HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: Mind in the gutter
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: misc
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 20:35:33 GMT

In article <9301111258.PN16426@LL.MIT.EDU> khamsi@ll.mit.edu (Sarir Khamsi) writes:

>A friend told me that her brother said, "If leaves are left in roof
>gutters, your house will explode!" (Drama added to keep up with
>contemporary world events.) Just how bad are leaves in gutters and
>what are the potential dangers? Thanks in advance.

In most cases, this just causes water to spill over the front of the
gutter. That digs little ditches in the ground under them and dirties
the siding.

However -

The leaves also reduce the capacity of the gutter. If you get snow or
ice buildup on top of that (and you *will* in MA), this will soak the
fascia boards or joist ends above and behind the gutter and soak the ends
of the shingles. That'll make it necessary to re-roof long before you
would otherwise need to, and you'll probably have some rotten wood to
replace, adding to the cost.

Finally, leaves are acidic when they rot. This can't be real good for
the gutters themselves.

It's cheaper to clean them. If you're too lazy to do that, put up some
type of gutter guards.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
George Patterson -  | Teach a man to fish and you get rid of him 
                    |    on weekends.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: brian@ucsd.edu (Brian Kantor)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Noise on phone line when using modem
Date: 8 Jan 1993 02:58:46 GMT
Organization: The Avant-Garde of the Now, Ltd.
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu

I'll bet the cable dude tried to share the phone company ground when he
ran the drop, and the phone ground isn't any too good.  You might check
that the phoneco ground is clamped solidly to the water pipe or
whatever they used.  You might also try separating the grounds.

Disconnect the TV set before you fiddle with the cable ground.  If it's
leaking through the cable ground, you might get zapped.
	- Brian
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.rural
From: davew@willow03.cray.com (Dave Wagner)
Subject: Re: Power company easement
Originator: davew@willow03
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Distribution: misc
Date: 12 Jan 93 13:17:29 CST


In article <1993Jan12.181752.225@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>, patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r) writes:
> 
> I grew up under a set of TVA high tension lines. Lived there from the
> time I was 4 to when I turned 13. Neither I nor my three siblings have
> any unusual health problems, and three of us are past forty. As far as
> the livestock situation goes, we raised chickens, rabbits, ducks, and
> goats and had no stock fatalities we didn't cause. We also had a couple
> of well-adjusted dogs who lived to ripe old ages.
> 
You mean all that about you not needing a flash-light when you go into a
dark room is just rumor?
-- 
Dave Wagner                               "Tongue-tied and twisted,
davew@cray.com , uunet!cray!davew          just an earth-bound misfit, I"
(612) 683-5393                                  -- Pink Floyd
From: srivatsa@karna.Eng.Sun.COM (Chakra Srivatsa)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Monitored security system for home
Date: 12 Jan 93 18:00:49 GMT
Reply-To: srivatsa@karna.Eng.Sun.COM
Distribution: usa
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: karna

In article ICu@news.rich.bnr.ca, paulbx@bnr.ca (Paul Boudreaux) writes:
> ....
>
>I was wondering if anyone knows if any of these central monitored systems
>account for the possiblity of a cut phone line.  The salesperson told
>me that they would have to connect the security system to a cellular
>phone to "overcome" this problem.
>
As you had mentioned, local alarms can be set off when the phone lines
are cut.  Cellular phone service is one option.  Leased phone lines are another.
I haven't investigated this myself, but I know it's possible.  Leased lines
are dedicated lines.  If this line is cut, the monitoring service will know.

---
The one l lama, he's a priest. 		srivatsa@eng.sun.com
The two l llama, he's a beast.
And I will bet a silk pajama, 
there isn't a three l lllama!		says Ogden Nash
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: eliot@chutney.rtp.dg.com (Topher Eliot)
Subject: Relays (was Tying 2 Switches to Common Load?)
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 16:53:53 GMT
Distribution: na
Reply-To: eliot@dg-rtp.dg.com
Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC

|> I'd suggest you use a pair of relays - parallel the contacts, drive the
|> coils from the two separate lamp circuits.  If the relays are located
|> in the j-box the fan is connected to, you can put stickers and diagrams
|> and such in there so that the next electrician won't be confused.

