The only good thing about the current recession is that gas (and energy) prices have remained depressed. However, I am fairly confident that we are just benefitting from a temporary lull. Once the economy turns around, we will soon witness gas and electric prices resume their inexorable march upwards. If you are seeking some predictability in future energy prices, going solar is one option. I have long considered installing photovoltaic panels or a solar water heater, but the economics of the situation never seemed attractive. So, instead of going solar to hedge future energy prices, I’ve opted for the Vanguard Energy Fund. If you can’t meet the $25,000 minimum, you can opt for the Vanguard Energy ETF option like I did.

You might think that such an investment offers no environmental benefits, but that is not true. The carbon footprint for investing in the Vanguard Energy Fund ETF is much less than for manufacturing and installing photovoltaic panels. And, while you may lose your investment in the Vanguard Energy Fund, don’t think for a second that the photovoltaic panels sitting on your roof aren’t depreciating like crazy as the performance of the solar panels degrade over time and solar panel manufacturers are able to drive down the costs of producing newer panels.

If all goes well, in 5-10 years, my investment in the Vanguard Energy Fund ETF will exceed the cost of installing a PV system, such that I can sell part of my investment to pay for going solar and still have money left in the bank.

Winter means rain, not snow, out here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two years ago, I had installed The Silencer on all the gutter downspouts. The bad news is that these magnetic sponge pads wear out. The magnet portion is still good. It’s the sponge portion that fails over time. I think the glue that binds the sponge to the magnet finally broke down so all I was left with the magnet. Little use that does in silencing the continuous dripping sound. Fortunately, I had a few leftover Silencers since the only time that the dripping noise proves bothersome is late at night when I’m finally headed for bed and all the shops are already closed.

The next project is to save the leftover magnet from 2 years ago and glue a thicker sponge to it. I wonder if a thicker sponge might be able to completely dampen the drip, drip, dripping sound.

Consumer Reports reports that certain Kenmore/LG washing machines have a “software problem.” Too bad the washing machine doesn’t have a USB port. 🙂 Would make the software upgrade a lot easier.

The Ryobi Non-contact Infrared Thermometer is one of those tools that you never realized you needed until you actually have one in hand. It offers both practical and fun applications around the home. If one room in the house feels colder than the others when the heat is on, you can easily take the temperature of the air exiting the vents.

I’ve also used the Ryobi Infrared Thermometer to measure the temperature of

1. dimmers;
2. frying pans;
3. incandescent, fluorescent and halogen light bulbs
4. laptops;
5. bath water

The Ryobi Infrared Thermometer displays the temperature of anything that you are curious about. A great stocking stuffer for Christmas.

Battery Change

The battery compartment for the Ryobi Infrared Thermometer is located under the trigger. The compartment door slides partially down, and then comes out.

Paul Kedrosky complains that Google fails at appliance reviews. I use Google a lot. A LOT. And I would have never thought of using Google to look for appliance reviews, at least in the sense one a reliable list of 5 or so options to select from. Instead, I have always turned to Consumer Reports. That’s not to say that Consumer Reports has never steered me wrong. But, I think the review standards will be more consistent when you have one organization reviewing multiple dishwashers instead of the crowd-sourcing model where each person reviews their own individual dishwasher. However, there is a place for crowd-sourced reviews. Once your shopping list has been narrowed to a few choices, I would use Google at this point to vet the options by looking at user reviews for particular makes and models. I would also run the obligatory “sucks” search to look for disgruntled user reviews.

Despite its name, permanent markers stains are not necessarily permanent. How you approach a permanent marker stain may depend on the affected surface. Fortunately, the permanent marker stain that I faced was on the hard plastic countertop of a toy kitchen. Of course, I first tested with a paper towel and plain water. While the paper towel removed some of the ink, I could quickly tell that this process would be too slow. Next, I progressed to using Simple Green, which was not particularly effective against this type of stain.

