Electrical

Okay, maybe not the stone age. 19th Century maybe? (this house was built between 1896 and 1903, there is some debate). Wait. The air-conditioner survived so, maybe not quite so far back. Oh, and the water heater. Ur…and…uh…well. It’s been … Continue reading →

I got more than a couple emails about this post, asking what I meant when I talked about adapting fixtures to different bulbs and the recent adaptations in the CFL world making it easier and more affordable. Sooo…an example: Here … Continue reading →

Heh…and the tingly part is electrical in nature… Continue reading →

Heh…once again it’s obvious that once you get through the bureaucratic hurdles and actually get to the working man, things can get done. An update to the update: Less than an hour after I called Oncor today, we had a … Continue reading →

Since I didn’t make it clear in my last post on the subject…an update: Summary: Oncor’s meter is stuck. Pretty sad that a digital meter can get stuck. They show my usage for the month of January (and now for … Continue reading →

Y’all here in Texas might recall the “smart meter” controversy that flared up over the last year as Oncor and other grid providers began swapping old electric meters for the new “smart meters”. An advantage to the new meters is … Continue reading →

It comes down to simple math. We purchased our building on the square with the intent of taking our time renovating it (as money allows) and eventually ramping it up into our business. Accordingly, we wanted to keep the utilities … Continue reading →

Energy Star “Certification”. Meaningful rating system or more corporate/government marketing BS? So…there’s a saga of the light fixture on the back of the Old Vic. It covers the driveway so what I wanted was a dusk-till dawn floodlight. Since they … Continue reading →

The Old Vic got broadband internet yesterday. Finally got all the hubs/etc straightened out today (the massive structure of this place literally EATS wireless signals!). One more step forward. Paint is on the agenda this afternoon and tomorrow. $200 bucks … Continue reading →

And thus the Lord did mightily smite…our pecan tree apparently. (pictures below) We had some unexplained stuff at the Clarksville house last weekend… A tripped circuit breaker on the old wiring…the old knob and tube wiring that remains is on … Continue reading →

Whilst working on one of the towers…my friend Mike happened to look up at one of the nearby electric poles. He snapped this pic. Hey Oncor…just what the heck have you got going on here? CUAgain, Daniel Meyer

I hope y’all (technical Texas term) had a great Thanksgiving. We did. We spent Wednesday stuffing family full of food! Friday…well…we spent Friday lazy-ing about the house, basically recovering from Thursday. Well, that and eating leftover turkey and ham sandwiches … Continue reading →

Yet more electrical work. Not much to show…as in “interesting pictures”. Basically I’ve been crawling through attics trailing yellow wire all behind me like some sort of giant mutant spider. *shudder* On second thought…strike that mental image…I do NOT want … Continue reading →

Y’all might recall this post a few days ago about an attic hatch and some lights in the sunroom. The mentioned LIGHTS in the Sunroom from the previous post. Well, with my new found attic hatch-e-ness I got more wiring … Continue reading →

The attic over the sunroom and utility room had a very small opening, rudely hacked into the beadboard ceiling. It was so narrow I couldn’t even get my shoulders through it without contortions…much less the rest of my rather rotund … Continue reading →

Working on a halloween decoration…putting it together in this picture…it will be outside hanging on the edge of the porch.. To give a little size perspective…that is the “round room”…our entry parlor…the room is something like 24 feet in diameter…that’s … Continue reading →

Y’all might recall my very favorite splice (story at this link). Here’s a picture of the offending electrical monster: Well, I’d like to introduce you to my second favorite splice…or perhaps it is actually My Very Favorite Splice, Part Deux, … Continue reading →

I sure am going to have strong arms when I finish scraping the Sunroom ceiling though! Got the wiring in (mostly), and the cans in…and the ceiling repaired…now I just need to scrape every surface in the entire room, prime … Continue reading →

Interesting weekend! Between 6 and 8 inches of rain fell in 24 hours…Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. This is, of course, because I really, desperately, needed to mow the grass. I even had the mower key with me this time! … Continue reading →

I finally got sick of the dangerous, yet…heh heh…historically significant wiring in the dining room (which we’re using as a bedroom at the moment). Note, there’s nothing inherently unsafe about knob and tube wiring…it’s just that when it was put … Continue reading →

There is always a surprise on every job…especially on old houses. Sometimes the surprise is pleasant, sometimes decidedly not so. Sometimes the surprise just lets you know how lucky you are… Check out the pics below…read the captions: Yep, what … Continue reading →

This is Phase Two–the installation of the new internal breaker box(es). The wiring in this house, though functional, must be updated. It ranges from “knob and tube”, to zip cord, to cloth sheathed romex run under the house. It is … Continue reading →

(best “Star Trek” voice) “Full power restored.” Update: 12/18/08: Today is when the fun starts. Time to pull the old system apart, figure out what’s what, and install necessary circuits in the new panel. Some things can be removed…there was … Continue reading →

The wiring in this house, though functional, must be updated. It ranges from “knob and tube”, to zip cord, to cloth sheathed romex run under the house. It is not suited for modern loads and with the 100 years of … Continue reading →

Now that’s a big light bulb… We found this sitting on a shelf. The loose filament says it is burned out. I know everything’s bigger in Texas but really…. I know it’s not terribly old…but I’ve never seen one and … Continue reading →