Skimpy Updates – Life is crazy.
I’ve been skimping on the updates lately. Big-time.
I’m coding again. I’ve been working on a smaller (but large) project. I don’t have a -lot- of time to code (because I’m not making much time) but the time I am setting aside for it is highly productive. I haven’t cranked out code this easily in years. Maybe it’s the caffeine, maybe it’s the lack of distractions. Maybe I’m just in a groove.
The gf is out of town the next day or so. More time to code! Yay!
I’ve started working on two rooms this month. I don’t expect to finish either, but I needed to do some small things to both rooms. I already didn’t expect to finish any rooms this month, so doing small things to two rooms, and getting them to the point I -will- be able to finish both next month seemed to make sense.
I took a road trip the other day, and along the way I stopped by the nearest Solatube reseller / installer in Centerville, OH over the weekend. I was taking a road-trip to Columbus anyhow, and figured it’d be as good a time as any to get the skylights I plan to put in my great room. I’ve got storm damage on my roof, and have people coming to look at that tomorrow. So I figure while they’re fixing the roof there won’t be a better time to cut holes in it. I have to say, these solatube are seriously impressive. I’ve seen other tubular skylights, but they just didn’t have the output these things had. Not to mention, I’ve got the light mounts, so I’ll be able to put lights in the skylights, and use them at night.
If you’re looking to put some sunlight in your house, I really think these things are the way to go. I’ll let you all know what I think of them once they’re in.
Anyhow, back to working on the mystery project. :-)
May 9th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
Hey, I looked at the Solatubes site the first time you mentioned it in BeShare, and you know what? I do believe that might be a case where science fiction led to a product, since I first saw something like Solatubes in one of the old “Planet of the Apes” movies. Of course, if they don’t filter out certain UV frequencies, you can reasonably expect them to lead to a greater fading of the directly exposed portions in your house :) I would advise putting light-colored objects in the path of the light during the summer to cut down the cooling bill, and dark ones to maximize solar heat gains in the winter. Also, of course, be sure you don’t fall asleep directly in their light paths during the hours of approximately 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. since you’re likely to get a nasty sunburn :P
Weren’t you also mentioning in BeShare how you hoped the storms would rearrange your roof so you could have insurance replace it? Sadly, it looks unlikely that you’ll have it all happen in one shot: your roof is more likely to look like a patchwork quilt, until some really nasty weather comes along to rearrange a lot of the neighbhorhood, which might also cost you dearly for a lot of other things in the process. Too bad you couldn’t control the weather enough to do what you want… :)
May 9th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
The dome that goes on top of the roof acts as a UV and IR filter. There’s no need to worry about excessive fading, or introduced / concentrated heat from the light. It’s cool sunlight.
The tubing is amazing. It’s 97% reflective. Very very shiny. Blinding in direct light.
May 19th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
Ha strep.
Around 2 years ago, my brother gave me the chicken pox. I was 22.