Lite, I have modified several of 4' shoplights by cutting them down with a Dremel tool. I have made a 36" fixture and several 24" fixtures by cutting them shorter. It is helpful if you can visualize how the metal end would look if you cut so it can fold back together... just as you would imagine a cardboard box unfolded and folded back together. I have used both rivets and sheet metal screws to refasten the pieces. If you are making a 36" fixture, you can use two ballasts - one to overdrive each bulb. If you are making a 24" fixture then you should know this helpful little fact: You can wire 2-24" 17W lamps, in series, to substitute for a 48" 32w lamp. --- OR --- =[17w]==[17w]= is basically the same as =[32w]= You will get more light by wiring up the modified 24" fixture to overdrive by 2x, using only one ballast and two 24" lamps wired in series. That is as opposed to using the original default wiring scheme, driving each 24" lamp separately in place of each 48" lamp. I have wired them up both ways. Simply repacing the 48" lamps by the 24" lamps does drive the 24" lamps brighter, but not nearly as bright as wiring the 24" lamps in series and then overdriving by 2x Good luck. Zink

OK. I am going to try to post a picture directly into this post. The picture is of how I plant my seeds. I fill a clear plastic shoebox sized container with about two and a half inches of seed starting mixture and level it out. Then I use the eraser end of a pencil to punch in 8 to 15 equally spaced holes about 3/8 of an inch deep into the soil. Then I put an equal number of seeds into a small dish of water and wait until they get wet enough to sink. Then I put one seed into each hole. The wet seed will stick to the pointed end of the same pencil for dropping them into the small holes. Then I cover the seed with a thin layer of pure vermiculite, put the cover on the container, put it on a heat mat or into my oven where the pilot light keeps it at around 85 degrees, and wait, usually four to eight days. As soon as the first seed sprouts I remove the cover and immediately put the container, sprouted and unsprouted seeds alike, under my lights or outside on the patio in direct sunlight if it is over 50 degrees outside.

A moisture-sensing automatic shut-off valve might be more economical than floor repairs and could also catch internal refrigerator/freezer failures that might spill water. I use a bevy of "FloodStop" units with distributed sensors for various non-rigid water lines, including the RO line to the icemaker, under sink H/C pex plumbing, undersink RO lines, dishwasher feed, and washing machine. Flexible plastic water line should be polyethylene tubing rated for food service, and connection of these is best accomplished using John Guest type fittings. (See McMaster-Carr or Portage Specialties for examples.) There are also devices performing the function of in-line water fuses that could be beneficial, but I haven't used any. However, braid reinforced teflon tubing (with appropriate fittings) would provide a level of overkill that would deserve respect from even the most fanatic. (See Paragon Performance for examples.) kas

