HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tomj@monster.apd.saic.com (Tom Johnson)
Subject: Re: ANTS! Helllllllllllllllp!!!
Organization: SAIC, Reston, VA
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 20:46:26 GMT

mks@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (manishkumar.sharma) writes:

>We have recently noticed ants in several rooms of our house. THese are the
>black variety about 1/8" in length. We sprayed an ant&roach killer which
>keeps them out for a couple of days, but they return, especially at night,
>so that we see several of them crawling around in the morning. Our
>kitchen is usually spotless, so there is no food remnants for them and so
>is our carpet.

>Is there a DIY way of getting rid of them permanently?
>Will 20-Mule Borax work on them (it works on fleas)?

>Thanks for any suggestions.

>-Manish Sharma
>...att!trumpet!mks

We used a pack of "ant hotels".  I'm not sure what the real
name is, but they're little grey plastic disks that you place in areas
where the ants party.  They're supposed to snack on the poison, and then
take some back with them to their families at home, where the whole
brood gets the Big Kabosh.

After we used them, we saw no more ants.  Coincidence?  Hmmmm....
From: bwb1@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (BRENT W. BENSON)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Bread Makers
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:03:26 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

In article <CNTS12.70.0@email.mot.com>, CNTS12@email.mot.com (Mike Stevens) writ
es:
>My wife and I are considering purchasing a break maker as her mother has one
>and it makes great bread.
>
>I have found several makers on the market place ranging from $ 89.00 to $
>359.00 plus.
>>
>Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
>Thanx,
>
>Mike
>+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
First try baking bread the old-fashioned way.  It's actually quite easy,
partly because very few steps are critical.  Measuring is fairly unimportant,
except for getting the consistency right at the end as you add flour during
kneading.  You only need to knead enough to get everything well mixed.  Let it
rise a couple of times before making loaves...the time is very uncritical.
Once you form the loaves, you do have to start baking them at about the right
time...a bit before they reach full size.
You only need to be around for a few minutes while you mix the dough, and
again a few hours later when you form the loaves and bake them.  Make four
loaves at a time and freeze three.  I keeps fine for weeks.
Brent
From: john@theus.rain.com (John Theus)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: How often do septic systems need to be
Date: 15 Dec 92 23:28:43 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: The Theus Group; Sherwood, OR

In article <2433@mcdbos.UUCP> vinceg@mcdbos.UUCP (Vince Grove) writes:
>In article <1992Dec8.184153.1558@cs.wayne.edu> mje@pookie.pass.wayne.edu writes:
>>Rural friends tell me that if you treat your septic system right, feeding it
>>active microorganisms and never pouring toxic wastes down your drains, you
>>*never* have to clean a septic tank out. Enough people have told me this that
>>I believe it.            --mike
>
>I just asked my home inspector this same question. His response was that the
>tank should be pumped ever year or two.
>
I put my 1000 gal. tank in 6 years ago and a couple of months ago I decided to
check for solids. I probed and probed, but couldn't find any. It also didn't
smell bad. On the other hand, some friends had to pump theirs this summer
after 4 years.

Now, there are twice as many people in that household (4) as ours (2), but that
can't be the only reason. In our case, nothing solid goes into our tank
other than human waste and tp -- no garbage, no Kleenex, no chemicals other
than small amounts common household cleaning products.

The one other thing I did was run completely separate drainage systems for
our spa and for a utility sink where chemicals are used.

- John
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: bobk@sequent.com (Bob Krull)
Subject: Re: OILFIRED HOT WATER HEATER
Keywords: WATER HEATER, FURNACE SAFETY
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 18:21:08 GMT

In article <dhancock.10.724701828@UPEI.CA> dhancock@UPEI.CA (David Hancock) writes:
>
>
>I purchased an older house 6 months ago. In order to get House Insurance
>a safety inspector was dispatched check out my dwelling. His report has 
>indicated that my John Wood oil fired hot water heater has been installed 
>on a wooden plywood floor. This is new hot water system less than 3 yrs.

