^I have done that.
Economical Home Hints
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cehalstead
Well-known member
do i qualify?
Do I qualify for an entry into the "pank" bathroom contest??
Do I qualify for an entry into the "pank" bathroom contest??
sudsmaster
Well-known member
Shocking!
Pink, that is. Very nice, at least for pink. But I see the toilet is not pink. You need to fix that, lol.
A turquoise toilet would be a nice contrast. Trust me on that one.
Pink, that is. Very nice, at least for pink. But I see the toilet is not pink. You need to fix that, lol.
A turquoise toilet would be a nice contrast. Trust me on that one.
cehalstead
Well-known member
"pank" tile
the tile is plastic...."MiraPlas" and original to the house, built in '52.
the tile is plastic...."MiraPlas" and original to the house, built in '52.
toggleswitch
Well-known member
Chuck, lovely pank tiles. Yours is the first home I have seen with that swirl other than mother's grey tiles.
~Using compact fluorescent lightbulbs in as many fixtures as you can is a huge savings on your power bill.
Technically yes, but.....
Every watt used in the house eventualy becomes heat. In a cold climate such as yours electric lighting would simply add needed heat to the house, reducing your heating bill, in your case gas bill.
~Using compact fluorescent lightbulbs in as many fixtures as you can is a huge savings on your power bill.
Technically yes, but.....
Every watt used in the house eventualy becomes heat. In a cold climate such as yours electric lighting would simply add needed heat to the house, reducing your heating bill, in your case gas bill.
toggleswitch
Well-known member
~If you're a real skinflint, chissler, cheapskate
There's nothing worse than seeing all that hot water you paid for from you water heater going down the drain after you bathe or shower.
HA try having a house-mate / boarder open the windows n his topfloor room at the top of an open staircase FULLY when the heat is on. UGH! Take your heavy sweater off, moron. Anyhoo........
I was looking for an economizer device I had den some time ago.
Picture this. Copper piece of 4" (100mm)wide pipe to replace a piece of the waste-water stack. Welded around it is a copper coil of 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch wide water pipe. Cold water from the street/source gets preheated by the (dirty) water leaving the house. [of course the clena and dirty water dont mix.] This pre-heated water then goes to your domestic-hot-water-heater thereby saving energy and reclaiming the heat (in the water) that would have been lost down the drain.
Can't find a sassa-frassin link! ERRRRRR!
There's nothing worse than seeing all that hot water you paid for from you water heater going down the drain after you bathe or shower.
HA try having a house-mate / boarder open the windows n his topfloor room at the top of an open staircase FULLY when the heat is on. UGH! Take your heavy sweater off, moron. Anyhoo........
I was looking for an economizer device I had den some time ago.
Picture this. Copper piece of 4" (100mm)wide pipe to replace a piece of the waste-water stack. Welded around it is a copper coil of 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch wide water pipe. Cold water from the street/source gets preheated by the (dirty) water leaving the house. [of course the clena and dirty water dont mix.] This pre-heated water then goes to your domestic-hot-water-heater thereby saving energy and reclaiming the heat (in the water) that would have been lost down the drain.
Can't find a sassa-frassin link! ERRRRRR!
toggleswitch
Well-known member
BTW doesn't that procedure of filling th tub up with waste water from your person force you to have to wash the tub a lot more?
Doesn't that waste water and chemicals?
Doesn't that waste water and chemicals?
sudsmaster
Well-known member
Yes, wattage from light bulbs does add heat, but it's a resistance heating method and it's generally more efficient and less expensive to add heat to the home by burning natural gas or fuel oil or coal. And then there's the problem of removing that heat in the summer.
When making pasta etc often I'll use a screen ladle to remove the pasta from the pot, and then cover the pasta pot with its hot water and let the thing radiate heat into the kitchen. It's not a huge amount but every bit helps.
Those with pasta pot cooker inserts can simply use that to remove the pasta, much quicker than scooping it out.
Toggle, the device you describe sounds like it might be something that commercial laundries might use. You might try looking up some commercial laundry supply/equpment/plumbing outfits...?
When making pasta etc often I'll use a screen ladle to remove the pasta from the pot, and then cover the pasta pot with its hot water and let the thing radiate heat into the kitchen. It's not a huge amount but every bit helps.
Those with pasta pot cooker inserts can simply use that to remove the pasta, much quicker than scooping it out.
Toggle, the device you describe sounds like it might be something that commercial laundries might use. You might try looking up some commercial laundry supply/equpment/plumbing outfits...?
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Heat Conservation
Here are a few things I do to conserve heat, or make it work for me a little bit when it otherwise might not do so...
