Random Ramblings of a Neo-Post-Modern Geek (I have no idea what that means)
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Utility Conundrum
Jul 7th
I’ve got a bit of a conundrum about utilities … specifically, the Cable TV utility.
In the last few days Ginny and I had a major drainage issue in our back yard fixed. We hired a landscaper to install drain tiles and pipe to collect water that was pooling in the back yard and route it into the storm sewer (they connected the sump pump to the same pipe).
Before the landscapers started, they called the J.U.L.I.E. service to mark all the utility wires to avoid interrupting service.
Late last week, J.U.L.I.E. came out and marked all the necessary parts of the lawn and the landscapers started their work.
Yesterday they finished the work and the lawn looks great.
Last night Ginny and I settled down to watch the premier of Warehouse 13 and were presented with a black screen with a message box floating around indicating that TiVo was searching for a signal on the cable.
Popularity: 4%
HVAC
Aug 3rd
Ginny and I decided to get a new furnace & air conditioner this year … with the price of natural gas going up, we figured it would probably make sense to get a more efficient furnace … and our A/C has always been kind of wimpy.
As I always try to do, I got at least 3 quotes … in this case, four.
Three were for independent HVAC contractors … the remaining one was from Sears Home ImProvement (SHIP).
Three of the quotes were pretty close … one of the independent quotes was about half what the others quoted.
We decided to get a 80% efficient, two stage, variable speed, system by Carrier. We could have gone with the +90% efficient system, but I think the time to recoup the extra cost would take too long. The variable speed aspect was the only iffy bit … we were told by all the contractors that, because our house lacked adequate air returns, the variable speed fan would not be as efficient as it could be (it will still save us money, just not as much).
We ended up going with Sears … mainly because they were also willing to run the duct work necessary to add returns in the three upstairs bedrooms. None of the other contractors offered that. Well, there was a good reason they didn’t offer that. The estimator from Sears (Ron) said it would cost an additional $2000 for the duct work.
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