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Sunday was tire swap day (winters to summers) so of course I fired up the hoist and did all the inspections, brake servicing, and tire swaps on our two EVs, and the ICE Highlander. On the last run of Black Friday there was some good deals on the Gen2 M12 Stubbies, and the M18 High torque. I...

This is one of my favourite shop projects to date. I needed another tool cart for the shop, but I was also looking for a work table / filming platform that I could wheel around when required. The tool cart is a bit of a beast and will be in the shop until I'm too old to work in it anymore...

This is a cut and paste from my thread, but figured it warranted a thread here in the Electrical side of things. I'd summarize this post by saying that if you are looking for outdoor LED lighting, I'd have a good look at Asahom's S1080 series, at least today. I'd also recommend you check out...

I recently picked up a new bike rack for the car and as expected, the setup blocks my car's signal lights when in the stowed position as well as in use, carrying bikes. Here's my solution for quickly reconfigurable LED lights, magnetically attached, for about $45 USD, all in.

I've been posting a great deal on HRV automation, CO2 sensing and the like, and to that end had purchased two Airthings Wave Plus sensors, and an AirThings Hub in April 2023...total of around $850. After about 4 months of reliable performance, one of the sensors suddenly started reporting...

I was tasked with setting our family, and extended family with internet access at our summer camp locations. The "resort" has large seasonal sites adjacent to the lake shore, each with room to set up an RV trailer and 30 amp service to each. With ourselves and three other family sites, the...

I posted this up in my thread, but am throwing the information here for google. I found various bits of information on adjusting popcorn kettle thermostats, but none that bring everything together. Hopefully this helps someone out there :) Problem: I noticed, after a few batches on this new...

I’m conducting a bit of a science experiment. Can you take an older HRV, (in this case with a known fire hazard motor), and retrofit it as an ECM miser? Model is a Venmar AVS Solo 2…apparently was quite a popular unit. The unit was slated for disposal. In the initial test (temp probes at all...

One of my goals for my ongoing kitchen install (more in my garage thread on this) was to figure out a more effective exhaust. The typical hood exhaust fan does not do well with resistance (static pressure) and the new fan was not moving a lot of air by the time it got to my high efficiency 4"...

Solar Powered Wireless Temp Sensors - SmartThings and Fibaro Some of you familiar with my garage thread may recall that I'm using SmartThings to automate things. The door sensors in the garage see cold temps (-35C) and therefore their 3V lithium cells do not last long at all (like 4 months) in...

This is a copy/paste from my garage thread, but should prove useful to a few folks here. My brother took on about $40K worth of basement damage on a sump failure, getting me thinking towards integration of fire and water warnings into our SmartThings automation setup. On the water front, the...

This is a repost of one of my thread posts, however I figure it's worth some discussion here in the heating/cooling area. I learned something this week about the value of garage door seals. The space in question is at my commercial site, but the garage door there is typical (albeit) larger to...

I posted this information in my garage thread, but am throwing it here for Google. I figure this information could be used for any solar heating system, including a system to store water for radiant garage heat. In this case, we're talking a pool which is simpler, and does not require crazy...

Makita SP6000 X2 Track Saw Review As part of my garage thread, I've been running through a basement renovation including a new laundry room and theater area. My shop is small, and the Rigid table saw I use does not have the large infeed/outfeed setup that would be required to break down 4x8...

This is a repost from my build thread, but I'm sure some of you here will find it useful. These would work great in a shop for over-bench lighting, although in this case they are being used in a basement/theater renovation. The primary reason for GU10 are the automation options, compact size...

Four years ago, we began a journey to create as close to a net zero operation as possible at Cinevate. We purchased an empty warehouse, gutted it, and installed new mechanical, electrical and serious envelope efficiency updates. It was also windowless, so we did solar modeling to maximize...

I figure every one of these satellite threads needs a before after of my shop from chaos to order :-) The cleaned up shop has been in need of a basic dust management system for some time. The space is small, and needs to be multi-functional, so this system reflects those needs. I started...

In setting up lighting automation in the house and shop, I set up a cool little app "AutoDimmer" on our SmartThings automation Hub. The "Smart Weather Tile" device (free) is installed on our SmartThings account, and looks up light level (LUX) readings (outside) from a local Weather Underground...

If you're looking for efficient fresh air ventilation for a small home or shop, Panasonic has a pretty cool product which does the job while recovering energy from the air it's exhausting from your home. The Panasonic ERV exhausts "stale" from your home/shop, and pulls in fresh air from...

The goal of this little project is to minimize BTU loss and electricity use (the costs of running an HRV), while ensuring good air quality in our work environment. I've been on an efficiency kick in our 9100 sq/ft headquarters, building on a net zero goal envelope update completed 3 yrs ago...