GU10 halogen bulbs are bad – a year on

About a year ago I wrote of my move to low energy gu10 LEDS (http://www.ossmedicine.org/?p=138). A year on and I can now look at the results this has had on our electricity bill. I’ve gone a bit further than just replacing the bulbs in the kitchen and living space, and replaced every bulb I can with LEDs or CFL’s if no suitable LED bulb available. The result has been quite remarkable. Our quarterly electricity bill has gone from approximately £200 to £100, and this doesn’t take into account the energy price increases we’ve seen this year. Not one of the bulbs has blown (compared with at least one a week with the old halogens).

Overall a result!

I think the phasing out of incandescent bulbs is long overdue. I understand phasing out halogen bulbs is also on the cards. Makes sense.

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Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

This morning during my post slumber repost, whilst watching ‘Curious George’ with the offspring, a piercing scream of “B**l*cks, what is this stuff on my clothes” rang out from on high. Naturally I moved faster than a neutrino* and arrived upstairs before I’d left, to find the better half surveying clothes from her wardrobe with a grey fluffy mould on them. “There’s damp in the room” she proclaimed. Of course I immediately accepted full responsibility and proffered my lifelong apologies. Continue reading

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Deterring foxes, the arduino way

We’ve a real problem with foxes here in leafy South London – there’s a den in one of the gardens nearby. A neighbour feeds and medicates them to make them nice and healthy! Yes, I know they’ve got a right to live as much as anything else…blah, blah, blah, but in the case for my defence they

  • crap everwhere
  • dig up the lawn and vegetable patch
  • chew through everything, including goal netting, toys and garden hoses

All in all I’ve have enough, especially with two young kids – the 2 year old is afraid to go out in the garden because of the foxes. I’ve already tried the deterrent powders, ultrasound devices and better fencing, but none of them work. After a bit of googling, it seems that the most effective (non-lethal) method is an infrared sensor attached to a water sprayer. They are widely available online as a complete package, but where’s the fun in that?  Continue reading

Posted in arduino, home_automation, ubuntu | 3 Comments