Fluke 87V - any reason not to buy?
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From: JosephKK on 10 Dec 2009 01:39 On Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:54:58 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >Jim Thompson wrote: >> On Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:51:36 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >> wrote: >> >>> JosephKK wrote: >>>> On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:36:50 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> krw wrote: >>>>>> On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:10:22 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>> [...] >>>>> >>>>>>> Get a wood stove. Seriously, best investment we ever made in this house. >>>>>>> Global "warming" has led us from 2-cord winters (where we got socked >>>>>>> with a $709 propane bill for one (!) month and got the wood stove) to >>>>>>> 4-cord winters. And I am not sure whether the purchase of 5 cords >>>>>>> wouldn't be advised for next winter. >>>>>> I think we're going to put the gas logs in the fireplace this year. >>>>>> >>>>>>> Can you imagine what propane heating would cost us this winter? >>>>>> Propane varies widely across the country. In VT it was about 3x what >>>>>> oil cost. Dunno here, yet. >>>>> It's way more than gasoline out here in CA even though it has less BTU. >>>>> So we thumbed our noses at the oil companies and went to wood heat. But >>>>> I wish we had a bigger stove, with all this cooling trend. Despite what >>>>> experts say I now think that bigger is better. >>>> I would certainly pay attention to how efficient it was over its >>>> heating power working range. >>> >>> Well, that's just it. At the 20% to 50% level it's supposedly around >>> 78%. But California seems to get colder every year. So, more and more we >>> find ourselves running it close to full bore and that's where the >>> efficiency drops off. Still a clean burn, no smoke, but lots more heat >>> escapes through the chimney. Modern wood stoves can operate quite well >>> at the lower burn settings but not when you run them with primary plus >>> secondary air fully open. Probably because they don't have much of a >>> baffle system like older stoves do. Then they start eating wood as if it >>> was popcorn. At this rate I am not sure our 4 cords will last through >>> winter :-( >>> >>> This morning it happened for the first time that we needed wood stove + >>> pellet stove + central heat to get the house warm. Here in the office it >>> was 58F at 7:00am even though wood and pellet stoves ran all night. >> >> Damn! I come unglued at 68ºF... but then our humidity is ZERO :-( >> > >How do you recognize an Arizonan? When he says "But it's a dry heat ..." > >In an hour I am starting my 2nd attempt to whack the ice cover on the >steep driveway because I need to get to a client tomorrow, after being >more or less stuck here in the house since Sunday. Wish me luck. This >morning I heard a neighbor somewhere trying the same, then started up >the car, put in gear, release brake ... ka-crunchah ... ka-chrunch ... >phsssseeeee ... *CRUNCH* ... sounded like it's sitting in a frozen snow >bank now. This may sound weird but try taking a leaf blower to it.
From: Joerg on 11 Dec 2009 13:53 JosephKK wrote: > On Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:54:58 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> > wrote: > >> Jim Thompson wrote: >>> On Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:51:36 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> JosephKK wrote: >>>>> On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:36:50 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> krw wrote: >>>>>>> On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:10:22 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>> [...] >>>>>> >>>>>>>> Get a wood stove. Seriously, best investment we ever made in this house. >>>>>>>> Global "warming" has led us from 2-cord winters (where we got socked >>>>>>>> with a $709 propane bill for one (!) month and got the wood stove) to >>>>>>>> 4-cord winters. And I am not sure whether the purchase of 5 cords >>>>>>>> wouldn't be advised for next winter. >>>>>>> I think we're going to put the gas logs in the fireplace this year. >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Can you imagine what propane heating would cost us this winter? >>>>>>> Propane varies widely across the country. In VT it was about 3x what >>>>>>> oil cost. Dunno here, yet. >>>>>> It's way more than gasoline out here in CA even though it has less BTU. >>>>>> So we thumbed our noses at the oil companies and went to wood heat. But >>>>>> I wish we had a bigger stove, with all this cooling trend. Despite what >>>>>> experts say I now think that bigger is better. >>>>> I would certainly pay attention to how efficient it was over its >>>>> heating power working range. >>>> Well, that's just it. At the 20% to 50% level it's supposedly around >>>> 78%. But California seems to get colder every year. So, more and more we >>>> find ourselves running it close to full bore and that's where the >>>> efficiency drops off. Still a clean burn, no smoke, but lots more heat >>>> escapes through the chimney. Modern wood stoves can operate quite well >>>> at the lower burn settings but not when you run them with primary plus >>>> secondary air fully open. Probably because they don't have much of a >>>> baffle system like older stoves do. Then they start eating wood as if it >>>> was popcorn. At this rate I am not sure our 4 cords will last through >>>> winter :-( >>>> >>>> This morning it happened for the first time that we needed wood stove + >>>> pellet stove + central heat to get the house warm. Here in the office it >>>> was 58F at 7:00am even though wood and pellet stoves ran all night. >>> Damn! I come unglued at 68�F... but then our humidity is ZERO :-( >>> >> How do you recognize an Arizonan? When he says "But it's a dry heat ..." >> >> In an hour I am starting my 2nd attempt to whack the ice cover on the >> steep driveway because I need to get to a client tomorrow, after being >> more or less stuck here in the house since Sunday. Wish me luck. This >> morning I heard a neighbor somewhere trying the same, then started up >> the car, put in gear, release brake ... ka-crunchah ... ka-chrunch ... >> phsssseeeee ... *CRUNCH* ... sounded like it's sitting in a frozen snow >> bank now. > > This may sound weird but try taking a leaf blower to it. To a 2" ice cover? Well, I got it to go away, mostly, by whacking it with a shovel, shoveling the ice sheets aside and dumping salt onto the surface. The ice shattered with a noise like glass. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joerg on 11 Dec 2009 13:56 JosephKK wrote: > On Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:51:36 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> > wrote: > >> JosephKK wrote: >>> On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:36:50 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> krw wrote: >>>>> On Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:10:22 -0800, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>> [...] >>>> >>>>>> Get a wood stove. Seriously, best investment we ever made in this house. >>>>>> Global "warming" has led us from 2-cord winters (where we got socked >>>>>> with a $709 propane bill for one (!) month and got the wood stove) to >>>>>> 4-cord winters. And I am not sure whether the purchase of 5 cords >>>>>> wouldn't be advised for next winter. >>>>> I think we're going to put the gas logs in the fireplace this year. >>>>> >>>>>> Can you imagine what propane heating would cost us this winter? >>>>> Propane varies widely across the country. In VT it was about 3x what >>>>> oil cost. Dunno here, yet. >>>> It's way more than gasoline out here in CA even though it has less BTU. >>>> So we thumbed our noses at the oil companies and went to wood heat. But >>>> I wish we had a bigger stove, with all this cooling trend. Despite what >>>> experts say I now think that bigger is better. >>> I would certainly pay attention to how efficient it was over its >>> heating power working range. >> >> Well, that's just it. At the 20% to 50% level it's supposedly around >> 78%. But California seems to get colder every year. So, more and more we >> find ourselves running it close to full bore and that's where the >> efficiency drops off. Still a clean burn, no smoke, but lots more heat >> escapes through the chimney. Modern wood stoves can operate quite well >> at the lower burn settings but not when you run them with primary plus >> secondary air fully open. Probably because they don't have much of a >> baffle system like older stoves do. Then they start eating wood as if it >> was popcorn. At this rate I am not sure our 4 cords will last through >> winter :-( >> >> This morning it happened for the first time that we needed wood stove + >> pellet stove + central heat to get the house warm. Here in the office it >> was 58F at 7:00am even though wood and pellet stoves ran all night. > > I see that you understood me well. 58F is too crispy for me to get up > without an emergency. I suggest at least two more cords. And more > pellets. ISTR your place was decently insulated, but the cold snap > has just been extreme. The home is well insulated but the windows aren't. Single pane, albeit thick glass. However, yesterday at the client I found that one of the engineers had just replaced it on his whole house with dual-pane. $30k! Our house has a lot more windows and sliders :-( IOW, there ain't no chance at all to recoup that sort of investment. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Dave Platt on 11 Dec 2009 14:42 In article <7ofiv7F3p57imU2(a)mid.individual.net>, Joerg <news(a)analogconsultants.com> wrote: >The home is well insulated but the windows aren't. Single pane, albeit >thick glass. However, yesterday at the client I found that one of the >engineers had just replaced it on his whole house with dual-pane. $30k! >Our house has a lot more windows and sliders :-( Ouch. We had a similar job done a few years ago - one-story ranch-style, two big patio glass double-doors, big dual-pane sliding windows in three bedrooms and the kitchen, plus a couple of bathroom windows. We had low-emission double-pane glass installed, with extra-thick used in the master bedroom and attached bath. The total came to just a bit over $5k. >IOW, there ain't no chance at all to recoup that sort of investment. As far as comfort goes, though, it's a real win. The house feels a lot snugger in winter, and significantly cooler during the hot days of summer (it was well-insulated in other respects when we bought it). I think it's the best investment we've made in the place. Shop around... you may find that you can get good-quality double-pane windows installed for rather less than what your cow-orker paid. -- Dave Platt <dplatt(a)radagast.org> AE6EO Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!
From: Joerg on 11 Dec 2009 16:08
Dave Platt wrote: > In article <7ofiv7F3p57imU2(a)mid.individual.net>, > Joerg <news(a)analogconsultants.com> wrote: > >> The home is well insulated but the windows aren't. Single pane, albeit >> thick glass. However, yesterday at the client I found that one of the >> engineers had just replaced it on his whole house with dual-pane. $30k! >> Our house has a lot more windows and sliders :-( > > Ouch. We had a similar job done a few years ago - one-story > ranch-style, two big patio glass double-doors, big dual-pane sliding > windows in three bedrooms and the kitchen, plus a couple of bathroom > windows. We had low-emission double-pane glass installed, with > extra-thick used in the master bedroom and attached bath. The total > came to just a bit over $5k. > Do you remember which brand and who the installer company was (if nationwide)? I am in Northen California. Which sometimes feels like Siberia lately ... >> IOW, there ain't no chance at all to recoup that sort of investment. > > As far as comfort goes, though, it's a real win. The house feels a > lot snugger in winter, and significantly cooler during the hot days of > summer (it was well-insulated in other respects when we bought it). > > I think it's the best investment we've made in the place. > > Shop around... you may find that you can get good-quality double-pane > windows installed for rather less than what your cow-orker paid. > Ok, will do. I've heard that the Pella brand is good but I can't ask the friend who had those installed over here because he passed away :-( -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM. |