	<stuff deleted>

>Any other ideas on a safe and economical way to solve this problem.
>and save a few of those Santa Clause $$. 
>

Did the noncompliance cause you to be denied insurance, or are you just
concerned?  If the former, then the nature of the fix depends on what
will satisy the insepctor.  If the latter, just shove a piece of sheet metal
under it.  Actually, why isn't this thing sitting in a metal drip pan anyway?
I recently had an electric water heater develop a leak (rust-out) and I was
mighty glad that it was installed according to code, which required a drip
pan with drain.

-Bob
bobk@sequent.com
From: tbbusser@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu (Tod B Bussert)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Blown-in vs. Rolls of insulation
Keywords: dyi, insulation
Date: 15 Dec 92 16:35:37 GMT
Article-I.D.: constell.BzB7FD.K0t
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

I am curious as what advantages/disadvantages there are using blown in
insulation over that of the "pink stuff".  I need to increase my
insulation in my attic from R9 to at least R30.

Please respond by email and I will summarize.

Thanks,
Tod
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
      tod_bussert@notes.seagate.com -or- tbbusser@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu
Tod Bussert               405-324-3557 (Voice)
Seagate Technology        405-324-3080 (FAX) 
10321 W. Reno             408-438-8771 (Technical Support BBS) 
Oklahoma City, OK 73127
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: energy saving rebates (was: FREE gas logs!)
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 04:06:20 GMT

In article <2D53VB2w164w@carrera.wvus.org> pete@carrera.wvus.org (Pete Gregory) writes:

>yes, but.... where is the economy for the utility company that gives
>cash rebates for appliances (ie. refrigerators) that use LESS energy
>instead of more energy?  in other words, why would the utility pay
>me to use less energy?  what's in it for them?

They're trying to avoid building more generation capacity.

Most utility companies have a real problem with peak loads. In essence,
everyone gets home at about the same time and cranks up the A/C. Supper
hits the stove and the fridge goes into high gear as it gets opened
repeatedly. The sort of appliance that earns rebates are the appliances
that contribute most heavily to these loads.

Power companies must build enough capacity to handle these maximum loads
(high voltage power can't be easily stored for later use), but they are
billing you for essentially an average usage.

When I lived in East Tennessee, we had graphic evidence of this sort of
thing. Some of the largest fish in the area gravitate towards the outlets
of the generators on the dams down there. We'd call TVA to get the power
schedules (approximate) for fishing or canoe float trips. You'd see the
generators start up about 6 AM and shut down again after about three
hours. On weekends they were rarely on at all.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |
George Patterson -  | Inside every old person is a young person
                    | wondering what happened.
                    |                           Terry Pratchett
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: davidm@meaddata.com (David Miller)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Frosted Heat Pump
Date: 15 Dec 1992 13:43:49 GMT
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: maddog.meaddata.com

In article <1730@stake.DaytonOH.NCR.COM>, bsmith@stake.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (ROBERT SMITH) writes:
|> I was working in the back yard this weekend when I noticed that the heat pump
|> was completely frozen -- it had a thick layer of frost, like an old freezer,
|> inside and out.  I turned on the emergency heat, which shuts down the heat
|> pump, and I'm waiting for it to thaw out.  I then plan to turn it on again to
|> see if the problem recurs.

Normally, heat pumps go through a defrost cycle, where they use the aux heat
coils, and run an A/C mode to melt the frost off the coils - mine does this, and
sends up some steam in the process.  On the other hand, my heighbors is always
frosted up - and it runs a whole lot more than mine.....

It could be your pump was designed to defrost.  Check with a dealer.  It won't
take long to recoup $95 in utilities if it's not functioning properly!

|> 
|> Anyway, what could have caused this?  Any ideas on how much it might cost to
|> have repaired?  I have an American Home Shield warranty with a $95 deductible.

-- 
David James Miller                        Architecture&Systems Evolution
Mead Data Central, B6F3                   (513) 865-7441
PO Box 933                                davidm@meaddata.com
Dayton Ohio 45401                         I speak for me, not MDC
From: cab@col.hp.com (Chris Best)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Maybe you can get FREE gas logs!
Date: 18 Dec 92 20:57:19 GMT
Article-I.D.: hp-col.1gtdvfINN818
Organization: your service
NNTP-Posting-Host: hpctdke.col.hp.com

> Why don't you think they can put out much heat, at least in relation
> to normal "wood"???  Of course, most fireplaces are loosing
> propositions anyway since more heat tends to go up the chimney along
> with air that was warm and inside the house) than gets dispersed in
> the house.