That's all fine except try to figure out a way to install the relays that
doesn't violate code.  In general, low voltage wiring can't be in the same
junction box as 120-v, for the obvious reason.  So how are you going to have
the 120-V contacts on the relay properly protected (e.g. inside a junction
box), and the low voltage contacts isolated from the 120-V?

Someone once said that there was a line of relays for exactly this purpose
designed to mount in knock-out holes in junction boxes.  120-V connections
were via wires that went into the box through the knockout hole; low voltage
connections were outside the box (or perhaps vice-versa).  Great idea.
But they said they were mucho expensive, and nobody on the net was able to
locate them. :-(

-- 
Topher Eliot             Data General DG/UX Systems Administration Development
(919) 248-6371                                             eliot@dg-rtp.dg.com
Obviously, I speak for myself, not for DG.
misc.consumers.house archivist.  Send mail to house-archive@dg-rtp.dg.com
"Ask me about my vow of silence."
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: dianne@dianne.b24a.ingr.com (Dianne Ferrans)
Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on moving companys
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 16:11:09 GMT

In article <1993Jan11.202143.19782@ll.mit.edu>, dambra@ll.mit.edu (Robert Dambra) writes:
|> I'm looking for the pros, cons and expense of using a moving company. 
|> 
|> Bob D'Ambra

I live in the North Alabama area.  Here movers charge $52/hr for
2 men, $68/hr for 3 men.  Open your yellow pages and call
around!   The pro is that you and your friends don't get
hernias from moving heavy furniture down trecherous
stairways, and you can be out in 1 day in 1 trip.  The con is
the money.  I moved out of an upstairs 2-bedroom apt. into a
house about 8 miles away, and total moving time was about 6.5
hours.  (using 2 men).  Many moving companies will send a guy
over to give an estimate.  (Free).  Get a referral, call the
BBB, too.  They dented only 1 piece of furnature.

Depends on your physical condition, how many friends you have,
the cost of renting a truck ANYWAY, and your income.  (expensive
to one man is cheap to another!) and how far you're moving.

Get LOTS of boxes, collect them NOW, and buy one of those packing-tape
thingies with the handle and the cutter.  Well worth an extra $10.


Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: prange@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Henry Prange)
Subject: Re: stacked washer/dryer
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 15:50:23 GMT

Xref: sparky misc.consumers.house:16533 misc.legal:22292
From: paradis@sousa.tay.dec.com (Jim Paradis)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.legal
Subject: Re: Zoning Question
Date: 9 Jan 93 15:18:34 GMT
Followup-To: misc.consumers.house
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Littleton, MA
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

> [developer wants to rezone from agricultural to residential]

Sorry, I don't think the net can be much help here, because zoning
regulations vary widely from community to community.  In the town
I'm trying to buy land in, there are exactly three zoning classifications:
Residential/Agricultural, Commercial/Industrial, and Recreational.
Some communities have dozens of classifications, by contrast.

From my experience with various zoning laws, though, I can think of
two possibilities why the developer wants to rezone:

	(1) As you said, less stringent requirements for setbacks
	and whatnot... and *probably* lower frontage requirements
	(this allows more houses to be packed into the same acreage).

	(2) Perhaps he wants to head off the possibility that some
	homeowner decides to start a pig farm, thus driving property
	values down...

You might want to repost your question to misc.rural for more points
of view.

-- 
Jim Paradis (paradis@sousa.tay.dec.com) 
I try to take one day at a time, but lately several days have attacked at once!
From: davek@informix.com (David Kosenko)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: When does it make sense to reduce the
Date: 8 Jan 93 16:09:37 GMT
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.

Gary Palangian [RMTC/ISP]) writes:
>Also, $6800 for the first year (considering it
>is almost all interest), doesn't seem like much house (assuming
>a non-intro mortgage rate).  I think $10-12K/year for a first house
>(including taxes) is more realistic.  

