More and more of our “gadgets” are dependent on USB connections for charging devices. (This is an update to a previous post on the U-Socket. Since then I’ve found a couple of other better known suppliers with different solutions to this need.) Cooper Wiring Devices has developed a USB charger within a duplex that can be installed in homes or commercial facilities. (Shown at right) The device has dual USB charging ports rated at 2.1A. The device is UL listed. It replaces a standard duplex.
Pass & Seymour has their own version, but in their version, you lose one electrical outlet. You can see their version here.
When I talked about ColorSnap from Sherwin Williams here a few weeks ago, I said I would try it and let you know what I thought. I’ve been doing WAY more painting than I would like to this summer, working on a house renovation. I’ve been mainly using Sherwin Williams paint.
I decided that this would be a good test on the ColorSnap App which I have on my Droid Razr Maxx. The app has you take a picture and you are able to touch the screen in the picture area in order to select the color within the picture you would like to match. (Just a side note, the camera on my Razr is good enough that I use it pretty much exclusively for job site photos and most of the pictures that have appeared in this blog over the last four months.)
You would think I could take a picture of a wall painted with a Sherwin Williams paint and be able to get a match, right? No such luck. First, it was difficult to get a picture that was representative. Anyone that has taken a flash picture knows you get the “hot spot” of the flash and everything else fades out from there. Where in that picture do you poke with your finger to get the color? Second, the app brought up just one color. I had no way of relating that. Maybe the actual color was only one shade different. With all the variations in the Sherwin Williams color fan, not including the variations that come from the selection of finish, I have trouble discerning the match at times when I put the color chip against the wall.
I tried a couple of times on several walls and was unsuccessful. I could also get different colors depending on how I took the picture or where I poked the picture with my finger. I will say that this application has a lot of potential. I will also say that it’s not there yet.
I was called by a client that rents an office with cubicles. A woman in one of the cubicles was complaining about the air conditioning blowing down on her. I was a little surprised about this since the vent was directly over her head and the vent had a ceiling deflector that should have distributed the cool air away from her. But as always, the client (or client’s tenant) is always right.
The initial request was to close off the vent. I was hesitant to do this since that would tend to change the balance of the system which we had struggled for months to get right. We did a little research and found an air deflector at 1800ceiling.com
I installed the deflector and while doing the installation I checked and there was enough slack in the flexible duct work to move the diffuser two feet to the side. (After checking with the adjacent cubicle dweller to make sure she was okay with that.) So far, so good. A satisfied tenant and thus a satisfied client.
I am a little concerned that this may be a temporary solution. The diffusers are placed near the windows since that’s the area area where the most change in temperature occurs. Since this tenant is apparently slightly cold blooded, she may well be too cold this winter once the HVAC system switches over to heat from AC. That is a nice thing with this deflector though. It will be as easy to remove as replace. It is light weight as well, so the easy storage solution will be to just place it above the ceiling on the grid until it is needed again.
I have an attic fan on my house. It is a solar fan with a thermostat so that it will vent hot air in the summer when I want to cool the attic, but not in the winter when heat in the attic is positive for energy savings. Unfortunately the one I have is located on west side of the ridge so it only gets sun in the afternoons.
The Master Flow Green Machine Solar Powered Ridge Vent sits on the ridge. This has the advantage of being at the highest point so it takes out the hottest air as well as being in a position to get the maximum amount of sunlight.
I would consider this Green that saves Green…
A fire pit in the form of a globe or “Third Rock – Earth and all its glory reveal a fiery inner core through the continents of our planet” as it is put at the Fire Pit Art site. There is a whole series of pictures including ones showing its creation at the Fire Pit Art site here.
I thought the image was fascinating. Originally I thought this could be another option for the Firemen’s Memorial, but it’s not designed to a be a gas-fired display. In any case, this is an interesting art piece, each one individually signed and numbered by its designer, Rick Wittrig.
It is made of 1/4″ steel, stands 40″ tall and has a diameter of 36″. It has a drain in the bottom to allow rain to run out.
The Third Rock fire pit can be purchased at the Fire Pit Art site here for $1,679.