- I always close closet doors, cabinets, and vanities, to cut down on the cubic footage to be heated. The only exception is on seriously cold nights- then I leave vanity doors open, so the heat can keep the pipes warm.
- Whenever I use an oven (even if it's the toaster oven), I open the door after it's turned off, to contribute that heat to the rest of the room. Same with the dishwasher.
- Those oil-filled electric radiators are great in bedrooms, so that you can turn the big furnace way down at night.
- Sun coming in the windows is FREE HEAT. I open curtains in the daytime, close 'em at night. Clean windows let in more sun.
- Real draperies (on a traverse rod) do a lot to keep heat in at night, and cold out. Forget all this fashionable stuff with little rags draped around the windows, or mini-blinds, and get some serious damn curtains that will do you some good.
- Make sure your storm doors close properly. A lot of them will stick just before closing all the way, which means the storm door does you absolutely no good whatever. Silicone spray helps some doors, others need adjustment. The door should close and latch with only the assistance of the closer- nobody should have to remember to pull the door shut.
- Air conditioners should go in the basement or garage for the winter- leaving them in the window is like leaving it open. Those covers don't help much.
- Don't just close your windows- lock them. This compresses the sash against the weatherstrip better. My housemate kept complaining his room was sooooooo cold. I went in there and locked the window; he's been fine ever since.
- It can also help to clean the window sill where the lower sash contacts it, and the weatherstrip on the bottom of the lower sash; dirt will keep the two from making a good seal when the window's closed.
- Make sure storm windows are all the way down, and latched. Dirt often builds up on the bottom track of the frame and prevents the lower sash from closing tightly.
Here are a few things I do to conserve heat, or make it work for me a little bit when it otherwise might not do so...
- I always close closet doors, cabinets, and vanities, to cut down on the cubic footage to be heated. The only exception is on seriously cold nights- then I leave vanity doors open, so the heat can keep the pipes warm.
- Whenever I use an oven (even if it's the toaster oven), I open the door after it's turned off, to contribute that heat to the rest of the room. Same with the dishwasher.
- Those oil-filled electric radiators are great in bedrooms, so that you can turn the big furnace way down at night.
- Sun coming in the windows is FREE HEAT. I open curtains in the daytime, close 'em at night. Clean windows let in more sun.
- Real draperies (on a traverse rod) do a lot to keep heat in at night, and cold out. Forget all this fashionable stuff with little rags draped around the windows, or mini-blinds, and get some serious damn curtains that will do you some good.
- Make sure your storm doors close properly. A lot of them will stick just before closing all the way, which means the storm door does you absolutely no good whatever. Silicone spray helps some doors, others need adjustment. The door should close and latch with only the assistance of the closer- nobody should have to remember to pull the door shut.
- Air conditioners should go in the basement or garage for the winter- leaving them in the window is like leaving it open. Those covers don't help much.
- Don't just close your windows- lock them. This compresses the sash against the weatherstrip better. My housemate kept complaining his room was sooooooo cold. I went in there and locked the window; he's been fine ever since.
- It can also help to clean the window sill where the lower sash contacts it, and the weatherstrip on the bottom of the lower sash; dirt will keep the two from making a good seal when the window's closed.
- Make sure storm windows are all the way down, and latched. Dirt often builds up on the bottom track of the frame and prevents the lower sash from closing tightly.
you can also save money by buying a gallon of windshield washing fluid and using it as window and glass cleaner....I've been doing it for years and it works GREAT!!!! If it gets bug crap and guts off of my windshield I figured it should clean glass and windows very well!!! It does!!!! Just be careful not to get it on wood.....if you do, wipe it off right away and there will be no problems. It costs approxiately 1 dollar a gallon and window cleaner is MUCH more expensive.
ohmm, it makes absolutely no difference if you leave the oven door open or closed after you use it and turn off the oven...there's only so much heat in the appliance and whether it moves into the room quickly or slowly is the only question.
toggleswitch
Well-known member
~Those oil-filled electric radiators are great in bedrooms, so that you can turn the big furnace way down at night.
Let us not forget that it takes three units of heat to make one reusulting unit of electric heat as 2/3 of the heat in gas or oil is wasted to make electricity.
UNLESS your electricity is generated by hydro-elecrric sources, it usually costs TRIPLE to heat electrically as it does with a fossil fuel (oil/gas). [This includes clothes dryers.]
Therefore, if you are using two electric space heaters at night, you could be heating six rooms with oil or nautal gas for the same cost.
Ditto heat pump. Two resistance electic heaters is the equivalent of heating six rooms with a heat pump, regardless of your cost of electricity.
Let us not forget that it takes three units of heat to make one reusulting unit of electric heat as 2/3 of the heat in gas or oil is wasted to make electricity.