In the end, what worked the best was rubbing alcohol. Actually, this is quite obvious in hindsight when considering the alcohol-based white board cleaners that populate many offices. So, I proceeded to scrub away with a paper towel dipped in rubbing alcohol. I managed to remove about 80% of the permanent market stain, but was not making any progress with the remaining 20%. The problem I encountered was that the hard plastic surface was not entirely smooth. My paper towel was no match for the tiny grooves that populated the surface. For my final attempt, I brought out an old toothbrush. Pour a little rubbing alcohol on the stained surface and brushed away. This completely removed the remaining stain from the surface. The toothbrush was able to reach the grooves that was inaccessible to the paper towel.

So, the first 4-pin triple tube fluorescent bulb goes out. I’ve changed a lot of screw-in incandescent and CFL bulbs, but never a 4-pin bulb before. While high ceilings and recessed lights can result in an uncluttered look, this combination also requires the beckoning of a ladder instead of a standard folding chair to swap light bulbs.

With aforementioned ladder in hand, I climb up to inspect the light fixture. A quick glance shows that the baffle must be removed first. With no obvious ways to remove the baffle, I pull and pray. Fortunately, I guessed right. As it turns out, the baffle is held in place by two metal clips that provide tension against the recessed lighting fixture to hold it in place. Whew! I quickly remove the bulb and search for a replacement.

The defective bulb was a USHIO UFL-CF26TE/835 4-pin triple tube fluorescent bulb. I stopped by Lowe’s and buy a lot of Sylvania 4-pin double tube fluorescent bulbs. The next day, I returned all the Sylvania bulbs because the bulb would not snap in place. 4 pin is 4 pin right? Theoretically, all that should matter is the base and whether I’m using a double tube or a triple tube fluorescent bulb should not matter. Regardless, something was amiss. I’ve never experienced such a problem with a screw-in bulb before, incandescent or otherwise. So, I stopped by a lighting store and picked up a General Electric Biax T/E Eco 26W 4 pin compact fluorescent lamp. Thankfully, that one fit.

Light Bulbs Etc. has a chart with the different halogen, incandescent, and CFL light bulb base types. I just learned that there is more than one type of 4-pin base for CFLs. Who would have guessed? A later trip to OSH showed a surprising selection of pin type FEIT CFLs to choose from. Next time, I’m going there. They had more 4 pin CFLs in stock than the much larger Lowe’s. That surprised me.

In California, the 2005 Building Energy Efficiency Standards require the installation of high-efficacy lighting. And, to prevent you from swapping high cost fluorescents with low cost incandescents, screw-in CFLs do not count. So, 2 1/2 years into this energy saving experiment, our first triple tube 4-pin fluorescent failed. So much for that 10,000 hours average rated lifetime. I guess the plug-in CFLs fail just as well as the screw-in CFLs.

Anyways, our triple tube 4-pin fluorescent was installed in a bathroom. If the bulb stayed lit for 2-3 hours a day for 2 1/2 years, that comes to 1,825-2,737 hours. In reality, our usage is probably far less than that. How weak. 25% of its average rated lifetime. Now I have to hunt for an expensive replacement bulb.

Last week, I was browsing at Home Depot and looking for a new lockset. I had to change a bunch of locks and came across the new Kwikset Smart Key system. Here’s the promise. With the new Smart Key lockset installed, you can easily re-key a lock within seconds. Well, the Smart Key lived up to its promise. During the installation process, I discovered that I was short one lock. I just purchased another Smart Key lock at Home Depot, installed it, and re-keyed it in under a minute. Not difficult at all. And, if I ever needed to change the locks, I would only have to purchase a new key for $9.97 and spend 5-10 minutes rekeying all the locks. Not bad.

But, that’s not all. During the lock installation process, I’ve always encountered a frustrating hitch. The deadbolts are simple to install. The knobs? Not so easy. I’ve always wasted frustrating minutes trying to thread the screws into the hole. Again, Kwikset offers a revolutionary approach. Instead of threading the screws blind, you install the knob pre-threaded. A twist of the baseplate locks the opposing knob into place, and all you have to do is tighten the screws. Of course, if I read the instructions telling me not to remove the screws, I would have saved about 10-15 minutes of aggravation. However, I love the quick installation and rekeying process.