Exactly why I don't use mine much.  As for the first question,
I never knew how a gas fireplace worked, so I just assumed they
weren't as warm as a real fireplace.  I just have this (gut?)
feeling that the flames themselves don't radiate that much by 
themselves, and that it's the bed of coals that does most of it.
Do the ceramic logs heat up and radiate too?
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: mks@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (manishkumar.sharma)
Subject: ANTS! Helllllllllllllllp!!!
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 18:37:08 GMT

We have recently noticed ants in several rooms of our house. THese are the
black variety about 1/8" in length. We sprayed an ant&roach killer which
keeps them out for a couple of days, but they return, especially at night,
so that we see several of them crawling around in the morning. Our
kitchen is usually spotless, so there is no food remnants for them and so
is our carpet.

Is there a DIY way of getting rid of them permanently?
Will 20-Mule Borax work on them (it works on fleas)?

Thanks for any suggestions.

-Manish Sharma
...att!trumpet!mks
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: giand@opencon.com (Deepak S. Gianchandani)
Subject: Re: Builder from hell
Followup-To: misc.consumers.house
Keywords: builder problems
Organization: OpenCon Systems, Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1992 23:57:40 GMT

In article <1992Dec8.171813.19279@mcs.anl.gov> djc@phebos.aps.anl.gov writes:
>My builder salesperson has informed me that my house will be ready for closing at
>the end of January.  My mortgage approval expires on Jan 19 as I remember.  I called
>the builder's construction office and went down there once and wanted to know the
>exact date of closing.  I don't feel this is unreasonable since they have started
>taping the drywall now.  They refuse to contact me or call me back.  I can't get 
>any further than the receptionist on phone calls.  
>
>Dan Ciarlette
>
>
	First, the mortgage company should be able to give you an
extension, mine did, but I was refinancing, and I had not locked the
rate.  There are rate lock fees,etc.  So If you locked the rate it
might be more costlier to you.  Secondly, if the builder HAD promised
you a date, then he is responsible for all the costs (yes contact a
lawyer now).
	With reference to the builder, If you have a lawyer who is
doing your closing contact him, usually builder don't respond to
direct owner.  My experience with the builder was when we were getting my
parents house build in 1977, and the builder left off soo many things
to be done after the closing.  So my only point is that DO NOT move
into the HOUSE or DO the closing UNTIL s/he has corrected all the
problems; agian here in N.J. if the builder doesn't give the house as
promised, like doors not beeing persent on some of rooms was one for
us, then S/HE the builder has to pay for "all" (there is $ amount
limmit) costs you encounter becuase you could not move into the house
as promised.

	Good Luck

-- 
____________________   .    .   __         .       | Deepak S. Gianchandani
\___________________|) .____.--"--"---._____       | E-mail:giand@opencon.com
     .      ||       /_____/  NCC_1701  __/ .  . . |   To Boldly Go Where 
.       .   ||      /--/--._________.----/   .     | No One Has Gone BEFORE
From: alanj@endeavor18.tek.com (Alan Jeddeloh)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Dish washers available that run on 120Volts????
Date: 11 Dec 92 17:34:46 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Tektronix, Inc.

In article <Bz2Iys.F2I@plato.ds.boeing.com> sml@plato.ds.boeing.com (Stuart Lewis) writes:
-                         Excluding your furnace, the *only* 220V
-lines in your home will be, 1) the oven/range, and 2) the dryer
-(assuming it's not natural gas).

Don't forget all the older homes with electric hot water heaters!

