Smart switches & outlets? Suggestions please!
rcclads
10 months ago
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mtvhike
10 months agodennisgli
10 months agoRelated Discussions
Is a 'smart house' a dumb idea? Some impressions...
Comments (76)"Hi Anthem, and Happy 4th!" Same to you. "You don't know how much money I have. I have a lot." Good for you. All relative I guess. Glad you have a lot, buf if you have a lot, why do you fret over supporting other people ? If you have a "lot" why don't you give away most of it to the beggars with sores that seem to be so important to you ? Why are you asking others to forgo their desires when you yourself have "a lot" ? "You don't know what kind of house I can afford." You are correct. Nor did I ask or care to really know. "Maybe nicer than yours!" To each their own. Again subjective, but I seriously doubt it. "My reasoning has nothing to do with "libertarian" principles." Good. "You don't sound like a libertarian BTW you sound like a Republican" OK. . . So what difference does what I sound like ? I never said I was a libertarian, democrat, or Republican. What relevance does my political leanings have ? "...if only these terms weren't so boring and narrow. I'm an unaffiliated voter myself." Good for you, but I fail to see why that has any relevance or why you it enters this discussion. "I think you lack imagination. I don't believe humans cause global warming but I do believe in finite resources." Finite resources, yes. Humans don't cause global warming ? You're kidding right ? Maybe not directly but absolutely indirectly. Without humans, there wouldn't be anywhere near the carbon footprint that we have now. "My objection to the OPs post wasn't actually related to his elaborate (and evidently dysfunctional) wiring scheme, but to his personal environmental footprint. Try really hard to imagine the moment when technology development stops keeping up with rampant overconsumption of non-replenishable resources." rileysmom, your stated immoral objections have been noted before. It appears that anyone who spends (or apparently capable of spending) more than what you think is a reasonable amount is immoral - and that you feel the need to tell others that their are needy people in the world. I'm not sure it has to do with environmental footprint either as you don't really know his environmental/carbon foot print and/or otherwise. But seriously I don't see your concern for environmental footprint as you don't mention it anywhere. You started off as you did before over the fact that someone else spent more than what YOU consider acceptable and called it immoral. Here, let me refresh your memory "I was wondering: does anyone else think the OPs house is practically immoral? If you have enough money for 11 refrigerators (just had to have each and every one of them, huh?)". . . . Now its environmental ? "If he'd added a paragraph or so about using ICF construction (do you know what that is?) I'm quite familiar with ICF. ICF works really well for "simpler" houses and is a nightmare with more complex houses. Complex houses might be immoral to you, so that would preclude that issue for you though, right? Besides there are quite a few diverging opinions on using concrete and by extension ICF. While less wood is used, it isn't any more energy efficient than a well built/insulated house. I think the discussion of "green" revolves more around energy efficiency than the actual material being used. It's just that people choose to use insulated concrete forms because its cheaper to attain the same level of energy efficiency than its counterpart - but again with significant drawbacks (especially when it comes to flexibility or automation, which the original poster did do (or attempt to do)). "low VOC finishes" low-voc is definitely human healthier, but it remains to be seen if it has any real relevance to environmentally healthier. The majority of low or no voc paint has enough enviro-unfriendly ingredients that no matter what you do it isn't environmentally better. It's just less voc's being emitted into the household. "or even...energy star appliances" I don't know his appliances or items, but usually anyone who is into automation is going to have fairly high-end appliances which almost certainly are "energy star" appliances. By the way, energy star is a MINIMUM standard. It's such a poor standard that I am not even going to get into it. It's meant to establish a minimum standard so that the average consume shopping for a refrigerator isn't going to be ripped off by an energy inefficient refrigerator. Most anyone who spends big bucks on autmation is going to be buying in the subzero, viking, GE monogram, Liebherr type of level which are all well beyond energy star minimum ratings.. . . "for all 11 refrigerators and 4 dishwashers and maybe 2 laundry rooms) I'm sure his megamansion wouldn't have chapped me quite so badly." And that gets back to the basic question - Why does someone doing beyond YOUR levels dictate them being immoral ? People can spend what they want. If you haven't walked a day in their shoes - why are you calling them immoral for building their