UNLESS your electricity is generated by hydro-elecrric sources, it usually costs TRIPLE to heat electrically as it does with a fossil fuel (oil/gas). [This includes clothes dryers.]
Therefore, if you are using two electric space heaters at night, you could be heating six rooms with oil or nautal gas for the same cost.
Ditto heat pump. Two resistance electic heaters is the equivalent of heating six rooms with a heat pump, regardless of your cost of electricity.
toggleswitch
Well-known member
*LOL* I amazed a few people by using all available space in Ross' oven in Tucson by cooking many dishes simultaneously.
Most items will cook at a different-than-optimal (or usual) temperature,but the time needed will vary. This makes using one oven cavity for muti-tasking no problem.
Baked potato=> 45 minutes at 450*f,over an hour at 350*F
Most items will cook at a different-than-optimal (or usual) temperature,but the time needed will vary. This makes using one oven cavity for muti-tasking no problem.
Baked potato=> 45 minutes at 450*f,over an hour at 350*F
I tend to use the small convection oven a lot
No bending
Less energy
No bending
Less energy
toggleswitch
Well-known member
I have a friend who cuts open tubes of toothpaste to scrape out every drop.
Same person will not turn on the heat till it's below 40*F outside and sits in the house with a hat on. The neighboring apartments' heat flows into his.. heat flows from more to less, after all. *LOL*
He is so cheap he takes everyones hand-me-downs, no matter how beten-up or ugly. There are not two dishes or pots, chairs of forks that match.
Hear this:
If one believes in shortage rather than abundance, then so be it and so it is; that is what you will have. If you believe you are not worthy of a few creature comforts, then so it shall be. If you believe in hoarding and greed, you will one day realize no matter how much stuff you have it's never enough.
There are TONS of ways to save. a Sunday newspaper takes aobut 150 gallons(600L) of water to make, not to mention tons of energy. Do you really need it?
In a word..one could also have less STUFF- clothing, shoes and toys. REUSE, REPAIR, RECYCLE! This is perhaps the biggest saver overall.
(ducks and runs)
Same person will not turn on the heat till it's below 40*F outside and sits in the house with a hat on. The neighboring apartments' heat flows into his.. heat flows from more to less, after all. *LOL*
He is so cheap he takes everyones hand-me-downs, no matter how beten-up or ugly. There are not two dishes or pots, chairs of forks that match.
Hear this:
If one believes in shortage rather than abundance, then so be it and so it is; that is what you will have. If you believe you are not worthy of a few creature comforts, then so it shall be. If you believe in hoarding and greed, you will one day realize no matter how much stuff you have it's never enough.
There are TONS of ways to save. a Sunday newspaper takes aobut 150 gallons(600L) of water to make, not to mention tons of energy. Do you really need it?
In a word..one could also have less STUFF- clothing, shoes and toys. REUSE, REPAIR, RECYCLE! This is perhaps the biggest saver overall.
(ducks and runs)
exploder3211
Well-known member
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I just found this thread.. Boy what i missed... LoL
I always run the dishrag through the D/W..
I use tons and tons of paper towls and t/p.....
Pank? My house in FL had a pink bathroom, ughh it was bad... Pink walls, pink tiles, pink sink, pink tolit, pink flowerd wall paper.. HAd black trim around everything.. I yanked every bit of it out and made it white and dark blue.. Much better.. Although i did get tiles that where left overs from the 70's and a tub and sink that matched from an estate sale for $100..Still have 3 boxes of those flippin tiles.. I can't find the disk with the pics
I have seen many baths in my life... The worst was the bath with black tiles up half way on the wall, black sink, toilt, cabinet, tub, shower with amtching tile work. Above was BRIGHT pink and blue flowerd wall paper... OMG.. This wall paper cover every remaining square inch of the bathroom.. Ughh
I always run the dishrag through the D/W..
I use tons and tons of paper towls and t/p.....
Pank? My house in FL had a pink bathroom, ughh it was bad... Pink walls, pink tiles, pink sink, pink tolit, pink flowerd wall paper.. HAd black trim around everything.. I yanked every bit of it out and made it white and dark blue.. Much better.. Although i did get tiles that where left overs from the 70's and a tub and sink that matched from an estate sale for $100..Still have 3 boxes of those flippin tiles.. I can't find the disk with the pics
I have seen many baths in my life... The worst was the bath with black tiles up half way on the wall, black sink, toilt, cabinet, tub, shower with amtching tile work. Above was BRIGHT pink and blue flowerd wall paper... OMG.. This wall paper cover every remaining square inch of the bathroom.. Ughh
toggleswitch
Well-known member
~I use tons and tons of paper towels and t/p.....
