The Age of Miracles and Wonders

I've been in audio geek mode the past week or so.

The Guinea Pigs sound system lost a monitor amplifier at our last gig - one of two ancient amps that Dan trucks around, and I volunteered to pick up a solid-state replacement that could feed both mains and monitors. I'm slowly building up my own PA system (having previously purchased a mixer, snake, monitor speakers, and accessories), so added a 500W / Channel solid state amplifier at low cost, and a wooden rack to mount it in. I feel very professional.

That got me thinking about Om Street: Yoga on LaSalle Road - I'm the audio engineer in charge, and have been running a "two amplifier" system there for a few years (with digital delay to control echoes for the satellite system, 200' down the road). So while I was prepping and messing with the new amp, I picked up some way too inexpensive (seemingly) speaker cables: 2 x 30' Speakon-to-1/2" ($12.50 per) and 2 x 15' 1/4"-to-1/4" ($12 per) and some 1/4" couplers - which will give me some additional flexibility when setting things up this July. The cables came in today and I spent some time unwrapping them, marking them (I use blue tape on the ends of my cables, and blue velcro ties), and stowing them in the gack bags and bins. 

And while I was at it, I picked up an old audio engineers bible, The Sound Reinforcement Handbook by Gary Davis. (which apparently you can download for free online at PDF Shack - not sure if that's legit or not, but with a 1988 printing date, I am sure they've made their money by now. I'd just as soon have it in print, old school like.

A lot of what's in the handbook will be, I am sure old hat to me, but there are a few things I'd like to learn more about - compression, tone control for various instruments (drums, guitars, voice), speaker placement, etc. I've picked up some stuff over the years; as a musician with electric guitars and basses, as a utility and computer geek at various corporate productions. But always more to learn.

As I lay on the couch reading this afternoon, I thought about how many fun toys I have at my fingertips, in my arsenal these days. I've got a portable o-scope that interfaces with a laptop. I've got a signal generator, both a hardware version and an app on my phone. I've got a kicking audio signal analyzer for my iPad. I can set up a sound system throw some pink noise in, and tweak the tone for the room. I have amazing tech for very little money that would have cost 10's of thousands back in the late 70's / early 80's.

I thought back to my 8th grade self, who wanted very much to mess around with this stuff. How I would love to jump back in time with all my toys and help that little kid with a science fair project. I thought about my college self, getting a EE degree in analog design, running around Worcester county recording marimbas to characterize the frequency content and envelope the better to synthesize the instrument. I was minoring in music, mucking around with an ARP 2600 and a four-track recorder when I could get my hands on it. Having fun.

I never did much with music out of school - the Carter / Reagan recession was in full swing, the cool companies like Bose were not hiring, and I was happy to get my first job that led me down the power quality road. And it was not too many years later that digital sound came along and blew analog synthesizers out of the water. 

But here I am, 30+ years down the road, and whatever fire was there is still burning. I'll probably never be much more than an audio hobbyist, but it gives me great joy to have the right tools, the right knowledge, the experience to put a decent system together. Back to the couch, to geek out. Watch out world!

Efergy E2 Classic Energy Monitor

I recently picked up a small energy monitor for my home / condo, made by Efergy Technologies Limited. As I confessed via social media:

Just ordered a small energy monitor for the main condo panel. Call it 40% professional interest, 30% desire to be more energy efficient / save money, and 30% number and graph nerd.

In the professional interest department, I'm always looking at new / low cost ways to monitor, measure, quantify electricity and power. The price point here was minimal ($100). The functions and feature set (monitoring demand, wireless display that can be moved throughout the home, USB interface to access data and produce reports, software to facilitate all that) all looked great.

From an energy conservation / cost savings perspective, although I'm a single person in a small condo, I'm a bit of a nightmare in terms of electrical usage. My condo is all-electric (heat, stove & oven, water heater). Although cooling season is over, I have two small window A/C units (bedroom and basement office), a basement dehumidifier, and a basement space heater. Besides normal living usage, I work out of my house (so I'm in the basement office a lot) and I practice / teach yoga - my second bedroom is a dedicated practice room and when I practice, I generally crank the heat a bit.

Now, I've taken a lot of first steps to reduce my electrical usage - replaced almost all of my incandescent bulbs with CFL or LED, and replaced all of my baseboard thermostats with either digital units, or digital units with a timer. Digital thermostats = more consistent control (I'm not turning heat up or down based on "feel") as well as more even heating (they have triac controls that can turn heat up incrementally not simply ON / OFF like mechanical units). I keep my heat pretty low, 58F at night, 65F during the day, it's scheduled based on my life, and the thermostats make sure I never leave the heat cranked for more than a few hours. I'm pretty good at reprogramming the thermostats as needed. 

But enough about me - back to the Efergy energy monitor. It's arrived, been connected, and is doing it's job. Here's a quick review.

Technical Capabilities

Strictly speaking, the device is a CURRENT monitor. There are two clamp on current probes, but no voltage connection point - it calculates demand based on a fixed voltage, and presumably a unity power factor. Have not determined it it measures average current or true RMS at this point. It samples data on a 10 / 15 / 20 second rate. It's not super accurate, as a result, but it's "close enough" and certainly can provide a good comparative measure of energy usage over time.