Well, here's a real live data point for you.  I have a $117K mortgage,
double-pay (means I pay every 2 weeks, which equals 13 "monthly" payments
per year, so my 30 year gets paid off in 22 years) at 8.625%, and after
1 years payments I will have paid just under 9K in interest.  Adding in
property tax puts me at about 13K for the year.  For my area, my house
is relatively inexpensive, and my taxes are about average, so 10-12K
*for my area* (central NJ) is probably on the low end.

Of course, the area of the country you are in will make an enormous
difference up or down. For example, $125K is going to buy a lot more
house in, sat Des Moines than it will in Cupertino, so $6800 in interest
may not be much house in one part of the country, but may be quite a bit
of house in another.


Dave
-- 
Disclaimer: These opinions are not those of Informix Software, Inc.
**************************************************************************
"I look back with some satisfaction on what an idiot I was when I was 25,
 but when I do that, I'm assuming I'm no longer an idiot." - Andy Rooney
From: richard@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Patching Ceiling Plaster Cracks
Date: 6 Jan 93 09:20:36 CST
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services

> Where my plaster was really pulling away from the lath (it moves in
> toward the lath if you push on it), I replace it with drywall.  In
> some places, I just replaced a section of the ceiling.  Again, you
> have to use drywall compound to make it look just like the rest of the
> ceiling.

A fellow who was working for me on the rehabilitation of an 1870 house I own
came up with an interesting technique to save some of the plaster that was a
bit loose.

He took simplex roofing nails -- the ones with the big plastic disks (used for
attaching roofing felt) -- and replaced the nail with a drywall screw.  He
drove the things into the loose plaster, reattaching it  to the lath.  Then, he
applied several coats of drywall mud to mask the screw and disk.  Where there
were cracks, but the plaster was solid, he used drywall mud over mesh tape.

In this way, we were able to save almost all of the plaster, including some
curved surfaces that can't be duplicated in drywall.  I much prefer plaster to
drywall.  Besides better sound-deadening qualities, it just has more character
than a perfectly-flat surface.
-- 
					--- Richard

===============================================================================
|  Richard M. Kershenbaum          Bitnet:   richard@ukanvax                  | 
|  Manager, Technical Services     Internet: richard@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu       |
|  The University of Kansas        Fax:      (913)864-0485		      |
|  Computer Center                 Phone:    (913)864-0445                    |
|  Lawrence, Kansas 66045                                                     |
===============================================================================
From: lou@hpkslx.mayfield.HP.COM (Lou Kvitek)
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 17:28:23 GMT
Subject: Re: Refrigerator Ice ... yeech!
Organization: HP in Mt View, CA
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

In misc.consumers.house, billd@informix.com (William Daul) writes:

> The frost-free refrigerators produce ice that tastes like a stale
> kitchen.  Anyone have a suggestion on how to freeze water so that it
> tastes like water when it is tasted?

Does the water taste bad coming out of your tap?

I have a water filter installed at my kitchen sink.  I have a tap for
it at the sink and it is teed off to supply water for my refrigerator
which dispenses water and makes ice.  Result: Great tasting water and
ice cubes.  There is so much junk in our water these days, I don't 
know how anyone stands drinking straight tap water.  One of the worst
additives around here is chlorine.  When I run a bath I can smell the
chlorine in the water - worse than my spa. 

My advice: get a water filter.
Xref: sparky misc.consumers.house:16700 misc.rural:2809
From: jch@jch@nr-tech.cit.cornell.edu (Jeffrey C Honig)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house,misc.rural
Subject: Re: Power company easement
Date: 12 Jan 93 22:30:07
Organization: Information Technologies/Network Resources; Cornell University;
	Ithaca, NY USA
Distribution: misc
	<1993Jan12.210810.20652@ichips.intel.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: mitchell.cit.cornell.edu
In-reply-to: papworth@pdx022's message of Tue, 12 Jan 1993 21:08:10 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.210810.20652@ichips.intel.com> papworth@pdx022 (David Papworth) writes:
> What voltage do they want to run up there? If it is 220 or 440;
> there shouldn't be any concern about elf e or m fields. It would
> have to be a low voltage like this to be of any use for powering the
> barn.

