What kind of projects can you do around your house?

I've got 8 fluorescent light fixtures (two 48" T8 bulbs each) in the basement. I've been debating whether to switch to LED because disposing of the  fluorescent tubes responsibly is a PITA, but matching the correct LED bulb to the fluorescent fixture/ballast is like rocket surgery. Well, the ballasts started failing, so I bought a bunch of LED fixtures to replace them (fixed LED, no replaceable bulbs). They should have been super easy to swap out, but it turns out the existing fixtures have a knockout in a place where the new ones don't, so the existing ROMEX was about an inch too short. Long story short, took me about 3 hours (not counting several trips to the hardware store) to figure out how to position the new fixture and a new junction box in just the right spot so all the wires can be connected. The other 7 lights took me less than 2 hours after that first one was uber frustrating.

 
BigRedBuster said:
I’ve done it probably 6  or 7 times with no problem other than being a pain in the a$$ working under the sink.  
 

I bought a Waste King because that’s what the lumber yard had.  
 

This one has a large rubber gasket that slides on the bottom of the drain. Then, the disposal is supposed to slide up and lock onto the ring. 
 

Problem is, the gasket doesn’t allow the disposal to fit into the lock ring. 
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I'm not sure why all the other manufacturers don't do them like Insinkerator. Other than working under the sink in an awkward position which usually sucks and gets worse with age, it can be so easy.

 
JJ Husker said:
I'm not sure why all the other manufacturers don't do them like Insinkerator. Other than working under the sink in an awkward position which usually sucks and gets worse with age, it can be so easy.
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AGREE!!!

Well, the plumber said that the rubber gasket was just in a slightly wrong position.  I tried that damn thing in every position I could think of and couldn't get it to work.  The other design was so much easier and straight forward.  

Well, this way I was able to just have him complete the project by hooking up the drain....which I don't like doing either.

 
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RedDenver said:
I've got 8 fluorescent light fixtures (two 48" T8 bulbs each) in the basement. I've been debating whether to switch to LED because disposing of the  fluorescent tubes responsibly is a PITA, but matching the correct LED bulb to the fluorescent fixture/ballast is like rocket surgery. Well, the ballasts started failing, so I bought a bunch of LED fixtures to replace them (fixed LED, no replaceable bulbs). They should have been super easy to swap out, but it turns out the existing fixtures have a knockout in a place where the new ones don't, so the existing ROMEX was about an inch too short. Long story short, took me about 3 hours (not counting several trips to the hardware store) to figure out how to position the new fixture and a new junction box in just the right spot so all the wires can be connected. The other 7 lights took me less than 2 hours after that first one was uber frustrating.
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You are right, disposing of florescent tubes "responsibly" is a huge PITA. A few years ago we replaced all the bulbs in our shop with LED tubes. Had to wire bypass all of the ballasts but that wasn't terrible. Payback on the cost of the whole project was less than a year. I tried for about 2 years to dispose of the tubes correctly. All I can say now is that they're finally gone.

 
JJ Husker said:
You are right, disposing of florescent tubes "responsibly" is a huge PITA. A few years ago we replaced all the bulbs in our shop with LED tubes. Had to wire bypass all of the ballasts but that wasn't terrible. Payback on the cost of the whole project was less than a year. I tried for about 2 years to dispose of the tubes correctly. All I can say now is that they're finally gone.
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I thought about bypassing the ballasts and using LED replacement bulbs, but fixed LED's seem to have longer light based on my internet research, so I decided to replace the entire fixture. Of course, it's a lot different when you've got a ton of fixtures in a shop.

As a resident of Broomfield county, I can take them here for free: https://www.ecocycle.org/a-zguide/light-bulbs-fluorescent-lighting

Home Depot used to take them, but they won't take the tubes anymore (but you can still get rid of CFL's there).

 
There's a better way to dispose of fluorescent light bulbs.

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Chamberlain smart garage door opener with myQ app.

Anybody have experiences with either the opener or the app?

My older 3/4HP Craftsman belt drive opener just stopped working. No noises, no flashing lights, nothing, just stopped halfway on a close cycle. Dead. Kaput.  I’m not concerned about installing the replacement. Being delivered by Amazon today because neither Lowes or Home Depot had one available any sooner. I’ve always had Craftsman openers but since they’re really not a thing anymore, was wondering about people’s experiences with Chamberlains or the myQ app.

 
JJ Husker said:
Chamberlain smart garage door opener with myQ app.

Anybody have experiences with either the opener or the app?

My older 3/4HP Craftsman belt drive opener just stopped working. No noises, no flashing lights, nothing, just stopped halfway on a close cycle. Dead. Kaput.  I’m not concerned about installing the replacement. Being delivered by Amazon today because neither Lowes or Home Depot had one available any sooner. I’ve always had Craftsman openers but since they’re really not a thing anymore, was wondering about people’s experiences with Chamberlains or the myQ app.
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We bought the myQ thing for my FIL. He ended up giving it back lol. 

I put it in our garage but the cold weather just kills the batteries in the sensor that goes on the garage door (should note that our garage door isn't insulated but I had added some to try to mitigate it). 

It worked fine and was nice on nights when I couldn't remember if I closed the garage. I just gave up on changing the batteries lol

 
GSG said:
We bought the myQ thing for my FIL. He ended up giving it back lol. 

I put it in our garage but the cold weather just kills the batteries in the sensor that goes on the garage door (should note that our garage door isn't insulated but I had added some to try to mitigate it). 

It worked fine and was nice on nights when I couldn't remember if I closed the garage. I just gave up on changing the batteries lol
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Thanks. Being able to tell if the door is open or closed and being able to operate the door while away were really the only “smart” features I was interested in…well, and the Amazon key for garage deliveries. Invariably, when we are leaving town, my wife will ask “did you close the garage door?” We always have but it makes ya wonder for a bit  :lol:  and now we won’t have to call one of the neighbors.

I almost got the one that has the 360 degree rotatable camera. It was only like $15 or $20 more but I really didn’t see any advantage to having a camera in the garage and didn’t have any desire to subscribe to the service that stores the video footage. 
 

Luckily it is going to top out at only about 73 degrees tomorrow so it should be comfortable while installing the new opener.

 
JJ Husker said:
Chamberlain smart garage door opener with myQ app.

Anybody have experiences with either the opener or the app?

My older 3/4HP Craftsman belt drive opener just stopped working. No noises, no flashing lights, nothing, just stopped halfway on a close cycle. Dead. Kaput.  I’m not concerned about installing the replacement. Being delivered by Amazon today because neither Lowes or Home Depot had one available any sooner. I’ve always had Craftsman openers but since they’re really not a thing anymore, was wondering about people’s experiences with Chamberlains or the myQ app.
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Didn't even know I was getting a smart garage door opener until I was installing it.

It is kind of handy that I can get notifications on when the door was opened or closed, although 95% of the time I don't really care.

I thought it would be handy to be able to make sure it was closed but I don't end up using that much.

 
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