It also has a third current probe "port" so can presumably monitor three phase power as well. It appears to be designed for a world market: 50/60 Hz, multiple nominal voltage settings, and multiple rate / tariff units.

Installation

The monitor was easy to install. Two clamp-on current probes (A) were connected to the mains coming in. I have a 100A panel, the probes appear to be sized for 200A maximum. The probes are not spring loaded, but use a nice little plastic latch / clip for secure connection, and since there is no voltage monitored, the vector / direction of the probe does not matter. I'm comfortable sticking my fingers in a live panel, but to be safe, kill the power before installation.

These are connected via a fixed cable to a transmitter (B) which is powered via 3 x AA batteries, or an optional DC supply. The company claims battery life of 8-10 months is typical for both transmitter and monitor.

The wireless display / monitoring unit (C) can be located anywhere convenient; I placed it atop the panel for the photo. It's powered via 3 x AAA batteries. The transmitter / monitor are linked via a simple push-button procedure. I had no problems getting them to talk. The expected range is 100 - 200 ft. although I found signal was sketchy up on the second floor. 

The past week I've had the wireless display sitting on my desk as I've worked, and have enjoyed (yeah, I'm an engineer, what do you want) watching the kW measurement track up and down as I work throughout the day. 

Monitor / Display Unit

The display for this device has some rudimentary information. There are three values available:

• Energy Now (KW) 
• Cost (per day) based on present energy ($)
• CO2 (per day) based on present energy (KgCO2) 

In addition, the device displays all of these parameters as an Average (over the life of monitoring, with energy in KWHr) and History (scroll through a daily, weekly, or monthly tally of demand, cost, and CO2)

The device allows you to set up variable rate (single or multiple) in cost / kWHr, and a CO2 usage factor.

The display is pretty rudimentary; and if I were relying on that I'd probably check out the Efergy Elite True Power Meter (more sophisticated measurement, more advanced display, temp & humidity) but that  device does not have "in the box" communications capability to a PC, and I am all about the data.

Software

The free to download software, elink, is pretty spiffy.  The basic HISTORY function displays demand on an hourly basis (per day), a daily basic (per month), or a monthly basis (per year)

 

Under the MANAGE function, the user can look at individual days, do a weekly comparison (for instance compare individual weekdays or weekday vs. weekend), as well as a month by month comparison.

Finally, there are some advanced options of tracking actual usage vs. planned usage, setting up complex utility tariff schedules (for those working with peak / off-peak billing) and adding multiple utilities (so one could presumably compare different rate schedules with actual historical demand data)

Reports

Last but not least, the software gives the option of generating a Daily or Monthly report - selecting a specific time period, and creating a PDF report. The "Add Stickie"feature is not all that intuitive or well documented, but from the main HISTORY page you can create comments on notable usage or patterns which would be great if one were creating a report for users, management, clients, etc.

The exported spreadsheet is pretty rudimentary: Date / Time / KWHr / Daily Max / Cost / Stickie Note(s). Including the Stickies is a nice touch. But really, the PDF report is pretty much all I might need.  

Using the Efergy Demand Meter

I can think of a lot of ways to use this device.

Professionally, it would make a great tool to do short and simple residential / small business demand audits. Hook it up, perhaps do some walking around turning things on and off and recording the demand, then leave it connected for a week and generate a report, with recommendations for savings.

As an end-user, I'd probably first characterize the household energy consumers. I'll be able to (over time) generate the cost (in electricity) for things like a load of laundry, a shower, a hot bath, and factor those in a bit. Might even consider replacing older / less efficient appliances. Same with cranking the heat for a yoga practice or fine-tuning the heat schedule and zoning. And although I've gone through the condo pretty well in terms of replacing incandescent bulbs and other energy hogs, perhaps I'll find something I've missed - most consumers who have been less fanatic than I will probably find a lot of room for improvement.

I can also watch the electrical demand on a real time basis, and if I've left something on (stove burner, iron, etc.) I should be able to spot that quickly.

Bottom line, really nice piece of technology - really well designed (hardware and software) and useful.

Makers Monday - Buying Local Art

One of my local holiday traditions has been to shop local artists and craftspersons. I've been a bit more active this year, with visits to several Hartford spaces (Artspace and The Dirt Salon) during Open Studio, the Holiday Artisan Marketplace (via the Connecticut State of Makers) at Waterbury City Hall, and a more regular visit to Wesleyan Potters. 

At Artspace, I picked up a couple of holiday gifts (which I will not share here), along with a delightful bowl made by Colleen Colabella from Towers of Hope & Pottery Creations, from East Granby. Most of her work involves small towers - but I sussed out this bowl - loved the raised pattern on the outside - organic, kind of china-like, and signaling a lightness or translucence.

Not on the web that I can find, but she's worth finding at local shows and fairs.

At the State of Makers Holiday Artisan Marketplace, I found some yummy jams, concocted by Omnomnom Jams and Jellies - I've been enjoying their Monkey Mayhem (banana, pineapple, cocoanut, I think) on my morning  and also picked up a jar of Pretty Peach. They are just getting started (and could use nice labels on their jars!) but a fun and affordable treat!

Also at the Waterbury event, I found some nice earrings, created by Kate Stephen Jewelry - I'm always looking for something fun and funky and these resonated - being an electrical engineer, it's fun to find something copper.