--
    Alan Jeddeloh      W:(503) 685-2991  H:(503) 292-9740
    Tektronix, Inc.; D/S 60-850; PO Box 1000; Wilsonville, OR 97070
    Alan.Jeddeloh@tek.com 
    You can put the children to bed, but you can't make them sleep!
From: lim@addvax.llnl.gov (Doug Lim)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: garage door openers
Date: 11 Dec 92 17:41:00 GMT
Reply-To: DougLim@llnl.gov
Organization: LLNL
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Dec10.100113.23152@ncrcae.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM>,
shawn@grok90.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (Shawn Shealy) writes...
>My question:
>  I already have 1 garage opener, a Sears.  I am interested in
>  buying another and am considering a Stanley 3500 (if I can
>  find one) because of Consumers Reports good rating.  I would
>  like to have 2 garage door opener transmitters which could
>  each open either of my 2 garage doors.  Do these dual control
>  transmitters exist?  If so, where can I locate one?  Are they
>  available separately or only with an opener.  The system that
>  I use must have security code capability on the transmitter/receiver.
>  The opener that I currently have does have this.  Does Stanley
>  make a dual controller?  Sears?
> 
I would be interested in this as well. I have a related need - My parents
and two of my brothers all have Genie Garage Door Openers. Because of this
they can use the same security codes and therefore when visiting each other
can open each others' garage doors with the same remote...kind of handy. I
would like to not buck the family trend. But seeing how Consumers Reports
rated the Stanley so highly and the fact that in my area I can buy the Stanley
for a much cheaper price it would be nice to get the Stanley. Is it possible
as the above requester asks to access different brand garage door openers with
a single remote (a univeral garage door remote?)? Is there any correspondence
between the security code systems of different brands and how would you figure
it out?

By the way my brothers' Genie Garage Door Openers have dual controllers (ie
they have two buttons) for opening their two garage doors, but both of their
garage doors have Genies.

Thanks In Advance For Your Time And Assistance, 
| | | |     +----------------------------------------+
| | | |     |      Doug Lim - DougLim@llnl.gov       |
| | | |__   | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
| | |___/   |        Computer Scientist - ASD        |
\ \____/    |    (510) 423-6019 FAX: (510)423-2419   |
 \____/     +----------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,rec.food.cooking
From: jeq@i88.isc.com (Jonathan E. Quist)
Subject: Re: Is a convection oven worth the cost ??
Organization: INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation, Naperville, IL
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 16:27:31 GMT

In article <MACRAKIS.92Dec16140945@lakatos.osf.org> macrakis@osf.org (Stavros Macrakis) writes:
>Convection (forced convection, to be precise) ovens circulate the hot
>air with a fan.  They cook somewhat faster than conventional (natural
>convection) ovens, but the main advantage is that the heat is much
>more even.  Not only are all sides of the food cooked evenly, but you
>can put more things in the oven without blocking air flow, and you can
>leave less space between food and the oven walls (mitigating the
>smaller cavity size).

[etc....]

I recently saw a mechanical wind up fan, designed to be placed in the
bottom of a conventional gas oven, to make it work like a forced convection
oven.  The price was relatively low (something like $30)... it might
almost be worth a try.  Anyone out there use one of these things?


-- 
Jonathan E. Quist                              INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
jeq@i88.isc.com  '71 CL450-K4 "Gleep", DoD #094        Naperville, IL
        There are many things a person should experience in a lifetime.
       Among them are an infant's first cry, and an infant's first laugh.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: kyleh@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Kyle Harper)
Subject: Wanted: Ground-source Heat Pump Info
Summary: Soliciting opinions/feedback from ground-source heatpump owners
Keywords: Heatpump Heating
Organization: Motorola Inc., Austin, Texas
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 20:22:34 GMT

We are about to build a house and have been researching the idea of installing
a ground source (aka, "water-source", or "water-to-air") heat pump system. I
am interested in opinions and feedback from anyone who has used them,
particularly in the central Texas area. Specific interest is the following:

1) *Actual* energy savings as compared with conventional heat pumps and gas
	(please include square footage, insulation values, etc., if possible) 
2) Recommendations (or warnings) of specific heat pump manufacturers and 
	installers
3) Opinions, testimonials, disappointments, do's and dont's, flames

I have posted this to two groups, misc.consumers.house and austin.general.
If there is interest, I will summarize responses to both.