There is a step down transformer on the existing pole on my property
that feeds the house.  I still have to use a flashlight when I go
outside at night so I'm sure that another pole 200' away from the
house isn't going to have much of an effect.

> One bug of separate service for the barn, even if it is possible,
> is that you will have to have a separate meter, and will probably
> pay an additional "monthly service charge" (typically $10 or so) for
> it even if you use very little electricity.

Yes, but they provide the meter and a wire to the barn for about $6.25
a month which will give me at least a 100A service with maybe $100
cost to me for wire and grounding.  I have to replace the entrance box
and barn wiring anyway.  If I stick with my own feed I'll be limited
to maybe 15A, which might won't leave much extra if I put a couple
500W halogen flood lights in the barn and a couple outside.

After thinking about it there are two reasons I'd prefer to have the
barn wired from the existing pole that currently feeds the house.
First that it would save me $45 in primary feed wire to the entrance.
And maybe more importantly it would connect the barn directly to the
same transformer that powers the house allowing me to use X10 from the
house to control the outside barn lights!

> Perhaps you can negotiate with the power company to waive the monthly
> service fee in return for you granting the easment.

Good idea!

Thanks.

Jeff
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: chrz@tellabs.com (Peter Chrzanowski)
Subject: Re: Gas vs. Electric dryer
Organization: Tellabs, Inc.
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 18:15:05 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.135609.1@hmcvax.claremont.edu>, dhosek@hmcvax.claremont.edu writes:
> Given so Cal utility costs what are the relative advantages and
> disadvantages of a Gas dryer vs. an electric dryer?
> 

Natural gas is normally sold by the therm; a therm, by definition,
contains 100,000 BTU of energy.

Electricity is normally sold by the kilowatt-hour (kwh); 
one kwh contains 3412 BTU of energy.

Figure on using 10,000 BTU to dry a small-to-medium load, then look 
energy prices on your utility bills.

Dryers are rather simple appliances; Either gas or electric should
last for many years without repair.  If your budget is tight you
might consider a used one.

From: cola@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (Ken Colasuonno)
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 18:57:05 GMT
Subject: Re: Basement Carpeting.
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Loveland, CO
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house


    1. Can I fix the baseboard such that it touches the concrete floor. Is 
       there any code that prevents me from doing so. What are the advantages
       and disadvantages of doing it this way ?

The carpet installers will hate you if you make it go to the floor.
It goes in easier for them and looks LOTS better if they have ~1/2" to
"tuck" the carpet under the baseboard.  I set my baseboard on scraps
of baseboard as I was installing it and that gave me enough clearance
that the installers were happy.

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r)
Subject: Re: Tying 2 Switches to Common Load?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 93 19:20:18 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.175650.24515@donner.SanDiego.NCR.COM> davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord) writes:
>In article <1993Jan5.230331.8188@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (patterson,george r) writes:
>>In article <1993Jan5.203718.21060@wybbs.mi.org> jongsma@benzie.si.com writes:
>>>I'm thinking about using a common exhaust fan for two bathrooms. I'd
>>>like either switch to turn the fan on and was thinking that all I'd
>>>need to do would be to wire the fan and both switches in parallel.
>>
>>Why don't you just do the job right and use 3-way switches?
>
>That was my first reaction, then I looked again at what he was trying
>to do. Two bathrooms, one fan. He wants the fan on whenever either
>bathroom is in use so his idea is LOGICALLY correct. You wouldn't
>want the user of one bathroom to be able to turn the fan off while
>the other bathroom is still in use.

My father installed a single fan to vent two bathrooms. He put in 3-ways
with indicator lights to show when the fan is on. Our family had no
problems - not even annoyances. This may be because we all usually
only ran the fan after the bath had been used (not while someone was
in there).

Anyway, that answers my question. I wish I could answer the original
one (I suspect it's not legal for the reasons stated in the original
post).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                    | I think that I shall never see
George Patterson -  | a billboard lovely as a tree.
                    | Indeed, unless the billboards fall,
                    | I'll never see a tree at all.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: kayshav_dattatri@taligent.com (Kayshav Dattatri)
Subject: Re: Honeywell Electronic Thermostat
Organization: Taligent
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 22:35:25 GMT

I have also looked at the MagicStat-34 (aka CT3400) and the ChronoTherm-III. 
I was also surprised by very similar features. So I called HoneyWell.