And, I bought a lovely and funky decorated shirt for a fashionable friend. 

Finally, at Wesleyan Potters, I found a few lovely pieces. I'm a big fan of the birds of late, especially once I realized they are the modern dinosaurs, and the Great Blue Heron is perhaps one of the best reminders of that. Walking my dog at a local farm, a heron swooped overhead (a mere 10'-20' high) and I felt that primitive, mammalian fear that was perhaps implanted in my DNA eons ago when my tiny ancestors were prey for flying pterodactyls. So this photo, by Tom Flynn, of a heron in flight, was perfect.

 

My friend Amy is a stained glass artist (you can view her work and shop at Singing Whale Stained Glass)  - so I am always looking at stained glass. I found this fused glass fish (not sure of artist) - I liked the rainbow / chakra colors, I'm a Pisces, and one of the images or concepts of the divine that have come to me through Enlightenment Intensive work over the years was  of a fish. So yeah, great for my yoga space.

Finally, this vase (artist unknown) spoke to me - it's solid and somewhat primative with it's figuring that feels reminiscent of hieroglyphs or cunieform. No idea why I like what I like, but I liked this enough to purchase it. 

LED Lamps / Bulbs

At the CT Folk Fest in September, I picked up (for $10) a "green lighting box" that contained a small desk lamp, six CFL lamps, a night light, and an LED lamp. The total was a bargain, but I was most interested in the LED lamp. I installed it in my bedside table lamp where its fast turn-on and brighter light was a welcome improvement over CFL.

Earlier this year, I installed a new pendant lamp in my kitchen. Unfortunately, the shades I chose (which are a lovely color) are a bit dark / dim, so the fixture does not throw a lot of light. I wanted the fixture to be dimmable, so used incandescent bulbs, and although the fixture is rated for 60W bulbs, it gets warm. So between the "180W is a lot of juice" concern, the limited light, and the warmish fixture / globes, I was not using the light much.

PERFECT opportunity to try out LED lamps - I picked up three "12W= 60W equivalent" bulbs that have worked out perfectly. The bulbs are dimmable (standard dimmer), they seem brighter than the incandescent bulbs (more light directed down and out, less towards the base), and the fixtures / globes now run cool to the touch. I feel much better about leaving these lights on - making the kitchen warmer and more welcoming.

So - LED bulbs for the win! I'm not going to replace my CFL's quickly or globally, but the LED technology seems like a winner from where I sit!

Bigger != Better

An addendum to the "cutting the cable" project.

I found a larger (and presumably better) indoor / outdoor antenna at MCM Electronics. Dimensions: 21.5” (H) x 10.5” (W) x 4.5” (D), 40 db signal amplifier. It ought to (I assumed) meet or exceed the performance of the small indoor antenna (like a thick plastic sheet of paper) I am presently using.

Indoor / Outdoor UHF/VHF/FM HDTV Amplified Antenna
MCM Part #: 30-2455  |  Stellar Labs Part #: 30-2455

Wrong! After mounting the device to the same place (upper floor, facing south to grab WTNH-8), I found my digital reception degraded, both as a passive device and with the signal amplifier. I could not get WTNH-8 at all with the new antenna, and the Ion affiliate (Channel 26) was also gone.

So the old small antenna is back in place (attached to the outside of a window using 3M velcro knock-off strips), this one is going back in the box and either being returned or fobbed off on Craigslist.

Live and learn.

Killing Off Cable

Scrolling back through my blog posts, I see I have failed to document my recent explorations in the land of "mass media trends". Although my 50-something life is 2-3 decades away from the 20-somethings that have pioneered this movement, I've joined the ranks of those who have cut the cable.

Of course, being me, it was a gradual process. I toyed with the idea a few years back - had an old analog CRT television that I've owned for 25+ years, so I picked up a digital converter and tried to see what I could get over the air. At that time, and with that technology, the answer was "not much" - so I returned the converter and stayed connected. However, somewhere along the line I realized I was spending blocks of time on the couch watching reality show reruns (Pawn Stars, American Pickers, and Storage Wars were faves) and that was just stupid, so I downgraded my cable to the lifeline or tier - a handful of broadcast channels, TBS, the weather channel, and NECN. And that seemed to work fine - I missed a few things (Rachel Maddow,  Daily Show) but I survived.

A few months back, in a fit of late winter pique, I did a little retail therapy, and bought an inexpensive LCD digital television. While I was there, I decided to pick up a digital antenna, and the combination of reasonable channel selection and the superior HDTV picture made me rethink the cable decision. Specifically, to get HDTV I'd have to upgrade my cable plan to something more expensive (uh, no) and I realized that I got almost everything over the air (plus a few) that I was getting from lifeline.

So I disconnected the cable boxes (I had a converter for a seldom used small TV down in the office) and kept them in a box, just in case I had recriminations. A few weeks later, when Comcast (in their wisdom, and abetted no doubt by efficiencies in the US Postal Service) gifted me with no fewer than four (4) bundle offers on the same day, I decided to take the boxes back and kill off cable entirely.

