Remodeling my home...advice?

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

get rid of any wood paneling. get rid of out of date light fixtures and add in recessed lighting or track lighting. if you're prewiring conduits can help you keep track and keep it clean but it's not necessary.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Make sure you install speaker wire for your surround speakers after you plan where your entertainment center goes. I forgot to do that in my remodel and now I'm gonna have to figure out an alternative to running wires along the floor and walls.

If you have carpet you can actually pull out the carpet from underneath the baseboard and run the speaker wire under that. There's usually room for a few wires. Once you run it you can push the carpet back with a phillips or there's a carpet tool. If it's hardwood, it's a little tricker. You can drill a hole in the ground and drop a cable into an unfinished basement and run it back up to your rears or whatever. If it's close to an outside wall you might be able to drill a hole to the outside. Run it underneath your siding and bring it back in to your source. Then after your done you'd fil the hole in with that instant foam stuff. We used to all kinds of stuff like that at my old job.

Don't know what the link for the image is but if you go here I think the third pic down from the left is an example of that last thing I talked about http://hometheaterbysal.com/photos.php

 

[Kaido]

That "100w" LED is terrible...over twice the power usage of a cheap CFL. It may have some advantages but not at the insane price I'm sure they'll ask for it. Even "60w" LEDS cost 15 times that of a CFL and aren't any more efficient. That "100w" unit would have to be like $8-9 to be competitive.

Some day maybe...but they have a long way to go and for now I would never get LED lighting, at least not for the mains. They can make decent alternative lighting or string lights for festivities and such.

Holy cow, I take it back. I was at Home Depot tonight picking up some paint and swung by the lighting section. They were having a sale on the 60w-equivalent yellow-dome Philips LED bulbs (12.5w actual)...the 75w were $40, but the 60w was only $15, so I snagged one. I had a pure white one before and #1, it was very much like a spotlight, and #2, it was clinical white - like the kind you want when you're soldering. Not great.

This, however...wow this is great! I tried it in my hallway, in my dining room, and in my bedside lamp. It has a triple-split head so it fills up the room way better. Held up great against my incandescent and my CFL. Plus, dimmable! Also no hum and 22-year life. It's too bright to look at directly, so it's going into my dining room ceiling lamp, which has a translucent white diffuser around it. The color is a nice yellowish, it's called "soft white light" even though it's more on the yellow side - it's the most yellow out of the 3 offered (they had an in-store demo of all 3 colors).

They are $22 on Amazon...I'm going to have to swing by Home Depot this week and pick up more at the $15 sale rate!

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-409904...dp/B004IUMGV4/

 

[Kaido]

Here's a link to the 60w-equivalent bulb I picked up: (now showing $14.97 online in my zip code, P/N 422154)

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/philip...-white-2700k-light-bulb-1-pack-e--422154.html

Photo of the LED package: (because this is AT)

http://i.imgur.com/9Bu7C.jpg

This isn't a great shot, but it does light up the room pretty well: (definitely use a diffuser since the bulb itself is pretty bright to look at)

http://i.imgur.com/ZxdXh.jpg

Will be buying more! :awe:

 

[Vdubchaos]

Were your window units those swamp cooler type of things that stick out of the window? Mr. Slims are ductless systems - waaaay more efficient, totally different animal.

And so is the Window unit?

What it comes down to is the price vs monthly cost savings.

Keep in mind I run my ACs 3-4 months AT MOST. Central AC prices are HIGH and monthly savings are about $40-60.

That's a WHOLE lot of years to break even.

 

[Kaido]

And so is the Window unit?

What it comes down to is the price vs monthly cost savings.

Keep in mind I run my ACs 3-4 months AT MOST. Central AC prices are HIGH and monthly savings are about $40-60.

That's a WHOLE lot of years to break even.

Yeah, I'm in Connecticut, so we really only run our AC from maybe June to September. That's why I'm interesting in the mini-split ductless systems...you can do heat as well. As soon as my furnace goes, I think I'm going to start investing in Mr. Slim units...I've seen them in 2 houses so far and they're really really nice. Just cost money is all :whiste:

 

[EliteRetard]

Here's a link to the 60w-equivalent bulb I picked up: (now showing $14.97 online in my zip code, P/N 422154)

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/philip...-white-2700k-light-bulb-1-pack-e--422154.html

Photo of the LED package: (because this is AT)

http://i.imgur.com/9Bu7C.jpg

This isn't a great shot, but it does light up the room pretty well: (definitely use a diffuser since the bulb itself is pretty bright to look at)

http://i.imgur.com/ZxdXh.jpg

Will be buying more! :awe:

Sorry, but that's one hideous light fixture

Its also not really 60w equivalent (more like 50w)...
Though its almost the same power and output as a $1.5 CFL and lasts twice as long.
So only 5 times the price...for no energy savings or improved light output. Cool

 

[Kaido]

Sorry, but that's one hideous light fixture

You should see the rest of the house :biggrin: Glorious 90's brass everyyyyyyyywhere.

