The floor is ready to be re-floored. The ceiling is painted except for some cleanup and the bit where Scott (our carpenter) is ready to remove the old vent fan that doesn’t vent; then we are going to install 3-4 recessed lights, and also move the ceiling fan over to center in the dining nook created by the addition (midway) of the broom closet and gadget storage. There will be a light in that, too. We are also asking for a fan light installation in the living room near the fireplace. Jane’s evening spot is in the heart of darkness at that end, and she wants light.
We’re going to CFL floods for the lighting, low power and a lot of light.
Then we finish the walls at least in the kitchen area, and cabinets start happening, sink side first. A vent will have to be cut in the roof, and the microwave and its cabinet installed, then the pot/pan cabinet, the fridge garage, and a cabinet turned into rolling storage—the area near the range is right next the basement stairs, and we want that last cabinet to roll out of the way, if we need to move large things into or out of the basement. The sink side will include a desk and chair, which will also have a counter, and make a work surface for sitdown things such as cookie-creation.
We will not actually have a sink until the cabinets go on: I am getting a hot water tank for undersink, to deliver truly hot water. And then the backsplash will go on, which is combo ceramic and glass tile in copper and grey.
We’ve mulled over the thought of on demand hot water, but it would involve having to run a new set of wires for it, and possibly retrofit substantial parts of other house wiring. We get along adequately with our current hot water heater. so will probably put it off until the time we need to replace it again.
Do NOT use an exhaust fan anywhere near an open fireplace while it is burning! It’s safe to BE in a room with a burning fireplace because it is drawing room air toward it and up the chimney, creating a barrier of sorts to keep the CO from poisoning the room. You dasn’t disturb that! You’ll create a situation similar to the firefighters’ dreaded “Backdraft”. The combustion products of the fire need to rise up the chimney, not be pulled out into the room by air-flow going out through the fan. Are you SURE about this idea?
I think it’s just a lighted ceiling fan, Paul.
Is this where I do my Emily Litella impersonation? ; – )
She was talking about vent fans, in my own defense, if there is any.
“fan light installation” sounds like a ceiling fan with lights – they’re quite common, and the lights are on a separate switch from the fan.
In this house, I can make a fist, reach up and still touch the ceiling! I’m “only” 6’2″, a little shy since a couple disks have collapsed. Ceiling fans would never be considered.
Over the kitchen stove……
And re-reading CJ’s post, she said a fan-light combination near the fireplace, which could direct air down or up. It’s not an exhaust fan. Not everyone is 6’2″, including CJ and Jane. Their ceilings are fairly high, and even so, if they had a “ceiling-hugging” fan, it would still create the air currents they want, without drawing CO2 from the fireplace.
It’s also an electric imitation fireplace, with no fire, nor exhaust.
Best of all! Traditional fireplaces are not very efficient heaters. Not only do they send most of the heat up the chimney, they suck warm air out of the room and send it up too.
CFL instead of Led ? Interesting, I greatly prefer the light quality of Led (and they come on immediately, without that little CFL delay).
The redesigned kitchen sounds eminently workable and convenient for real cooking and comfort. That idea for a roll-out-of-the-way cabinet near the basement access in particular sounds good. Room for a counter or a desk also sounds good, and befitting two writers. OK, so it’s for cookie production and so on. Still, good. Sounds exciting!
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If I may — I just watched ep 3 of The Orville, and I’m very impressed at how they handled tackling some very difficult (multiple) issues in a science fiction situation. This is going to require one or more additional viewings and mulling over, and I expect still to be not fully decided on what I think of what was presented. I am sure others will have many disparate opinions on it, and some will dislike what it covered or what it concluded. But to me, that very room to mull over it or still be undecided to some extent, within one’s own mind, or for people to have widely varying opinions, is a hallmark of a really good story done well. I’m hooked for the series. If the episode gets an award for being so daring or well done, I think that would be great. However, not everyone is likely to think so.
I know the show has been marketed as just a light, silly comedy scifi show, but I’d say that it is instead a drama that has a lot of comedy bits at times, and yes, some juvenile humor. Like Galaxy Quest, I’d say this is layered.