In the ensuring days, I've been relatively happy with over the air broadcast, although my inability to capture WTNH 8 (ABC affiliate out of New Haven) was causing some angst (Grey's Anatomy is my one primetime vice). So this last week I bought a 100' of CATV cable and ran the indoor antenna (through the house) to the second floor and pointed it south. And voila - WTNH-8 came in (along with a few other lower power stations). I've since run the antenna cable through the basement and outside, and am awaiting a better exterior antenna (designed to mount inconspicuously and with an amplifier which might work even better)

So, here's what I get on my television, over the air and for free:

3.1 - WFSB 3 / CBS
3.3 - Mostly weather / some news

8.1 - WTNH 8 / ABC
8.2 - Bounce TV (african-american)

18 - Four spanish language stations

20.1 - WCCT / CW
20.2 - This TV (movies and reruns)

24.1 - CPTV Main
24.2 - CPTV4U
24.3 - CPTVS (mostly local sports)

26.1 - ION
26.2 - qubo (kids)
26.3 - ION Life


30.1 - WVIT 30 / NBC
30.1 - COZI (movies and reruns)

59.1- WCTX (MYTV-9) - sketchy reception

61.1 - Fox 61
61.2 - Antenna TV (movies and reruns, think Nick at Night)

More content, actually, then the lifeline cable I was buying - the only thing I really miss is NECN which was a decent substitute for CNN / MSNBC mostly.

What makes it work for me is my Roku Box, which gives me high quality shows via several services. Netflix (long time subscriber, via Roku and iPad), PBS (like having a public television DVR, amazing), Hulu Plus (I stopped subscribing but might sign up again if I find some broadcast shows I like). That, plus the ABC and NBC iPad apps (to catch things I've missed) and my media life is doing fine.

Durable Goods

The last time I purchased a canister vacuum cleaner was 1983. I was fresh out of school and with my sears charge card in hand I stocked up on the essentials, including a Kenmore vacuum with a power adapter. It's gone with me through 3 apartments, two houses, and a condo. The power adapter died long ago, the metal extension has disappeared, and the hose is mostly duct tape (and not easily or cheaply replaced).

It's survival all these years is probably a combination of Kenmore quality and my own rather lax standards in terms of cleaning, although it has cleaned up after 4 or 5 dogs over the years. 


I've only used it for the stairs in recent years, and 1980's tech is no longer light (or perhaps my 50 year old arms and shoulders are less amenable to hauling it up and down) So tonight I decided to pick up something new.

First stop PC Richard's, where I looked at what was there (quite a bit) and waited around for someone to wait on me (nobody came) so I wandered over to Target (not much, and what they had was not really that good quality) and Best Buy (too pricey for my tastes).

So back to PC Richard's where a gentleman showed up to sell me a vacuum. They had some really decent prices on larger units (similar to my old one, with a power adapter) but, remembering that I only use it for stairs, I opted for a  Dirt Devil FeatherLite Cyclonic Canister Vacuum which was priced at $99 (totally cool with that) - but when it came time to ring it up, it was on sale for $60.

It's a pretty decent unit, 10 Amp motor, bagless dust canister, HEPA filter. I doubt it will last 30 years like my old one did. But I paid a lot more (in 1980's dollars) for that old guy. And besides, I'm not 100% sure I have 30 years left myself.....

Cleaned the stairs tonight, both sets. Works like a champ!

And the old soldier - off to a Craigslist Free Stuff listing. Someone can probably make use of it, for parts or for a basement or something.

Late Summer Consumerism

For whatever reason, I returned from a week of camping (Falcon Ridge Folk Fest) and a week of Camp, and decided to go on a buying spree. No "change of season" clothes shopping, of course (that would be way too normal), but rather some tech / audio gack. Specifically:

• A 50' audio snake (12 in / 4 out / XLR)
• (2) 50' power cables (1/4" in and out)
• (4) each, XLR to 1/4 adapters (M-F and F-M), to use the snake for instrument feeds if needed
• (3) passive direct boxes (again, to use instruments with the snake)

Not actually sure why I bought all this stuff; doing sound for Little Ugly a few weeks back was fun and I'd like to do more of that, the snake especially will come in handy for kirtan sound (I've stepped back from playing kirtan but will be running the sound for WHY's kirtan in October and December), and I am sure it will come in handy with the Guinea Pigs at some point.

In addition, I've got some textured plastic "sunshade" material coming - the late day sun streaming into the living room with the door open has been a problem this year (as well as the neighbors seeing in) so I plan to put up some panels on the front porch. Might help with wind screen as well. And the roll of material is big enough that I might try to fabricate and mount some UV screens for the south facing yoga room windows and sliding glass door onto the deck. 

Sneaking Up on It

There is an old adage:

Q: How does one eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time.

It's something I've used in the past - my "major life project", which takes those with money, privilege, resources a year or two, took me the better part of a decade. It was almost too difficult to look it in the eye, to openly set it as a goal way back when, because it seemed so out of reach financially, logistically. And yet, I started nibbling at the edges, working on the things I could with the time and resources I had. It took 7 or 8 years, but the result was a gender transition that was more organic, less affected, with a lot less struggle and drama than most such journeys.  And when fortune smiled on me with a once in a lifetime opportunity, I was ready to go.

Today, Fed Ex ground dropped off a large box. Inside, 10 yoga blankets, purple and red. Yoga Direct does not really have the highest quality products, but the price is right and there was a 30% off sale.

