/LED_0__?productId=3341246

My use case is these bulbs are replacing 55W bulbs in six in-ceiling can lights. This makes them directional as the light just has to shoot down. The lights are spaced out across my ceiling so this is a best case scenario for LED lights.

If you can only stand 100W bulbs you likely won't find LED lights that match your requirements. I guess you could get a few of the Phillips Natural light lamps to make it seem like you have the sun blaring in your room.

i had a blitz brand gas can, it was a leaky piece of shit and the spout fell apart on me when i was pouring. i don't know the details of the lawsuit but i am not surprised they got sued out of business using such low quality construction for something as hazardous as holding gasoline.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_90258-1362-80033_0__?productId=3126289 this is the nozzle mine had (smaller can not the 5 gallon). parts shattered and flew out from under the handle about 6 months after i got it, while trying to pour gas.

Then you haven't looked very hard. I buy CFLs (2700k color temp) on sale 3 for $4.97 at Lowe's. Excellent color, very close to incandescent. 8000 hr average life. Nearly instant on. Here's a 4-pack of Sylvania 13W(60Weq) 2700k 12,000 hr CFL bulbs for $10.02. If you prefer 3000k or 5000k color temp, they have those too.

This must be why all our quartz space heaters look alike.
(I had the first one, it lasted 2 years before one of the quartz tubes died and became a potential fire hazard)

You can buy 60W equivalents for about $40 right now through Lowes online. I'm using the 40 Watt version, which are only $15 and they're... adequate. I bought 8 and 1 of them wasn't up to snuff (low output).

After 4 months none of them have failed (even though I cracked one of them - it continues to work) and the difference in my electric bill vs last year is noticeable. I estimate I'll recoup my investment in about 6 months. They also put out very little heat, which counts for a lot in the summer.

Of course, now I'm anxious to see what the award-winning 60s are like. I'd really like a brighter living room.

Link

Once it costs more to use a traditional vehicle than an electric or hybrid, that's what people are going to buy without even giving it a second thought.

It's already more expensive to operate a combustion-engine vehicle than an electric one. Pennies per mile, instead of dollars. No oil changes. No gas to buy. Less moving parts, meaning fewer parts replacements. The problem is simply that the industry thrives on all these "problems", leading to our economy being based on their existence.

I've owned an electric lawn mower for 3 years now. The only maintenance I've had to do is replacing the blade because I tried to use it as a bush hog (hint: works no better or worse than a gas-powered mower would). I've saved hundreds of dollars in gas, and it's so much quieter, it's unbelievable. My wife refers to it as "vacuuming the yard". I can hold a conversation with someone while they walk next to the mower, without shouting. It doesn't spew huge clouds of smoke when I fire it up for the first time of the season. It doesn't leak oil or gas all over the place. It doesn't stink of petrochemicals, whether it's in use or not. Less fossil fuel use, less air pollution, less noise pollution...

I paid $250 for the mower, and $50 for a huge extension cord... The new blade was $20 at Lowe's or Home Depot, I don't recall which. Assuming I'd spend $5 on gas for a single mowing, I've saved more just in gasoline over the course of the last 3 years than I've spent on the mower.

Now factor in that electricity is so cheap, I actually use it to not only mow the lawn, but also to "sweep" the sidewalk afterward... makes a pretty good leaf-blower, too. And my electricity bill never even noticed... I think it might have cost me fifty cents for the whole summer.

I have an electric weed-eater, too. Works just as well as the old gas-powered one, except it's about half the weight, and I don't have to mix up gas and oil together to make it run. Oh, and it doesn't wake up the neighbors when I run it at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. Makes a bit of noise, admittedly, but much less than a gas-powered weed-eater. Oh, and I think I paid something along the lines of $40 for it, as compared to the hundred or so it costs for a gas-powered model.

Here, see if this link works for you; it may be tied to my location information, or something, but for me that's a link to Lowe's showing me string trimmers... $30-$70 for electric ones, $100-$240 for gas-powered ones.
Noisy, expensive, heavy, smelly, extra-work (gas-oil mix)... why would I ever want a gas-powered string trimmer again?

Oh, yeah, back to the topic at hand... So, tell me... why aren't we using electric vehicles?

I was thinking about that a while ago.

A rotating laser leveling system like the dewalt uses dual lasers with a 600 feet range and rotates faster then the camera can recover. I was thinking of a way to widen the beam on a vertical axis to flood the cameras I first attempted to insert a filter but lacked any that could readily be used without modification. I then attempted to mount mirrors at various angles but the beam was too narrow.