Big @$$?
(ducks and hauls @$$!) *WHOOSH*
Big @$$?
(ducks and hauls @$$!) *WHOOSH*
oxydolfan1
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FARBERWARE makes a convection oven???
Toggle, I do hoard bar soaps and toilet paper because I aim to never again be without both (particularly the latter)....
Otherwise, besides my leather addiction, I almost feel as though God is offended, if I don't trust Him enough to provide me with what I need.
The same week you accidentally ruin three shirts, Daffy's has an unannounced sale, I guarantee it.
Toggle, I do hoard bar soaps and toilet paper because I aim to never again be without both (particularly the latter)....
Otherwise, besides my leather addiction, I almost feel as though God is offended, if I don't trust Him enough to provide me with what I need.
The same week you accidentally ruin three shirts, Daffy's has an unannounced sale, I guarantee it.
I haven't taken a newspaper in years. Cut the magazines down to only Discover.
Pay bills online via bank's free billpay service. No postage costs.
Pay bills online via bank's free billpay service. No postage costs.
toggleswitch
Well-known member
oooh i'm with you on that one..no costs and no float! Balancing a checkbook is a snap with electronic bill-pay!
Pmt decuted on day bill is paid by bank. period.
Pmt decuted on day bill is paid by bank. period.
exploder3211
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I must be an energy hog..
I pay bills via stamps, money orders and envelopes
We get a newspaper daily
BUT i drive a Toyota Corolla! It gets 35ish mpgs
I pay bills via stamps, money orders and envelopes
We get a newspaper daily
BUT i drive a Toyota Corolla! It gets 35ish mpgs
oxydolfan1
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I've been both influenced and repulsed by some of my Mediterranean neighbors' bathrooms.....
To me, a tiled ceiling is happening. It's a wallpapered ceiling I just don't like....
To me, a tiled ceiling is happening. It's a wallpapered ceiling I just don't like....
FARBERWARE makes a convection oven???
Yes.....
I believe they came out in the late 70's or early 80's.
They made several different models and are still available at Tag Sales or on Ebay. They usually go for big $$$$
Here is an older version
http://cgi.ebay.com/Farberware-TURB...ryZ20678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Yes.....
I believe they came out in the late 70's or early 80's.
They made several different models and are still available at Tag Sales or on Ebay. They usually go for big $$$$
Here is an older version
http://cgi.ebay.com/Farberware-TURB...ryZ20678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Another oven
This one is in my rec room
http://cgi.ebay.com/Farberware-Conv...ryZ20678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
This one is in my rec room
http://cgi.ebay.com/Farberware-Conv...ryZ20678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
oxydolfan1
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I do read the New York Times online because I don't have time otherwise, and hate all that paper lying about....
Before she died, my grandmother insisted on walking the block and and half over to the Dollar Savings Bank on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx to wait on line and pay her electric bill in PERSON.
She would NOT mail it, on principle!
Before she died, my grandmother insisted on walking the block and and half over to the Dollar Savings Bank on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx to wait on line and pay her electric bill in PERSON.
She would NOT mail it, on principle!
toggleswitch
Well-known member
~To me, a tiled ceiling is happening
Until it caves in from the weight. Give me good old-fashioned sheetrock /dry-wall ceiling. I'll deal with painting it.
Until it caves in from the weight. Give me good old-fashioned sheetrock /dry-wall ceiling. I'll deal with painting it.
Wow!
Look at the price on this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/FARBERWARE-ELEC...ryZ20678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Look at the price on this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/FARBERWARE-ELEC...ryZ20678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
As an eBay Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
oxydolfan1
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Gary....the first Farberware I don't love....a lady I cooked and cleaned for (yes, I cooked in those days) had one, and it was possessed by an evil spirit.
(The oven, that is, not the lady.)
The second one I like, and may actually look into buying.
What is being sold these days is too depressing to talk about.
(The oven, that is, not the lady.)
The second one I like, and may actually look into buying.
What is being sold these days is too depressing to talk about.
toggleswitch
Well-known member
Chad:
All kidding aside if you live with older folks you may be getting stuck in THEIR dated ways/styles/thoughts....
The only thing in life that stays the same is that life does not stay the same, ever.
Money orders? Try a checking account. Even a one-horse town MUST have a bank.... LOL LOL LOL (ducks and runs)
All kidding aside if you live with older folks you may be getting stuck in THEIR dated ways/styles/thoughts....
The only thing in life that stays the same is that life does not stay the same, ever.
Money orders? Try a checking account. Even a one-horse town MUST have a bank.... LOL LOL LOL (ducks and runs)
I too leave my oven door open after using it to add heat. I used the oven once a day during the last ice spell.
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