And as I was opening the box, inspecting the blankets, shaking out the lint and refolding them, it struck me - I might just be doing it again. I realized that I've got the makings of a small yoga studio: blankets, blocks, straps, mats, tennis balls.

I've picked these things up over the years for various reasons. My first "free" classes at my old office precipitated the mat purchase. Teaching adult ed yoga drove me to invest in blocks and straps. I picked up tennis balls as a low cost alternative to Jill Miller's Yoga Tune-up balls.

And I bring the props as I travel - leading an early morning gentle practice at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, leading two classes a day at GLBT summer camp for adults, Camp Camp.

One of the benefits of a mindful life, of the physical and spiritual practice, and of having more than a few miles on the odometer, is that I begin to notice the patterns, to sense the winds of change in the moment rather than in the rear view mirror.

Not saying I'm opening a studio, that this is a concrete goal or even a dream that I am working towards. And yet, I'm  conscious of pieces falling into place, of a subtle shift in the winds. I'm aware of me, sneaking up on something.

Dear Guitar Center

Are you particularly unhelpful and condescending to all your customers, or just the women? Here's my story.

I get a call this afternoon from the yoga studio. A national yoga teacher is coming in to town, and a week after I inquired as to his A/V needs (and being told "some place to plug in an iPod"), I get the word - he needs a lavalier mic. For tomorrow. Too late to order something online - we have a very high end wireless headset (one of those thin wire systems they use for theater) but hey, we can get him a lav, no problem. The studio owns an Electro-voice wireless rig, I hoarded (from the "to be tossed" pile at the studio, that's how I roll) an Audio-Technica rig, and I own an el cheapo NADY rig. If I could score a lav mic for any of those, I'd be set.

I wander over to the Guitar Center website, and find a whole pile of low cost wireless lav set-ups - a good 10 or so under $200. So I decided to truck over there, might just be easier to buy an entire rig. Called en route, and was told by the dude $300 - $600, and when I asked about the lower cost ones from the website, was told "too much trouble to stock those". OK, I'll ride over to Manchester anyway, see what they got.

When I got there, I said "I have three wireless belt packs from three different vendors, do you sell mics?". "No, they are device specific, we don't stock those", and then proceeded to show me a Shure system for $300. As I scanned the display rack for options, I see an Audio-Technica lavalier mic hanging there for $99. "What about the Audio-Technica mic, right there?" must have been a blind spot because the guy refused to see it at first, then when he did, worked hard to convince me it would not fit my Audio-Technica belt pack.

It does, however, fit, and works just fine.

That did not stop him from offering me the $17 service contract (no thanks, I know those things are gravy for the shop) and then cutting that it half (again, no thanks, its a mic we'll be lucky to use 4x in the next two years).

::sigh:: this seems to happen every time I walk in the door over there. GSWF - Guitar Shopping While Female. Never mind that I was patching together MXR effects boxes before the kid at the desk was born.

Just checked, and I guess the Guitar Center has opened a shop in Southington (sad for the Music Shop, one of my favorite little gems). With any luck the staff there will be a bit more helpful, or at least I'll burn less gas to get annoyed.

In the Neighborhood: Starbucks and Chipotle

I've been watching the Newington corner of the Berlin Turnpike and Rowley Street (heretofore the location of a kind of slimy bar / gentleman's club, adjacent to Stew Leonard's, LA Fitness, Toy's R Us, among others) - and this afternoon I noticed the signage going up for two new retail shops: Starbucks and Chipotle.  A quick web search uncovers the contractor, JLN Contracting

Kind of excited to have a better quality mexican food alternative so close (Taco Bell, right across Rowley Street, is probably less excited).

Being something of a lone wolf without a lot of local dining out companions, I tend not to frequent the myriad of sit-down restaurants that line the Berlin Turnpike. Despite driving by several times a week, I have never actually stepped in the doors of: TGI Friday, Chili's, Outback Steakhouse, Ruby Tuesday, Plaza Azteca, Joey Garlics. I've eaten at Bertucci's, Puerto Vallerta, and the Olympia Diner in years past, but not in this recent memory.

But Chipotle is definitely some place I'll visit now and then. So yay!

Life Hack: Electric Heat and Digital Thermostats

When I purchased my condo in the lovely city of New Britain, one of my big concerns was the heating system - specifically, electric baseboard heat. I've been living with gas heat for years - hot water baseboard in Waterbury, forced air in Hartford. I was concerned about comfort, of course, but mostly I've heard much about the high cost of electric heat.

Balancing the cost issues, electric heat brings one big  benefit - it's inherently zoned. Which means, instead of one thermostat for the whole condo, or at best two (upstairs / downstairs) I have seven thermostats in the place: living room, kitchen, master bedroom, spare bedroom (my yoga room), two bathrooms, and the basement. So there's a lot of possibility for fine tuning the heat - to heat just the spaces I commonly use, and perhaps save some money.

When I moved in, all of the thermostats in the place were old-school electro-mechanical devices. There was no visible thermostat or feedback, the rotary dial was exceptionally coarse (with a resolution of 10ºF) , the calibration was highly suspect, and the heat control was simply ON / OFF. If the temperature dropped below a set point, the device turned on 100%, the space heated, and the device eventually turned off.

So my first thought was: Digital Thermostat. I found these Honeywell Thermostats at Lowes for about $25 a shot (cheap!) and replaced five of the seven thermostats (I left the bathroom thermostats in place, they are permanently switched off).

An aphorism I picked up in the corporate quality world was "If you measure something, it gets better" and the digital thermostats have a thermometer on them. So instead of simply "feeling cold" I can look and see the actual temperature. It's amazing how much things like my own health / energy / activity, as well as the ambient humidity and outdoor light level, affects my perception of temperature. So with a digital thermostat, I can now see that the room temp is 65 F (my usual occupied setting) and put on a sweater or sweatshirt. I think a lot of "heat creep" in electric systems comes from this lack of feedback.

In addition, the digital thermostats have a much finer resolution (1ºF) which means even if I decide to "crank the heat" I can restrict that to a few degrees. Finally, the digital thermostats use proportionate triac controls - which means that the heat is not simply ON / OFF, but appears to have four setting: ON / LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH. So as the temperature drops, the heat turns on LOW - and if that's enough to warm the space, it never gets past that. So the heat is a lot more even and therefore comfortable.

The electrical installation was pretty simple - easier than changing a light switch IMHO. The only complexity is that the older thermostats are DPST (Double Pole, Single Throw) - which is to say they break both lines (in my case, the heat is 240 VAC, two hot lines). The digital device is SPST - so one of the lines needs to be connected directly.

Now, simply adding digital thermostats still leaves a lot of room for energy waste - if I forget to turn the thermostats down. In addition, when I turn the thermostats down at night, I wake to a cold home. So I added programmable thermostats to key areas: the living room, the master bedroom, and the basement (where I have my office). This device is a bit more expensive: $50 at Loews. It has the same general functions as the digital thermostat, but adds a programmable function. This particular device permits four different timed settings (typically WAKE / LEAVE / RETURN / SLEEP) and can be programmed differently for weekdays (Mon-Fri) and weekends (Sat-Sun).

So I drop the house down to 58ºF at night (I tend to like a cool house to sleep; flannel sheets, blankets, and a bed dog keep me warm) and just prior to my normal wake-up, I heat the house up to 65ºF. During the day, I drop things down to 62ºF (I'm either in the basement working, teaching yoga, or out and about). I pop it back to 65ºF in the late afternoon, and back down at bed time. If I want it a little warmer, or happen to be hanging in the living spaces during the day, I bump the thermostat up confident that it will reset at the next timed change.

In hindsite, I'm retrofitting all the digital thermostats with programmable ones - I often leave the kitchen up at 65ºF by accident, and on more than one occasion, I've heated up the yoga room to 80ºF (for a warmer practice) and left it on for a day or more. So now the yoga room is permanently set to 55ºF and if I accidentally leave the temperature up, it will reset within a few hours. I'm transferring the old digital thermostats to the bathrooms.

Does it work? I think so. My electric bills (which include dryer, hot water, and range, as well as lights and heat) range from $80 (summer) to $250 (winter) - which is not too bad, especially considering there is no gas or oil bill coming. The total retrofit costs ($250 to go 100% programmable digital) - minimal really and I'm guessing the energy savings have covered that in a single heating season. And with electric heat, I do not need to maintain (and consider replacing) a much more finicky gas or oil furnace, fan, pumps, etc.   

The downside - need to program the thermostats (not really that difficult, as compared to the timer on my front door light) and maintain the clocks (daylight savings time). But so far no real issues with power outages causing resets - I guess these things have some internal capacitor or battery backup, or store the program in non-volatile memory.  

A Real Bookstore

Got up to MA a bit early yesterday (for a family birthday dinner in Westborough) so I came across, and visited, the Tatnuck Bookseller.

Since Ray Bradbury's recent passing, I vowed to pick up a compilation of short stories; he was (arguably) the first science fiction author I read ("S is for Space" and "The Illustrated Man" courtesy of Scholastic Books, sold though my catholic school) and perhaps the first adult author as well. And though the physical books I owned have been long lost, his stories resonate through my memory, and I have come to believe that some part of my moral compass is advised by Mr. Bradbury.

So I picked up a newish compilation, A Pleasure to Burn, short stories that prefigured Farenheit 451. I also found Louise Erdrich's Tracks on the bargain rack (I've read and enjoyed a few of her books, but not a rabid reader) as well as a book of related short stores, Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes by Tamar Yellin - a complete shot in the dark (I was looking for short story compilations for summer reading). It feels nice to have a couple of physical books I can tuck into a bag for a trip, an outing, or a lazy afternoon. I'd hit the library, but my reading is so sporadic and opportunistic - I rarely finish a book in a week or two that a borrowed book would require. 

It has been so long since I went book browsing. I do not shop much (for anything); the last few "I really want to read that" books went straight to my iPad, occasionally I will place an Amazon order. Tatnuck is a lovely independent (by all appearances) bookstore with a nice cafe, selection of gifts, summer reading racks, etc.

That being said, the floorspace devoted to books was a lot smaller than perhaps once upon a time, and the selection limited (perhaps a half dozen titles by Mr. Bradbury out of his dozens of published works) - one can see the allure of the "get anything you want" juggernaut amazon, or the instant gratification of the eBook.

