Every weekday, our guide to the Web takes care of business, tackling tech topics that really matter to everybody. From topic definitions to topical rants, Dan Gray\’s pieces inform as much as they entertain.
The thermometer hit 100 today and it’s only the 9th of June. It’s time to talk about the other kind of windows again … not Microsoft windows, but the windows on your home. Window tinting, specifically.
I’ve been giving a good bit of thought to installing D-I-Y solar window tinting on a handful of the windows […]
Who says that money doesn’t grow on trees? Washington has cut the the trees down, printed up a whole bunch of new money … and they’re about to send it out to the taxpayers, in the hopes of jump starting the economy.
So what are you planning to do with your economic stimulus check?
I’m not going […]
It’s all about the green. We’re all getting squeezed these days. Even if you’re not worried about the environment, you’ve got to be concerned about the green that’s flowing at an ever-increasing rate from your wallet.
Kids can be forgiven for their cluelessness when it comes to wasting energy. Parents are often the ones running around […]
I spent a couple of days at the NY Auto Show press preview last week and have been busy cranking out videos on many of the cool concepts and upcoming releases. If I could use just one word to describe this year’s show, it would have to be electric…
The tiny electric Subaru R1e and Nissan […]
I waded into the chat room last night to talk with Chris about an article I’d just written about 35 mile per gallon (MPG) cars and SUVs. The article’s a bit of an eye-opener in these economically troubled times, but it comes down to some little known facts and a strange twist of market fate. […]
Faithful Technobabble readers may remember my long-running obsession with space heaters over the years and my decision to purchase the bargain electric fireplace (that turned out not to be a bargain in the long run).
The electric fireplace landed in our sun room, which for many years did double-duty as my home office… that is, until […]
Like it or not, it’ll soon be time to flip the switch on those treasured old school incandescent light bulbs once and for all. The gargantuan energy bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush will do away with most incandescents in favor of more efficient alternatives.
Longtime readers know that we’re big fans […]
Winter will soon be upon us, bringing with it the most dreaded of arrivals… those winter heating bills. Here in the northeast, oil is one of the most popular forms of heating. But the cost of heating oil is at a perilous level for many homeowners. The prospects of a winter with $3 per gallon […]
What do you do when your dishwasher gives notice that it’s ready to head south for the winter? Why you start looking for a new one, of course. The dishwasher here at Rancho Indebto hasn’t packed its bags… yet… but its performance is so abysmal that we’re ready to give it an early ticket out […]
My jaw dropped when I opened the electric bill today. Okay, so I was warned. I just didn’t expect it to be this bad … now it was cold last month, but sheesh … it looks like the spiffy new home office electric fireplace conspired to double our electric bill. Sure, it was on sale […]
How long do compact fluorescent light bulbs last? It all depends who you ask. After having been on the compact fluorescent bandwagon for years, it’s clear that some compact fluorescent light bulbs last far longer than others. The fantastic energy cost savings (roughly 75%) are offset by the bulbs’ higher cost. This in turn, is […]
Bring on the cold weather. The office here at Ranchero Indebto has a brand-new bargain-priced electric fireplace! How the heck did that happen, you ask? I never thought I’d own an electric fireplace … they’re tacky, or so I thought. Lo and behold, my search for a suitable space heater ended the minute we saw […]
I first wrote about energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs here on Lockergnome two and a half years ago. Chris just saw “An Inconvenient Truth” while floating around the Caribbean and decided that compact fluorescents are the way to go. Well, yeah little brother! I guess Al Gore is more convincing than yours truly…
We’ve had compact fluorescent […]
Has product placement gone too far? I dare say yes. It’s been nine months, but I’m (still) looking for the perfect washing machine. Just moments ago, I searched for “washing machine” on Yahoo and saw a curious listing among the sponsored results. “Lynette’s Washing Machine,” the headline blared. I was immediate drawn in. Who the […]
So how much was your electric bill last month? Have you ever wondered how much electricity your computer(s), appliances, and other electronic gadgets consume? A simple watt hour meter will provide the answers. Plug a watt hour meter into the outlet, then plug the device’s power cord into the meter. Bingo! You’re on your way […]
Memorial Day lit the blast furnace around these parts. But I resisted the temptation and didn’t crank up the A/C (much to the kids dismay). I trudged down to the basement this morning to replace the central air conditioner filter, in anticipation of the blessed event. After all, maintaining a clean central air conditioner […]
It hit me as I shut out the lights in my office tonight. I turned back to look at my workspace and saw a glowing array of green and red LEDs spread across the desks. Even though my computers were shut down, a whole lot of standby power continued to run through almost every device […]
Okay, I admit it. I’m obsessed with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. It’s only been two weeks since I wrote my Energy Saving Light Bulb 18-Month Update …and here I am, at it again. I replaced a slew of bulbs this week and learned a few important things. Chalk it up to experience and the good […]
Who would have thought that washing machine tech would be a hot topic for Lockergnome? (Okay, so I had an inkling that it might … after all, everyone’s gotta get their clothes washed, sooner or later.) All in all, last month’s piece on washing machines brought a mighty response from Gnomies across the land (and […]
Geek is where you find it. Tonight, geek can be found while shopping for washing machines. That’s right, clothes washers. Washing machines are one of those technologies that we totally take for granted… until they break. Like this morning when our not-so-trusty Maytag overflowed all over the laundry room floor (again). So I’m out looking. […]