I have to agree with Jake on this one, that first response sounds like a bunch of hype to me. Let us review the facts: Both PEX and Copper provide an very good system however the aforementioned statement that a PEX homerun system saves water, Maybe it does, but then maybe just the opposite is true, depending upon the layout. Consider this, if you have a Main and Branch layout the lead time to get the hot water from the tank to the fixture will remain equal. On the other hand, if you have a manifold and home run system it is true that the smaller lines contain less water, but consider this. You go in the bathroom and turn on a faucet at the lavatory. The hot water must then travel from the water heater to the manifold and through a dedicated line to your lav, then you step to the shower and wait again as the hot water leaves the tank, travels to the manifold then up the dedicated line to your shower, and if you happen to have two lavatories and the wife turns the water on at her lav once again you wait for the water to travel from the water heater to the manifold, then through a dedicated line to her lav. If we were to realistically compute all those losses in most instances the end result would be nearly the same, if not less in a main and branch layout. On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing in the code that would prevent us from installing a manifold and home run system with copper. If reducing water consumption is the main concern, then the best method would be to install a Main & Branch recirculating system, which provides nearly instantaneous hot water at the fixture. Taking this to the next level, if your desire to conserve water is based upon environmental concerns then here again a recirculating system wastes much less water however, if your concerns on saving water is based upon savings on the water bill, it is highly unlikely that either system will have any major effect because even though most municipal water suppliers do measure the exact number of cubic feet of consumption, generally they bill in blocks of 100cu.ft. One hundred cubic feet of water is approximately 600gallons and it is highly unlikely that you would waste 600gal in a month even with a long lead time to the fixtures.(Typically a 3br residential structure will average 300gal per day total consumption.) Many will argue that PEX is cheaper than copper, but here again, that is not always true. If we install PEX in a main and branch layout then PEX defintely has the price advantage but if we install a PEX manifold and home run system we must then install a both a hot and cold dedicated line to all lavatories and the shower plus and additional dedicated cold water line to the water closet. Thus at a minimum we have 5 lines from the manifold to the bathroom whereas with a main and branch we only have i hot and 1 cold line from the main to the bathroom. Now when you consider that one PEX fixture stubout will cost nearly as much as a bag of 20 copper elbows in the end the material cost for a PEX manifold system is almost the same as a copper system. In can be argued that the labor cost to install PEX is much less, but here again, this is not true. While it is much easier to run the PEX tubing, if the PEX is properly installed per code and manufacturers requirements PEX can ultimately involve more labor time, by example, the manufacturers installation specs state that PEX must be protected from UV light, both direct and indirect. Technically speaking, if you run PEX through an open stud bay in a basement, and if that basement has windows the you are required to cover the underside of that stud bay with a light proof material. When the manifold is wall mounted it must either be in a windowless utility room, enclosed in a cabinet or provided with a light proof membrane curtain. Copper requires an hanger within one foot of every major change of direction and one hanger for every 48". PEX is required a hanger for every 38" and the hangers must allow movement of the tubing. In addition, all PEX runs must have an additional 10% overall length to allow for expansion and contraction. (Now ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a PEX installation that was done by the book? In my jurisdiction we have a plumbing inspector who is hell bent on insuring all PEX is by the book, in fact, he brags that he has yet to see a PEX installation that would pass on first inspection.) For re-work PEX has the distinct advantage that it can easily be fished through walls, but then, the same can be done with roll copper. For new construction if PEX is run in a main and branch configuration like copper the overall cost advantage certainly goes to PEX but when we consider how much more tubing is used in a manifold and home run system most plumbers will offer a PEX maifold system or a copper main and branch system for the same price. Now in regards to angle stops at the fixtures. The codes require that all fixtures with the exception of tubs & showers must have an individual shutoff valve, which in most instances is the angle stop, however with the advent of the manifold system the valve on the manifold meets the requirement in most jurisdictions. On the other hand, some jurisdictions such as mine have ruled that the manifold valve is a Zone valve, and they still require the individual angle stops at the fixture. IMHO i would not have a fixture that does not have angle stops. Consider this, you have a minor drip from the lavatory faucet. If you have an angle stop you can easily reach under the sink and turn the water off, make the repair, then easily turn the water on again. On the other hand, if you have a manifold and no angle stop you must go to the manifold to turn the water off, and with my luck, your in an upstairs bath and the manifold is in the basement, no doubt at the opposite end of the house, so you go down two flights of stairs across the house and probably have to move bicycles, lawnmowers and who knows what to get to the manifold, then up two flights of stairs to make a simple repair, followed by another trip down the stairs to turn the water on, back up to check your work and pick up your tools. Personally I am getting too old to be running up and down the stairs all day, oh, but it does have its compensation because I am billing additional labor time for all those stairs..LOL. It is also argued that PEX will tolerate freezing and thawing without bursting a pipe, which is truc, but on the other hand what they don't tell you is that rodents of all varieties, mice, rats, rabbits, and opossums seem to have a sweet tooth for PEX. In fact, in the last five year we have made more service calls to repair rodent damage to PEX than to repair frozen copper lines.