Buying Art

The Guinea Pigs (my folk rock band, I play bass and a little guitar) played a gig this weekend in Glastonbury, at the annual Audubon Society "Art for Nature's Sake" event. Last year, I took advantage of the event to purchase a piece of art (a painting of a downy woodpecker, which has become a little bit of a spirit guide to me). This year, I once again did a little "unreasonable" (in the sense that buying art is a little bit extravegent for me) and purchased another piece.

The artist, Lesley Braren of East Hampton, CT, has a very nice web presence. And I found my purchase online, entitled "Bird Cat" - a monotype of a red winged blackbird perched on some cat-tails, so you can see it as well!

Not sure why, but I really liked the impressionist feel of the monotype form as worked by Ms. Braren. I'm not an art scholar so never heard of this before, but Lesley describes it thus: 

"Monotypes are oils that are painted on glass and then transferred to paper. Sometimes it's only possible to make one print from the painting and other times there is a second one that's called a "ghost". Rarely a third one would be "ghost 11". Everyone is different."

It's funny, moving through the various artists tents and looking at the work. Several artists work impressed, some made me laugh or smile, and a couple I really liked. But like a suitor at a dance, there is usually one artist whose work speaks to me at that moment, an perhaps just one or two pieces that step to the fore. In this case, my continued delight and appreciation for birds, and the bright colors and textures of nature drew me in.

It's a lovely experience - finding something that speaks to the heart and spirit, and giving the artist some livelihood (in the form of money) in exchange for their vision and work. I'm a latecomer to the appreciation and collection of art, and I am sure I will never have the time, space or money to collect seriously, but it's nice to put a little bit of good karma into the art world.

I Bought a CD Today

Springsteen's Wrecking Ball, to be exact.

I purchase real CDs occasionally - usually direct from the artist at a concert, or at my annual folk fest. Occasionally I'll put some music on a gift list and get something for a birthday or holiday. And once in a while I notice that I am a disk behind on some of my favorite artists (usually folkies) and pick up a handful at Amazon. But mostly these days, I download from eMusic or iTunes.

Of course, it was not simple. Target offered a standard version for $12.99, and a deluxe version for $15.99. The deluxe version has a couple of extra tracks (+), is larger than a regular CD (-, in terms of stacking and storing), and has a larger booklet / insert (+, in terms of aging vision). I went upscale.

Once upon a time, I would have ripped it open in the car and gave it a listen, but my NPR addiction kept me tuned to Fresh Air. Indoor plumbing with a British accent won. It'll get a listen soon enough.

I go back to the days of vinyl; I remember hitting Strawberries in Bristol CT at lunchtime to pick up Born in the USA as a record, and how it was to have a favorite album side (who ever turned the Boston album over to listen to the B side?). Now buying a CD feels kind of retro. And in some ways it feels like a way of supporting live music, live artists, even if Bruce has no need for my royalties.

Gift Card Hoarder

I've become a bit of a gift card hoarder. Not sure when this started or why, but I've collected a fair number of gift cards over the years - given by friends, clients, etc. I have Crate & Barrel ($100), William Sonoma ($100), Barnes & Noble (unknown), Cheesecake Factory ($50 or $75), Home Depot (unknown), Whole Foods ($25). Probably a few more kicking around. I also have a couple of free massages and a free Shiatsu session. Just never got around to taking advantage of 'em.

Not exactly sure what this is about. There may be a sense of unworthiness going on - like I do not deserve what might be considered as luxuries. There may be a sense of insecurity - saving these for a rainy day (I think there are websites out there where one can convert gift cards to cash). There may be an unwillingness to step out of routine - these are often not places I would typically go. And there may be a sense of frugality - I live pretty close to the bone in a lot of ways; I shop for necessities and do not often shop for fashion, for decor or for pleasure.

Anyway, an encounter with a friend last night who is 100% my opposite (she can not wait to spend her gift cards) encouraged me to do a small unreasonable. So I popped over to the Crate and Barrel website last night to use my moolah. God forbid I actually go to the store and join the holiday shopping madness....

Picked up:

* Some terra cotta mixing / serving bowels
* Some casserole dishes (baking or pot lucking
* A hanging cooking pot rack (I have copper bottom cookware that would look good out, and a dearth of cabinet space)
* Some lotion / soap for the guest bathroom
* Some candle holders for tea lights / votives.

All came to $114, most of it was on sale, and shipping was free.

My token nod to the holiday shopping madness. Perhaps a visit to the William Sonoma website is next :)

New Laptop

Just ordered a replacement laptop. My last laptop (a Sony Vaio that I've had since February '08) clearly does not owe me anything. It's been a bit flaky / slow for a while, and at the start of the month, it gave up the ghost completely, refusing to power up at all.

Once upon a time I spent a lot of time researching laptops - with a remote office my main computer was often a car-ride away; my laptop was permanently set up in the house. I traveled a lot for work, actively maintained multiple websites, and did a lot of remote powerpoint / production gigs. But these days, my office (and desktop) are in the basement, and I have an iPad that does almost anything I might want a laptop upstairs for, and I travel just a few times a year. So I picked up a relatively middle of the road model from a decent brand, with good reviews. Stuffed it with RAM, picked up Office Home & Student (I refuse to use Outlook) and away we go.

A while back I left my laptop at the yoga studio for close to a month and never missed it; if it were not for some engineering software and applications that are Windows only, I might step back from a laptop completely.