According to them, both are very similar in terms of programming and the 
Adaptive Intelligent Recovery. She said 'probably the difference is in the warranty
(5 for ChronoTherm and 1 for CT3400)'. 

There are some models in the ChronoTherm-III (T8600 series) that are Auto heat 
and cool i.e. the thermostat automatically turns on Heating or A/C as needed
and some other don't. The MagicStat/34 has to be manually switched between
Heat/Cool. 

This makes me wonder about the price difference: $90 for the MagicStat/34 and
about $130 for the ChronoTherm-III!

Any one like to comment?

P.S. I'm waiting to buy one of them for my home.


Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: gordon@sneaky.lonestar.org (Gordon Burditt)
Subject: Re: When does it make sense to reduce the
Organization: Gordon Burditt
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 08:33:30 GMT

>Lots of mutual funds are still gaining over 8.5%.  If you can find a
>mutual fund that averages even 8.6% over the long term, that's a better
>investment than paying off your 8.5% mortgage.  

Strictly deciding on the basis of yield only, this is true only if your 
mortgage interest is deductible.  If the amount of money you're going 
to either pay down the mortgage with or invest would take your 
deductions below the standard deduction limit, you're going to be 
paying taxes on the mutual fund interest, and not cancelling it with 
deductions on mortgage interest paid.  In this situation, paying down 
an 8.5% mortgage may be worth quite a bit more than a 10% mutual fund 
investment.

The yield vs. liquidity tradeoff you're going to have to make yourself.
Whether a higher-yielding but less liquid investment is better depends
on your financial goals and situation.  

					Gordon L. Burditt
					sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: saseph@hal.unx.sas.com (Ed Hughes)
Subject: Re: Questions about Genie garage door opener
Originator: saseph@hal.unx.sas.com
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 19:13:48 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.


In article <1993Jan08.183656.27892@eng.umd.edu>, naiming@eng.umd.edu (Naiming Shen) writes:
>
>My garage has two doors, which means I need to install two openers.
>I went the Home Depot yesterday and saw a Genie opener GXL9500. That
>one has two 3-function transmitters, sell for $169. Does anyone have
>experience about this model? Can the 3-function transmitter be configured
>to control both garage door openers (like the one in Sears)? Is the price
>right for this kind of model made by Genie? I live in Washingtion-Baltimore
>area. Thanks in advance for the help.
>
>Naiming Shen
>

I think the 9500 is a 1/2 hp model, which is more than you need
for a single width door.  1/2 hp is recommended for a double-width
door.  You'd need 1/3 or 1/4 hp.

-- 
Ed Hughes, SAS Institute  | "I'm human; now shut up and pass the salt!"
Cary, NC                  | --Crow, "Rocketship X-M," MST3000
                          |
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: pjp@sloth.mlb.semi.harris.com (Pat J. Pinchera)
Subject: Security Systems: Do I need to wire windows on 2nd Floor?
Followup-To: misc.consumers.house
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 13:39:25 GMT
Organization: ICS, Melbourne, FL
Keywords: Security system, alarm systems, burgler alarms, home security
Summary: (see Subject) & wiring windows in Open position


Specific question in regard to home security systems:

Is it necessary to wire windows on a second floor?  I've done a rough
evaluation of the entry points on my home and came up with 16, NOT
including the 2nd floor windows. Since this is a pretty good number with
respect to what the companies offer, I'd like to keep it that way.
I did include a 2nd floor glass door because it is potentially
accessible via a balcony.  What is the general consensus from those who
have experience with a home security system? (Either D-I-Y or
professionally installed).

Also, one other question, is it possible when wiring the windows to do
it in such a way that the window can be left open, say 4 inches or so,
and if the window is moved I get an alarm? Seems like this would be
possible by putting 2 magnets on the window, one in the closed position
and one at the 4" open position.

Thanks in advance. Reply here or via e-mail.

Pat