Category Archives: Household

What I looked for in a recliner (La-Z-Boy)

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Recently I bought a La-Z-Boy recliner. Both my wife and I have really been enjoying it. Before purchasing the Lazy Boy I came very close to getting one of these recliners available from Amazon: Acme Sage Microfiber Recliner: Home & Garden – Amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WGJHHM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pixensity-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=B002WGJHHMProduct Description The Acme sage microfiber recliner is a space saving product that you can place in one corner of your house, without eating up much room. Perfect for thoseā€¦ I am still curious about the Acme recliner,

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Lenovo X220 i7 with eGPU! (diy ViDock)

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My new Lenovo X220 laptop should be arriving soon. While it has a nice i7 CPU, it only has only has an integrated Intel HD 3000 Ā for the video card šŸ™ Ā ThisĀ severelyĀ limits 3D performance, therefore I will be adding something known as a DIY eGPU -or- DIY ViDock. This is a simple little project that is similar to the commercial “ViDock” product but at a lower cost and potentially with more capabilities. Basically it is connecting a desktop video card

Read more computer tips, Computers, Gadgets and Tech, Household, Work

PV photovoltaic skylights: energy production & UV reduction together

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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” orĀ 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 allĀ familiarĀ with skylights

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

Sample Off the Grid Solar Power Systems and Costs

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Going off the grid A friend’s dad is serious about going off the grid and doing it with solar. This man has worked hard for a long time and is ready for a new challenge, I think part of that challenge is to be more self-sufficient and independent. There is definitely something to be said for being self-sufficient. šŸ™‚ I am not going to get into the merits of on-grid vs off-the-grid, but I can say that for particular situations

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Small always on green RAID system for NAS

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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:Ā Thecus N4100 Pro (2) 750GB 2.5″ 7200RPM SATA laptop hard drives Upgrade to 1GB RAM (supposed to

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Two ways to save at Lowe’s and Home Depot

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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

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

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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 usesĀ 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

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

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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

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