Category Archives: Daily Updates

PV photovoltaic skylights: energy production & UV reduction together

Leave a comment

Image source: OnyxSolar, please visit their site below… My long time buddy, and most excellent architect, John Odom forwarded me an interesting email about PV skylights. He tries to keep me abreast of the latest architectural trends and while “BIPV” or Building-integrated photovoltaics has been around for a while, it is DEFINITELY a popular topic today! Here’s a brief intro to the subject of BIPV and its components: Skylights – an integral feature of modern architecture We are probably all familiar with skylights

Read more Daily Updates, Gadgets and Tech, Household, Remodeling

Antique secretary laptop desk and cool retro PC mod!

Leave a comment

I routinely use my laptop setup in my grandma’s vintage secretary. It is a gorgeous piece of furniture. Every time I sit down at it I think fondly of her. The secretary is very functional with its fold out desktop surface. I would eventually like to build (or have built) a slightly larger version that could accommodate a full PC but keep the old-school antique look. 🙂 Curious about what exactly a secretary desk is?! Secretary desk – Wikipedia, the

Read more Building, Computers, Daily Updates, Gadgets and Tech

Small always on green RAID system for NAS

Leave a comment

Our family is looking to upgrade our “always on” network storage. Criteria include: energy efficiency, data protection, unobtrusive design, cost. Here is our past and future setup… Currently we use a Linksys NSLU2 with a 16GB USB flash drive. Pros: +super-low power usage (nice since we live off the grid) +compact size +simplicity +SSD (flash drive) for reliability +silent +cheap Cons: +SLOW Planned upgrade: Thecus N4100 Pro (2) 750GB 2.5″ 7200RPM SATA laptop hard drives Upgrade to 1GB RAM (supposed to

Read more computer tips, Daily Updates, Household, tech tips

Two ways to save at Lowe’s and Home Depot

3 comments

If you are starting a big remodeling project on your home or office here are a couple great ways to save money at Lowe’s and Home Depot! #1 Lowe’s 10% off “project starter” coupons I rarely go to Lowe’s without one of these coupons. It just does not make sense to buy without them! Save 10% on your entire purchase, up to $500 in savings per coupon (so you can use the coupon for up to $5,000 of stuff per

Read more Ask J.D., Daily Updates, Household, money tips, Remodeling

Why Chase 5% cashback can save you way more than Discover

Leave a comment

I try to stay abreast of the best credit cards for getting the most cashback and the least fees/problems. For many years Discover card was my primary card, but recently the Chase Freedom cards have begun to offer WAY more perks and benefits than Discover. Here are a couple prime examples of why Chase Freedom can save you more than Discover: Get 5% back on MORE purchases with Chase Freedom… The Chase Freedom card gives you 5% back on up

Read more Daily Updates, Misc Links, money tips

“The Plan of the Master Weaver” poem

One comment

My wife brought this poem to my attention. It holds special meaning for her since she is a weaver. I feel similarly having watched her utilize her skills in working with a loom. The Plan of the Master Weaver My life is but a weaving Between the Lord and me, I may not choose the colors, He knows what they should be; For He can view the pattern Upon the upper side While I can see it only On this,

Read more Daily Updates

Do DC (direct current) air conditioners exist? [yes, they do exist]

2 comments

UPDATED: 2011.06.16 added a new DC air conditioner producer… Recently I wrote about air-conditioning in off the grid environments. The approach I outlined uses solar panels which output DC [direct current]) and an inverter to convert to AC [alternating current] which runs a conventional air-conditioner. A commenter on twitter asked the reasonable question, what about using a DC air-conditioner instead? This is actually a great idea as it reduces the need for a heavy duty inverter and it also would be

Read more Ask J.D., Daily Updates, Household

Air conditioning using off-the-grid solar [sample setup/install]

2 comments

Summary: brief article describing a setup for running a good sized air-conditioner using solar in an entirely off the grid environment. My family has lived off-the-grid for a number of years and generally it has been a wonderful experience. However, summers in Missouri can get rather warm so this year I set out to cool our entire house with AC. Previously only our bedroom was air conditioned and the other rooms had ceiling fans or stationary fans. Prior to the

Read more Daily Updates, Household, Remodeling