Edit: Also that left wall used to be covered with 3 panes of mirrors - 7' x 4' each. So brass plus giant wall mirrors. Yeah. Awesome ;
)

 

[purbeast0]

we're thinking bamboo flooring....

i lived in a condo for 5 years that had bamboo floor and that thing does not hold up well at all. it's extremely easy to dent it or put scratches in it. my wife walking around in high heels caused thousands of little dents from her heal to be all over the place.

i personally would never put bamboo flooring in.

 

[jagec]

Sorry, but that's one hideous light fixture

Its also not really 60w equivalent (more like 50w)...
Though its almost the same power and output as a $1.5 CFL and lasts twice as long.
So only 5 times the price...for no energy savings or improved light output. Cool

Good luck getting a CFL to last ANYWHERE near their "rated" life.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Yeah, I'm in Connecticut, so we really only run our AC from maybe June to September. That's why I'm interesting in the mini-split ductless systems...you can do heat as well. As soon as my furnace goes, I think I'm going to start investing in Mr. Slim units...I've seen them in 2 houses so far and they're really really nice. Just cost money is all :whiste:

Lot of CT heads around here. I'm in CT as well hehe.

 

[Kaido]

Lot of CT heads around here. I'm in CT as well hehe.

That's because it's awesome here and we never have any major natural disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurrica-. Wait, nevermind :biggrin:

 

[Anubis]

Idiots try to cut their own slabs thinking it's simple since they have tools.

Better than granite is subjective.

You can argue Quartz is better, but everything has its + and -

 

[Auric]

Engineered materials have superior characteristics (durabilty, porosity, and so on) but are priced accordingly while granite is relatively low cost (both material and importantly labour) and "ticks a box" as an appearance upgrade over cheap laminates. So really, it seems to have become the new "entry level".

 

[EliteRetard]

Good luck getting a CFL to last ANYWHERE near their "rated" life.

I've got a big ass case of about 60 assorted CFLs that I've been dragging around for more than a decade. Every time I move in to a place I immediately swap all the bulbs and when I move out I take my CFLs with me. I know which ones I use the most, the box is the most worn and their plastic is now yellow. Those bulbs I use in my main room and they get 6-8 hours a day. Over 10 years that's about 22-29 thousand hours...still going. I have had at least 2 go out, maybe 3. My collection was smaller, but I've had to pick up a few different sizes/types/amounts/wattage depending on where I went...never spent more than $2 on a bulb. Get em on sale and with rebates from the electric company. In fact I even have 6 matching light fixtures that each came with 2 "60w" CFL bulbs included for just $5 a pop. Similar fixtures still go for $40, I got them as an energy saving upgrade bundle of some kind several years ago.

I'm all for LED, but they still have a ways to go. And they'll never be anywhere near as big an upgrade as CFLs. Getting something brighter longer lasting with a tenth the power usage is just crazy. Especially at such a low increased cost. LEDS at best will save a few more percent. I honestly don't know how they can still sell incandescent, or fathom how anybody can actually prefer them. Though I have seen some CFLs that "flicker" or need to "warm up" but something must be defective...I never have those issues.

 

[Capt Caveman]

i lived in a condo for 5 years that had bamboo floor and that thing does not hold up well at all. it's extremely easy to dent it or put scratches in it. my wife walking around in high heels caused thousands of little dents from her heal to be all over the place.

i personally would never put bamboo flooring in.

The quality/durability of bamboo flooring varies greatly. I can't remember off the top of my head but it's recommended to get bamboo flooring where the bamboo wasn't harvested til it was mature which is around 5 years.

 

[EliteRetard]

They've gotten pretty good with the fakes, you can get porcelain/ceramic tiles that look like wood. Should be very durable, easy to find prices at $4 sq/ft. Probably can find it cheaper if you look around. Just a few pictures real quick from google: