A trick that might help your wife is this. Some engines have high compression hence the difficulty in hand starting. One trick I learnt on my dads mower when I was small was not to pull on the starter rope right away. The tough bit is to get over that "compression" hill if you like. What you want to do is to pull the rope slowly and feel for the compression. Try and judge it so that the cylinder is almost at maxium compression. This is easy to do because you are pulling the rope slowly and only short pulls at a time. When you think you have the cylinder near the max compression, let the rope rewind. Now give it that fast pull. Because you do not have to compress the cylinder much if at all, it should be easier to deliver that fast pull. Without this technique, I found that I would try and give it a fast pull, and when the compression hit the rope would be pulled right out of my hands. Hope this is of some help. Best, Mike.

I have a half-ton window unit that with large floor type fan cools 1200-sf per/ton in 100ðF weather. On July 18, 2011, as reported on WI Public Radio; very near me, Prairie du Chien, WI had a Heat Index of 127ðF, yes, 127ðF Heat Index! All shades pulled, etc., my little Half-Ton first floor A/C cooled all rooms to 76ðF or 77ðF & and rarely above 55% relative humidity; with good air movement, -- totally comfortable all day. The same for the up-stair's less than Half-Ton window A/C, cools my bedroom, hallway & bathroom; I use a Wind Machine 3300 to move the air throughout the rooms, both on first & 2nd floors. If everything is design-engineered perfectly it is possible that a 3-Ton A/C could cool a 3600-sf home. Here is a link that might be useful: Optimizing a Room A/C

Q1. What are the key features to look for in a water softener? In other words, what features do you look for to judge the quality of the system? ...I have had excellent success with the a twin tank design. These give seamless treatment regardless of volume. They are highly salt and water efficient, which in CA is becoming an important issue. Kinetico invented the twin tank design. ...Because there are NO electrical components, there will be zero issues in service, maintenance, repair or replacement of electronics and electrical parts. ...Long warranties give an indication of reliability. Q2. Chlorine filter vs. carbon in the resin tank: mixing carbon in the resin tank to neutralize the chlorine seems illogical to me. Carbon loads up fast and must be changed frequently to be effective. I know this because I must change my pre-carbon filters at 4x's the frequency as my HEPA filters on my air purifier. Resin doesn't perform the same functions as carbon; ions simply cling to the resin surface; it takes years before its surface is rendered ineffective so it does not need to be changed frequently; I also understand it is very expensive to replace. My guess is if you replace the carbon, you will end up replacing the resin before you really need to; so it doesn't make economic sense to mix the two in the same tank. With the level of chlorine in our water, will a cartridge filter work? Or do I need something bigger? ...What is your chlorine level? I don't like mixing tanks with resins and carbon, in part, for the reasons you stated. A carbon cartridge or upflow tank ahead of the softener will perform well and be easier to to maintain. Q3. Drinking water filters: will a reverse osmosis filter system improve the taste of water AND remove the potassium, aluminum, boron, chromium, vanadium in our water? If so ... Yes, an RO will significantly reduce a very wide range of contaminants. The Kinetico K5 is certified to remove more contaminats than any other RO system available. Q4. What are the key features to look for a reverse osmosis filter system? In other words, what features do you look for to judge the quality of the system? ...A self-rinsing membrane will provide up to ten times the life of the membrane. A metering or monitoring system that indicates when to change filters. A water pressurized (rather than air charged) holding tank provides superior water pressure, volume and recovery. A pressure pump will also greatly enhance performance and water quality. ...There other features that incluse aesthetics (designer faucets), easy of filter changes, availability of filter elements, filter options to handle particular water quality problems, A looong warranty, ability to handle new fridge water flow issues, and how long the membane is expected to last. Q5. Salt vs. Potassium chloride: discharge of sodium into the citys sewer system is fast becoming an issue in our state; one city in the area banned the use of residential salt water softeners; all salt water softeners in that city must be removed by June 2009. ...I don't see a question here. Potassium chloride, is NOT recommended by some of the manufactures, such as Kinetico. Does anyone know why potassium chloride is not suitable for some softeners, but okay for use in others? What damage will result to the softener? What brands can potassium chloride be used in safely? ...Not sure why you say Kinetico doesn't recommnd KCl...? That is perfectly fine and salt dosage charts are there to provide settings. The cost of KCl is causing some problems with dealers who don't want to sell it anymore. There will be absolutely no damage to softeners using KCl. Q6. Is a sodium filter for water softeners available? ...I don't know of any sodium filter that will work and is cost effective. Are you talking about removing sodium from the discharges water (brine rinse)? An RO will remove it for drinking water purposes. Q7. Since there is no room in our garage for a water softener (downsized house came with a downsize garage), the logical solution is to replace the humongous water heater with a tankless one, then put a water softener where the water heater currently sits. So the question is can I place a cartridge chlorine filter next to the softener, or do I have to find a location some minimum distance "up stream" from the water softener? ...Kinetico makes a quad-tank system that removes chlorine before entering the resin beds or a cartridge can be installed anywhere ahead of the softener.

To Scott (poolguynj): Thanks for the advice. I'm interpreting what you are saying to mean that I'll have to have the Intelliflo kick up from 15 GPM to 30 GPM during the time that the SWG is active (right now that's about six hours a day). I'll just set a timed Feature to coincide with the timer that the SWG is on. Similarly, you're recommending that the rate be increased to 30 GPM when I want the pool or spa to be heated. I didn't quite understand the statement that "Running at 30 GPM will allow the flow to be reduced at the result of increased resistance resulting from the filter getting dirty" so if you can clarify that for me, that would be great. To Vince (vincel): I'm probably the wrong person to ask about set-ups. Before the Intelliflo, I had a timer that turned on the old WhisperFlo pump and the SWG at the same time, running both for about six hours a day. The heater was always on a separate circuit and when I wanted heat, I simply threw a switch to either run the heater to pool temp (85) or spa temp (100) and if it was outside of the six hour period when the pump would normally be active, I threw a separate switch to send juice to the pump that would bypass the timer. Both switches were conveniently located outside of the equipment box so it was no big deal. Now the timer only impacts the SWG. The Intelliflo is hot 24/7 but the internal controls allow me to set the times its running (it's running around the clock though in order to take advantage of the lower energy costs for slow speed operation). When I want to run the heater, I just throw one switch now. Personally, I don't want the heater to be automated because I would rather have direct control over the occasional times I need it. Does that help? Thanks! Nick