I really like the idea of hardwiring the …
Comment posted on A Better Detector by Reuben
I really like the idea of hardwiring the smoke detectors & even hardwiring them together. I suppose this is standard business in new construction. I’m thinking about my 100 year old house, though, and I’m thinking it just isn’t going to be possible – at least not hardwiring them together – without cutting some serious holes in the wall to route cables… I’d probably have to go the wireless route. Great idea!
Recent comments by Reuben
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Good post. The good thing about trying to get the last bit of water out of the toilet is that you’re usually right next to a shower or tub. A good idea is to just pick the toilet up, set it down in the tub, and then give it a good 360 degree flip so that the water just drains out into the tub. Swapping out a toilet is surprisingly easy when everything works the way it’s supposed to. - Bedroom Drywall Progress
I recently did a drywall project in a sort of out-of-the-way portion of the house specifically for the purpose of learning how to do it. I suffered with a lot of the typical problems DIY’ers face – most notably tape bubbles. I watched a ton of youtube videos to try and learn the trade. What was most startling was that they were able to get great finishes with very little sanding. Me, I got a mediocre finish and did a TON of sanding to get there. While I’m ultimately pretty happy with how it turned out, it is obviously a DIY job, and anyone that looks closely will know it. Like I’ve always said, one of the main benefits of owning a really old house in poor condition is that you can do a relatively mediocre job on things and it’s still a HUGE improvement over where you started.Also, something I learned: the new walls looked a lot better with just the white primer on them than with the brown paint. Something about the dark, rich color makes the imperfections stand out in a way that white didn’t.
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NEAT! Hopefully you can save some $$. I’m really into this hot roof idea. It’s probably the best option for many of these 1.5 story homes where the 2nd story sloped ceilings are attached right to the underside of the roof structure – talk about hard to ventilate!I really want to do something like this to my home, but it looks like I’d have to gut the whole upper story of my home to do it – and… well that’s not an option right now…
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What holds me back from creating something like this is that I’m not entirely convinced I’d be able to cover the costs. I like your analysis in theory, but one line you left out is the repayment of the initial cost of the insulation. You also need to factor in the length of time you plan to be in the house as well as the additional money you’ll get for the insulation when you sell the house. If I spend $X on insulation, before I can use the monthly energy savings on future projects, I have to repay myself $X before it’s “worth it.” And I need to figure out how long it will take me to recoup those initial costs and determine if I will be in the house that long – and if not, I need to determine whether I can recoup the costs when I sell. Otherwise, it becomes more cost effective to just keep paying higher energy bills.But that might be over-thinking it a little bit.
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Tags: carbon monoxide, detectors, Electrical, Kidde, smoke