Do-It-Yourself Basement Pron

Documenting my little "never want to empty that dehumudifier bucket again" project.


(A) Bought a small drain hose ($7, Loew's) which screws onto the dehumidifier drain, directing extracted water into

(B) The reservoir of the sump pump (Little Giant model VCMA-20ULT, $45 online including shipping and handling). When reservoir is sufficiently full, the pump turns on, sending water through a check-valve into

(C) 3/8" plastic tube, which I've run up the wall, into the ceiling, and down to the

(D) washing machine drain, where it empties. The pump turns off when its reservoir is empty, and the check valve keeps the water from flowing back into the pump reservoir.

The only improvements I might make are:

(1) Place a shallow plastic tray or container under the dehumidifier and sump pump in case of some sort of failure or loose fitting. Just an extra level of safety....

(2) Run the drain into a large container with a tap or faucet (like a water cooler) which I could then recycle for houseplants / grey water. Although I'd have to be sure that did not overflow.....

The pump is very quiet, I almost never catch it working, especially compared to the relatively loud dehumidifier. FWIW, I also have purchased a high current receptacle timer, designed especially for motor drive appliances, to cycle the dehumidifier (on at night, off during the day) if the cycling starts to bug me.

The Model VCMA-20ULT is perhaps a bit overkill (20' Head, 1.3 Gals/min) for my application, but there was not much difference in price between this and the next size down, so I thought it best to be conservative.

Rube Goldberg

My efforts pale in comparison to the technological marvels envisioned by cartoonist Rube Goldberg. However, I spent a few minutes and a few dollars creating my own contraption.

My condo has a basement that is about 50% below grade. I have an office down there: carpeted floor, lots of printed material and supplies, a few computers, printers, and network devices. So a recipe for high humidity.

I bought a dehumidifier when I moved in, but emptying the thing has become a chore, especially this time of year. In other homes, I was able to drain the dehumidifier into a basement drain, or elevate the dehumidifier so that I could use a washer drain, sink, etc. But not here. So last week I purchased a small sump pump with a reservoir, a check valve, and a roll of 3/8" plastic tubing. Voila - self-draining dehumidifier that pumps water up and overhead, into the washer drain.

I picked up a Little Giant pump, model VCMA-20ULT. When the reservoir fills, the quiet pump switches on and pumps the water over to the washer drain; when the reservoir is empty, the pump stops. $35 at Amazon.....

I'm going to get a small plastic tray or tupperware container to set the pump in (just in case, as much as I love technology, I know it also fails occasionally) but as of right now - I'm happy to not be schlepping the dehumidifier reservoir up the stairs a few times a week.

Up a Ladder

I live in a small condo complex - four units. More of an expanded duplex, really. So each of the four owners is an officer of the condo association, and we tend to handle some of the upkeep and maintenance ourselves. My condo fees are quite low - less than 1/2 the norm for these parts.

Since I've moved in, we've had no parking lot lights. There were two spotlights on the front of the building - one empty, the other with a floodlight bulb and apparent photoelectric sensor that was not working. The folks in the front units could put their porch lamps on (mines on a timer) but choose not to, so the parking lot is generally dark.

This past winter, the one front spotlight decided to turn on - and it stayed on for several months, 24 hours a day. It was kind of nice to have the light on, but it did add a bit to the condo electric bill. And then, a month or so ago, it stopped working again.

Last week, my neighbor Carol, an older retired woman, stopped by and noted how dark it was, lobbying (I think) to get someone in to look at the lights. I went out with her, and decided that was a nice project for me. So this weekend, I purchased and installed two motion lights in front of the building.

I've been the "go-to" girl for electrical projects for years. When I owned a home in Waterbury, I installed three sets of motion lights after we were burgled; those I had to actually run the wire, pipe it in, everything. I also replaced the old small fuse box with a 100 Amp breaker panel, and ran 240 VAC to the upstairs for heat. I've installed ceiling fans, track lighting, power for hot tubs, etc. and replaced countless receptacles, dimmers and switches. But it's been a while since I've tackled a big electrical project.

So I spent a few hours this weekend 16' up a ladder. The electrical install was not too hard - I needed to put in one box, take out the old fixtures, hook up a few wires, and adjust the motion detectors. My legs are kind of cranky from that ladder death grip required when one has both hands into a project, and I got a bit too much sun on my shoulders - but otherwise I'm good....

I was a little surprised / disappointed by the code violations I found in the fixtures. The box with the photocell sensor had both the hot and neutral junctions just twisted - with no sign of electrical tape, a screw cap, or anything. No wonder the light was intermittent. I have no idea how anyone walks away from a box light that.

The second light had no box whatsoever - the outdoor romex simply stubbed out of the wall / siding and an electrical cover was screwed to the side of the building. At least there were caps on the junctions. Needless to say I left everything a lot better than I found it, with screw caps, taped up, and a new box for the second fixture.

It was reassuring to come in last night and have both light come on as I pulled into the parking lot, and see them switch off 5 minutes later. We've never had problems with car vandalism or break-ins, but this will make us all feel a little safer. I might want to get up the ladder again and readjust the lamps (they might be pointed a bit high, flooding the house across the street as well as our lot)

Mostly though, it's nice to know that as I round the bend at 50, I still got it!