Also — I realize I’m only giving a personal opinion that isn’t endorsed or shared in opinion necessarily by CJ. So IMHO only, I think the episode and the show are good science fiction storytelling and good fun and something thoughtful besides. And so, like any fan, I’m eager to share my enthusiasm for a new-found science fiction show. I hope this show gets renewed or another season. Anyway, I’m impressed. — I’ll say again, the ep was going over a lot at once, and it’s likely people will have widely varying opinions on it. Heck, I’m undecided how I think/feel about the things it was talking about, in my own mind, and expect that won’t be fully resolved, even after another viewing or two. But as I said, I think that’s a sign of good storytelling. Just my two cents.
I, too, question CFLs. One point is, I’m not sure they can be dimmed, which is good as it gets near bedtime. I’m also not sure they’ll focus light as well as LED or conventional spot- or floodlights.
LED prices have gone down, they last forever, and I think they now have warm LEDs, not just the daylight-white color (as for CFLs it’s all about the phosphor used). Check for dim-ability, though; some still aren’t dim-able. Some may overheat in recessed installations–it’s the electronics package, not the LEDs themselves.
While they use more electricity than CFLs, halogen lights are warm-colored and get warmer as they dim–but are about 20% brighter than conventional incandescents. I use these in my bedroom where I want dim almost orange light in the middle of the night, and rarely need full power. The same color changing ability is expensive in LEDs and unavailable in CFLs, as far as I know.
What type of lighting to use depends on how much it’s on. My garage door opener still has an incandescent, because for a few minutes at a time, making a new bulb would cost more energy. OTOH, my security lights, on all night, are LEDs. I only have “legacy” CFLs; when they wear out, they’ll get switched to LEDs. But if you like to have your home brilliantly lit at night, LEDs are the way to go. If you like cozy a light on here, a light on there, it really doesn’t matter much; get the light that has the color and behavior you want.
For Summer, LEDs are coolest.
When I last checked, an LED left on will last for about five months. They do not appear to burn out, but simply give less and less light until what light they do give is unnoticeable. They are cool and, in a place where they are not often used and bulbs are hard to change, I think that they are ideal. In places like the chair where I sit to do my fancy work, I prefer a CFL.
Because of their longevity, I put LEDs in the light fixture over my kitchen sink. CFLs seem to burn out within a couple years in my house and I don’t fancy having to climb onto the sink and crane my back around to replace bulbs too often. I made the mistake of buying some 100 watt LEDs for a dim corner in my living room; I might as well turn it into the Batsignal!
For CFLs (or FLs for that matter) life is as much number of starts as hours on. If I used one for my garage door opener, a CFL would burn out before an incandescent light. They also contain mercury vapor, so if a lamp can be knocked over….
I’m always replacing tubes in my kitchen. With six tubes being turned on a minute or few at a time, one’s always going out. And they have too much glare to leave on at night (which could be cured, true).
LEDs and halogens don’t care about number of starts. A halogen is just a kind of incandescent. LEDs, themselves, don’t break, and they resist impacts (not that they can’t be hammered into dust); the electronics to run them should be the same, but might not be in a brand with cheap packaging.
https://energy.gov/energysaver/when-turn-your-lights
Almost the season to pick up string lights, already at Costco.
Those 100 watt LEDs are a God send for me. I have light gathering problems with my eyes and like it BRIGHT.
CFLs can come very close to sunlight in color, though. Ott-lites do that. If you need whiter light, they’d do very well.
(I don’t have any dimmer-switches, so that’s not a problem, but I do have lights that are on most of the time. I only have windows facing east, and they have a barrier on that side, so it’s dark a lot of the time.)
On a completely unrelated note, has anyone heard anything about Patty Briggs? It looks like nothing much is happening on the website; I think the last page Mike wrote is getting left up as a tribute page. She may just be up to her backside in alligators. One hopes she is doing well, I know CJ intended to check in with her earlier.
I hope she’s doing ok as well. Her Mercy Thompson books are all quite good.
I would guess she’s still grieving and doesn’t feel much like fooling with some things. I don’t know how much she dealt with the website and forum and blog, but my understanding was that Mike was the go-to guy whose business was computers anyway.
I can definitely understand how she may not be ready to deal with some things yet / still. Even years later, things can get to you at unexpected times, for a while. It does get better eventually. You learn to live with things again.
I’d only read a couple of the Mercy Thompson books so far, but I was really impressed with them for the personal integrity of beliefs and for the great storytelling.
I hope she will be feeling better and more able to do things again. Patty seems like a really neat person.
No action on the web page but her faithful assistant has been keeping the Facebook page current.