Thanks in advance!
-- 
Kyle Harper
Motorola, Inc.
Austin, Texas
inet address: kyleh@oakhill.sps.mot.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: bobk@sequent.com (Bob Krull)
Subject: Re: Problem with electric water heater
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems Inc.
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 92 00:03:44 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.221334.10441@delfin.com> mr@delfin.com (Mark Rosenberg) writes:
>My wife claims that our electric water heater does not produce as much
>hot water as before. She complains of hot water running-out mid-shower
>despite the fact that no hot water has been used for hours. I contend that
>either the water heater heats water or it doesn't. If it works at all,
>it necessarily heats the entire 50 gallon tankfull.
>
>Is it possible to have a water heater produce only a partial tankfull of
>hot water?
>-- 
>Mark Rosenberg
>internet:mark@delfin.com
>phone: (408) 562-1126	fax: (408) 748-1140
>snail: Delfin Systems, 3000 Patrick Henry Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95054-1814


Electric hot water heaters have *two* heating elements, one near the top of
the tank, one near the bottom.  You might check that one of these is not
burned out.  This would dramatically reduce the recovery capacity.

-Bob
bobk@sequent.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Gas Dryer is not that hot
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 18:53:54 CST
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

bradley@novell.com (Brad Soe) writes:

> 
> I have a gas dryer that has to be 18 years old or so. It was working fine
> until recently. The dryer does not heat up that much and takes a long time
> for close to dry. After about 60 min of drying, the dryer is not very hot, 
> and I noticed that there is some condensation on the door which drips on to 
> the floor. It takes a while, but eventually I can get the clothes to dry
> after over 2 hours of drying time.

Sounds like part of the burner is clogged. Turn off the gas, open 
it up, and check the burner assembly; you may need to clean the 
jets with a small piece of wire. While you're doing this, check
the vent and exhaust pipes, too.

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
From: lim@addvax.llnl.gov (Doug Lim)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Cable TV Wiring & Antenna
Keywords: Cable TV, Antenna
Date: 17 Dec 92 17:39:00 GMT
Reply-To: DougLim@llnl.gov
Organization: LLNL
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

Speaking of antennas...I have been using rabbit ears, but have been getting
very bad reception. I am thinking of alternatives and am leaning towards an
antenna (still need to check if this is OK in my area, nobody else has
antennas in my area).

I bought the house new and paid the cable company to put in cable outlets...
the developer would not let me touch "my house" during construction :-(.
Anyway, I hate the idea of paying the cable company the huge monthly fee,
especially since I am the only one living in the house currently [:-( or :-)?].

I was contemplating attaching an antenna into where the cable box (attached to
the side of my house) comes into my house, thus using the existing TV wiring!
Is this legal to do? Is this just like telephone wiring - in my house,
therefore mine? I have been warned by a co-worker to be careful not to
accidently disconnect any of my neighbors cable TV down stream of me as this
used to happen all the time to him when he lived in an apartment. What do I
need to look out for and how can I tell before the cable company and my
neigbors come after me? :-)

I opened up the cable TV box and inside were the following connectors:
   Viewsonics VSSM-HPF-1 High Pass Filter
   Viewsonics VSSRE-4 (1 In Cable Connection, 4 6.5db Out Cable Connections)
   Signal Vision SV-2A 2-Way Splitter

The are connected using the following configuration:

From  In  -------------- Out  In --------- Out   To
Wall -----| VSSM-HPF-1 |---------| SV-2A |------ Wall
          --------------         ---------
                                     | Out
                                     |
                                     | In
                                -----------
                                | VSSRE-4 |
                                -----------
                                 |  |  |  | 6.5db connections
                                 |  |  |  |
                                  To Wall

I have five cable plugs in my house, so am I correct in assuming the five
(4 out of VSSRE-4 and 1 out of SV-2A) going to the wall are to my plugs and the
one cable into the input to the VSSM-HPF-1 is from the street and would be
the cable signal if I subscribed? Can I then just remove the cable going to
the input of VSSM-HPF-1 and connect a cable from my antenna into there instead?

If it makes any difference my cable company is UA Cable in Tracy, CA.

Thanks in advance for any help.
| | | |     +----------------------------------------+
| | | |     |      Doug Lim - DougLim@llnl.gov       |
| | | |__   | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
| | |___/   |        Computer Scientist - ASD        |
\ \____/    |    (510) 423-6019 FAX: (510)423-2419   |
 \____/     +----------------------------------------+