Then a friend came around with a cop who took him to my house after his car was broken down and stranded on the road. The police have cameras now that read license plate numbers and they can press a single button and it retrieve registration information from it. Anyways, his video display went blank when he pulled in the drive and asked me what I was doing. I said rigging an automatic gate opener and attempted to claim I wanted to open a gate and the garage doors when I entered the drive way plus maybe turn a few light on.

The cop then told me that it was illegal to mount lasers like that to a car. It's covered under the radar jammer laws in which a cop uses laser radar. He also mentioned that it blinded his cameras in the cruiser which is what attracted him to me. He was cool with it but warned me that I could be in some trouble. I mention this because if you do attempt to do it, keep in mind that it might already be illegal in your area and if everyone else is without it, it isn't going to be hard for a cop around you to figure out you have something like that. Especially at night when you can't see them coming.

On the other hand, if you do get something figured out, let me know because I'm still interested. I just don't want a ticket or jail time over it.

I went looking for LEDs for a gift for Christmas. I found some very nice fixtures at Lowes but the bright (1 watt/LED) three fixture string did not have its own switch: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=283277-82850-29110&lpage=noneUtiliTechatLowe's:3-LightBlackUndercabinet/RopeLight

In the end, I bought a desk lamp for about $25 at Target. There is no way to change the 20 (0.25 Watt) LEDs in the lamp, but they are suppose to last 30,000 hours so I would guess that there will be better lamps around before that one needs to be replaced. For sure, the transformer in the lamp isn't likely to last all that much longer than the LEDs. Perhaps the concept of replaceable light bulb needs to be reconsidered.

At the Museum of American History today, at the (otherwise very good) Edison display, I noticed that the "future" technology section did not mention LEDs at all.

Quite seriously - run some optical tube skylights (like this, they come in a wide variety of options) into your working areas. FAR too many companies are wasting energy powering internal lighting when the sun's out. You can always turn on the lights *if* you need them due to a storm.

As an added bonus, you'll start to eliminate health problems - daytime-constant lighting has been proven to mess with your internal cycles and messes up peoples' sleeping patterns, a large part of why sleep disorders are so prevalent in developed countries.

New Belgium, imo the best brewing company in the Unites States, already has those. They also compost their waste and collect the methanol it produces, then burn it to provide 10% of their power needs. The rest of their power comes from wind (i.e. they pay extra for their electricity, at rates that make the local wind power profitable, and that money goes to building more wind generation). What else would expect from a company with a bicycle in its logo?

Quite seriously - run some optical tube skylights (like this, they come in a wide variety of options) into your working areas. FAR too many companies are wasting energy powering internal lighting when the sun's out. You can always turn on the lights *if* you need them due to a storm.

As an added bonus, you'll start to eliminate health problems - daytime-constant lighting has been proven to mess with your internal cycles and messes up peoples' sleeping patterns, a large part of why sleep disorders are so prevalent in developed countries.

Next lame question to waste Brian's time...

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=5386-46-AD50USS&lpage=none

It seems that everyone is concerned about downstream modification, and is completely ignoring the possibility of upstream modification. What if Sprint started modifying upstream http-posts to start a more viral ad distribution system? Not only would they be able to target their customers, they would also be able to target the customers of anyone who could read the post!

This is the reason that we need to push for network neutrality. When the only choices are between a giant douche which alters content and a turd sandwich which alters content, the customer ends up screwed in the end.

The who system runs on DC with a bank of small security batteries. The cameras have the power feed through the cables and I suppose they go through the same DC control panel. Last time the power went out and the generator didn't kick on, the alarm company called me on the cell phone asking if everything was ok. They said they received the signal that the power was off but didn't get the signal from the generator (it is the lower type that runs on natural gas and is automatic)

I'm under the impression they can monitor the house with or without electric except that I cannot connect to it (well though the phones) and they do their communications with it over dry-wire separate from the phone service. The IP address of the website I goto to monitor the cameras isn't my privat IP from my ISP. It is something the alarm company worked out. This isn't a role your own system. It came with the house and I pay for a service to have it monitored. It wasn't installed by brinks but the service is similar to it. I don't think cutting the power and phone lines alone is enough to defeat it. Now cutting a hole in the right wall and making a new door might. The motion sensors are only in a few places. there are switches in every door and window though. But the great thing about the motion sensors are that they can turn the light on and off when you enter a room which is convenient when your hands are full.