house ? Hey, you only need one toilet in a house. How many do you have ? Is it immoral for you to put more than one in your house ? It's all relative depending upon where you are coming from. I just don't get where you think everyone who does a bit more than you, or spends more than you, or is less energy efficient as you is "immoral". "Note this has nothing to do with how much it cost to build and how much it is appraised for now." Not what you said earlier. Should I refresh your memory again ? "Well, I do get a laugh out of something I read somewhere at some time...maybe The Economist? predicting that these whopping huge houses eventually will all be subdivided when the gated communities become the gated slums. Probably this subconscious thought prompted my comment about the poor and downtrodden." I really doubt it in our lifetimes or the next. Most of these won't last beyond a generation or two. And even then, it gets much more complicated with property lines. You're more likely to see teardowns than you will of change of use. The reason you see "mansions" (true sense of the word) in the past being used for multi-tenant is in high-density areas. You don't see today's megamansions in high-density areas. you might call them high-density, but even if everyone bred like rabbits and doubled the current population - it wouldn't change suburban america. Perhaps if you increased the population 10 fold, but we're talking many more generations beyond now....See MorePlease help with outlet/switch placement
Comments (7)Are you keeping the tile at the same height? Are you replacing anything else (sink, medicine cabinet)? Is that I toilet tank I see to the left? You need to think about how you use the space. Personally, I would put the light switch up above the tile - where I think it is now? Depends on how tall you are and where you want to reach to when you walk in the door. Or put it on a motion detector. The lower one in the corner - is that an outlet? I can't see that would be used much. Definitely move the other one from behind the towel bar. Now, as far as where to put the new outlets, depends on what you use them for. If your sink has a built-in ledge to right (lower than rim of sink - or is that something funky with the picture?) that you use, you could just move that outlet over a few inches (line up with your new tile) so it's not behind a towel, but higher than the edge of the sink. If you're replacing the medicine cabinet and would be charging an electric toothbrush or razor in there, move it into the cabinet. It doesn't look like you have *any* counterspace, so don't know how you intend to use the space. If you use a hairdryer, place the outlet higher - but I still don't like it above the tile, put it just below the bullnose....See MoreDarn it! Air Switch in wrong place. Pix. Suggestions???
Comments (23)I'm another who doesn't understand what the problem is. We put our airswitches in just about the same location and find it very convenient. I sometimes turn the water on just before running the GD and usually turn the water off right after turning the GD off so it is convenient to have them close to each other. Occasionally some water drips on the air switch but that's okay - it either air drys or is dried off when I wipe the counter. My hand usually isn't so wet as to leave a whole lot of water. If it was, I would have to wipe the counter anyway. By the way, even if the airswitch isn't by the faucet, it will sometimes get wet because of water splashing when spraying something in the sink. What problem do you think the water is going to cause by being on the air switch that it won't cause by being on the counter? If your water is hard and leaves water stains it will do that to the counter too. In that case, it might be best to turn the handle to the front to keep the drips in the sink. Or you might try it this way for a bit to see if you like it after all. You can always change the way the faucet handle faces later. Since many people like their switch in that position, I don't think you can fault your installers. If you had a strong preference for layout, you should have been there or left detailed instructions. Delays put our granite install when I was going to be away on a business trip and even though we had discussed things and mocked-up the accessory layouts, my DH wouldn't let them drill the holes with me away. They came back so we could both be there and we could make in case last minute tweaks to the layout were needed....See MoreSuggestions on outlet/lightswitch covers please!
Comments (7)When we remodeled our kitchen, the electrician brought 4 or 5 samples of switch plates, in various shades of white/off white/cream. I chose the one that best matched my painted backsplash. Presumably there are just as many choices for darker colors - more than the white, almond and brown available at the big box store. My Mom used to be a wallpaper hanger, and often put wallpaper behind clear covers, as palimpsest suggested....See Morekudzu9
10 months agolast modified: 10 months agoFlo Mangan
10 months agoBrains Automation
9 months ago
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