I will ask about the video when the power is off. Like I said, There was only one time we lost power and the generator didn't fire up. And that was because we had some work done on the wiring in one of the computer rooms and the contractor turned the main breaker back on but neglected to turn the generators safety cutoff on. We had to install line conditioners for the generator lines because the power isn't as clean as it should be. We were seeing jumps from 100 volts to 130v and had a cycle of around anything from 40 Hertz to 65H. This causes problems with surge protectors, ups and computers. Anyone looking for a generator should consider spending the extra money on one already fit with a conditioner or just install on in the wall before you think about expensive stereos or computers.

I replaced as many incandescent bulbs as possible in my house with these new lights.
Sure, there are some left, but I'll go to the store and come back with more!
You get used to them quickly, they do have a short hesitation before lighting up, and some require a warm up of a few minutes to reach full light. Most don't.
I have one outside in the carport that comes on instantly, but it is an old style florescent, in a circle-shaped package. It really is instant, no problem.
On one, you get about 35 watts of light (incandescent) for 7.5 watts. That one cost more, but I love it.
Only problem is paying for all the new lights. Most people want a replacement bulb for one that has burned out, the cheapest they can get. The 7.5 wall bulb aforementioned was about $7.00. I hope it lasts forever...
The sooner you replace those incandescent bulbs, the more you save. Can't use them on a dimmer controlled circuit, or one with an infared motion detector sensor. Probably not a good idea to replace the incandescents in the refrigerator, mine has several, in freezer also. You can try that, but some compact florescents are dimmer when cold.
Here is a good link for information on the new bulbs, and how they can save money.
Get to the store, however, to find the less expensive bulbs in 4-packs, etc.
That isle will have a lot of interested shoppers, so be forewarned.

Rapidweather

Pricey? Lowes has a two bulb enclosure (admittedly ugly, but that has nothing to do with the electronics) for only $21.48. There's really no reason NOT to use T8's where they are appropriate. Personally I used em in my garage and would have used em in the basement but the previous owner hung the ceiling too low.

• Incandescent @ 9.98 for 24. Rated at 1,000 hour life at 130 volts/2,500 hour life at 120 volts, 890 lumens light output at 130 volts/660 lumens light output at 120 volts
  
• CFL @ 9.98 for 6. Outputs 800 lumens Lasts 8,000 hours.
  

• Incandescent @ 9.98 for 24. Rated at 1,000 hour life at 130 volts/2,500 hour life at 120 volts, 890 lumens light output at 130 volts/660 lumens light output at 120 volts
  
• CFL @ 9.98 for 6. Outputs 800 lumens Lasts 8,000 hours.
  

Actually, they stand to make quite a bit of money as the bulbs cost between 700% and 1400% more than regular bulbs and don't last anywhere near 700% as long.
Like most environmentally friendly ideas, they don't make sense economically.

The cheapest ones I've found at Lowes (a 6-pack for $9.98) are all instant-on. I use 'em all over the place, and I've burned out a whopping total of two in nine years.

The light they make is close enough to regular incandescents that we can't tell the difference. They do stand stand out a bit if you mix them with halogens, though.

There's a photo of it here. It's sitting there in the middle of the table (actually, just a little to the left of the middle).

Seriously though, how funny would that demo be... "I've created this material lattice that re-directs visible light such that nobody can ever see it ! oh wait, I had it here somewhere... D'oh !"

Basically, neat trick for radar/MW, lousy for visible light. Why even go there ?

3x to 10x sounds right, depending on the brand. I'm assuming the higher price means you get a color temperature somewhere in the ballpark of incandescents; fluorescent light is a lot cooler than incandescent. My wife notices and it bothers her; I notice it but it doesn't bother me, so the compromise was that I put CFLs in the closets and places where I don't care about the color of the light (closets, hallways, undercabinet kitchen lights), and incandescents go in the living spaces.

Anyways, it's typical for a regular tungsten light bulb to be about $.50 a pop; see this example. Soft pink ones that are specifically bought for their color (and resulting effects in a room), and, as women put it, are more "flattering" go for 2x-4x that price. CFLs are dropping to about $2 per bulb, which is your 3x-4x value, and that's in this value pack. Higher quality bulbs, and, I assume, warmer bulbs, are pricier; here's one for $7, which is 14x the 50 cent price.

I'm optimistic for using LED lights for a warmer color in the future, but the technology still has some maturing to do; point sources aren't the best at lighting up a large room.

3x to 10x sounds right, depending on the brand. I'm assuming the higher price means you get a color temperature somewhere in the ballpark of incandescents; fluorescent light is a lot cooler than incandescent. My wife notices and it bothers her; I notice it but it doesn't bother me, so the compromise was that I put CFLs in the closets and places where I don't care about the color of the light (closets, hallways, undercabinet kitchen lights), and incandescents go in the living spaces.

Anyways, it's typical for a regular tungsten light bulb to be about $.50 a pop; see this example. Soft pink ones that are specifically bought for their color (and resulting effects in a room), and, as women put it, are more "flattering" go for 2x-4x that price. CFLs are dropping to about $2 per bulb, which is your 3x-4x value, and that's in this value pack. Higher quality bulbs, and, I assume, warmer bulbs, are pricier; here's one for $7, which is 14x the 50 cent price.

I'm optimistic for using LED lights for a warmer color in the future, but the technology still has some maturing to do; point sources aren't the best at lighting up a large room.

3x to 10x sounds right, depending on the brand. I'm assuming the higher price means you get a color temperature somewhere in the ballpark of incandescents; fluorescent light is a lot cooler than incandescent. My wife notices and it bothers her; I notice it but it doesn't bother me, so the compromise was that I put CFLs in the closets and places where I don't care about the color of the light (closets, hallways, undercabinet kitchen lights), and incandescents go in the living spaces.

Anyways, it's typical for a regular tungsten light bulb to be about $.50 a pop; see this example. Soft pink ones that are specifically bought for their color (and resulting effects in a room), and, as women put it, are more "flattering" go for 2x-4x that price. CFLs are dropping to about $2 per bulb, which is your 3x-4x value, and that's in this value pack. Higher quality bulbs, and, I assume, warmer bulbs, are pricier; here's one for $7, which is 14x the 50 cent price.

I'm optimistic for using LED lights for a warmer color in the future, but the technology still has some maturing to do; point sources aren't the best at lighting up a large room.

plus you can change the cards on each side to upgrade when you want to go to something faster than gigabit. :)

links:
fiber 1000BaseSX ethernet various pvc conduit

You could get some of these at the hardware store and creating your own switched power strip.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetai l&productId=84590-48713-HWF05XC5&lpage=none

And not much more expensive.

My question in all of this is - why not go buy a cheap water pump for a fish tank and just recycle the water? After all, if the water were pumped back in to the large garbage can with ice in it - it would cool back down again. (Although - granted - not as much as it was maybe.)

Further, if plastic tubing were used instead of switching to copper the cooling would be less overall, but the plastic tubing could be threaded in and out of the wire mesh on the fan (so you don't need the tie-wraps). Because less cooling was being done it would mean the water would retain its coolness longer and thus this should offset the rate at which the ice in the garbage can melts.

Last, but not least - if you look at the picture on the site - the garbage can has bottles with ice in them. Which means that the bottles were frozen. Something you don't usually buy at a store. So they must have come from the guy's freezer.

Still, let's look at a different scenario: The kitchen area has a door maybe which can be closed or blocked off and maybe there is a window in that room where the heat generated by the freezer can be dissipated. So all the guy really needs to do is to cool down a part of the apartment rather than the entire apartment. This would allow for the ice maker to make ice in the kitchen while the other part of the house is cooled by the ice that was made.

Last, but not least, A/Cs are not all that expensive anymore. For instance Home Depot has an a/c on sale for $80.00 which is only a little more than three times the cost for this guy's system (and doesn't have all of the mess). Lowes has one for around $79.00. The lowest price (I'm sorry, but I forget where I saw it - maybe Walgreens) for an air conditioner was around $60.00 for a 3,000BTU unit which would cool a regular sized room quite well.

This is a nice experiment - but if you could get a few friends to chip in - then everyone could have a cool summer. :-)

Oh, BTW, I think alderflats.com sucks donkey nuts anyone else agree?

In some states, it is ILLEGAL to ask for ID:

At a local Lowes I had an employee ask for ID. Afterward, I went over to the customer service desk to say thank you for doing that. The manager asked me which cashier did it. I happily told them, thinking I was doing something good. Then the manager told me that it was illegal in the state of Maryland, and that the employee would be warned against doing that again!

A quick Google search indicates that it is also against the credit card companies' rules, since it is a privacy violation.

Actually I think you mean toilet brush--$50 for an actual toilet isn't a bad price. http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productList&functi on=search&categoryId=TOILETS.CATEGORY&pad=true