Sarah Albright

Aula Seiler wrote:

Sarah, I did think about the vet, but I know birds are notoriously difficult to treat, so I figure if I can try it myself (someone she trusts and knows) in an environment she trusts and knows, there's a better chance of her not up and dying of a heart attack.

Ah, this is something I didn't know about. You mean they get too stressed at the vet? Do they literally have heart attacks?
Still, treatment sounds like the bird must be very still and calm. Is there anything a vet could prescribe to calm for you to treat at home? I don't know if a vet would do that, but it seems worth a try. I can imagine the bird bleeding worse when stressed and held down.

Since you are asking for thoughts, I suppose taking the chicken to the veterinarian isn't in your plans. What do you say?

Surprise! I didn’t buy a heated jacket!

Buying the whole heated jacket? What if I don’t like the jacket? I wanted a hood, but not many I liked had hoods. I like washing my clothes, and doing so without worry.

Instead, I bought heating elements designed to be placed in a jacket, to separate the two. I will probably do something else with my unit, like put it on belts or sew a pocket into a vest. I preferred buying this unit because it allows for a lot more control. I can put the heat very close to my skin, with just an undershirt, and try maximum, or add padding and use the low setting for just a bit of heat. I can try moving the three different heating areas to see what works best for me. It allows for a lot more control.

The downside is that this product seems to have less heating time than other products on the market. I can't wait until I am able to try it.

Judith Browning wrote:

You don't have to want to deal with diesels to do at home oil changes, and you don't have to be able to build a whole addition to put the trim back on that came off... There's a different level here that needs a word. Someone clever make up a word for this!!

Someone clever will find you a word I'm sure  
What comes to my mind is the very gender oriented 'handyman'...I'm not sure 'handywoman' would catch on?

A 'jack of all trades'  or a 'jill of all trades'

No inspiration here....

I'm not sure why the "man/men" can't be replaced by "person". If handyperson or businessperson are not good, enough, ask yourself why not.

paul wheaton wrote:Many women are less than comfortable peeing outside.  If there is an indoor option and an outdoor option, and a request to pee outside (as many permaculture farms do) they will choose the indoor option.

I have to poke people. Gadflying seems to be my reason for being lately. So Paul, thanks for working through a solution for females to pee outdoors, but if there ever is a day when the women with penises stop peeing outdoors in your neck, instead, if possible, have those women come teach the males in my neighborhood how to pee inside and not as they are walking down my alleyway. Haha!

Dale Hodgins wrote:Short and spark are probably the most likely way that a blanket could ignite. But you might also have a situation where most of the blanket is nestled within other blankets, while the thermostat is in the cold air and not insulated.

Yes, though I'm going to wonder how this would apply with apparel, especially at joints, like elbows and knees, over time. With my mattress pad, it doesn't get bunched, and the wires don't get bent, just impacted.

Maybe the wires for wearing would need to be prohibitively thick/insulative to be safe. Hmm. There could be an AFCI, arc fault circuit interrupter, but I don't know how large or expensive that would be.

Your article you provided a link to refers to a "safety circuit." Maybe this is an AFCI?

Dale Hodgins wrote:I've never seen anything on these proximity issues, that I would call evidence. The real risk is fire if you get a really cheap one.

Last night I found some 12 volt electric blankets for as little as $12. I'm tempted to go that route, but I would much prefer to find something that runs off an 18 volt Milwaukee battery. I don't want another charger and battery system.

Please clarify, risk of fire from electrical inside the wall or the vehicle, or inside the wires in the blanket?

Does getting a converter make sense?

Sorry if this is nonsense questions. I am not experienced with 12V or 18V systems.

Angelika Maier wrote:With all that 5G coming up I am getting more aware of electrical pollution. I would not use an electric blanket while i am in the bed. More info at the environmental health trust. This is more about EMF's and pulsed radiation but wearing anything electrical is maybe not very good for your health.

Risk of ionizing potential isn't something I considered great enough to investigate, so I am going to have to think about this, and read up on it. I don't know what the Cider Press forum is for exactly, but I'll try to come back with some data at some point.

Dale Hodgins wrote:It's 4 degrees Celsius in Victoria. I am in a 120 square foot bedroom with 9-foot ceilings. I will run a heater on the 500w setting for about 6 hours tonight. So I will consume 3 kilowatt hours or about $0.30 worth of power.

Thanks for this data! I am going to use it as a jumping point.

I pay approximately $0.16 per kilowatt hour, a bit more than your $0.10. When it’s colder than 40 outside, lets say 20 (-7C), I run my 1,500 watt space heater on maximum for eight hours at night in a similar size room. Given that 1,000 watts for one our equals one kilowatt hour, I will pay
1.5 x 8 x 0.16 = $1.92, and for 30 days = $57.60

If I was retired and wanted it on all day for the month, it would be
1.5 x 24 x 30 x 0.16 = $173

Let’s say I had a typical four room, one bedroom apartment, and I ran a space heater on max in all rooms for heating. This would be
x4 = $692

It would be useful to know what this felt like. Sorry, I don’t have that, but the person I know reported it was “okay,” while a boiler was getting replaced. I calculated the BTU to replace one of the typical radiators in the apartment. It took approximately 4.5 space heaters on max 1,500 watts to replace one radiator running for the same time frame. Of course this is not how boilers work, they cycle, but you get a sense.

Circling back, space heating a small volume is reasonable, for one room. However, I’ve got a more efficient way of heating while I’m asleep these days, and it feels better than a room heated to 70 degrees. In the past, I’ve lived with someone very environmentally conscious, so the heat was set to 52 degrees. While in bed, no problem. I have a heated mattress pad just the size of what my body occupies and max is 65 watts. Now the calculation becomes
0.065 x 8 x 0.16 = $0.04 per night, or for the month x30 = $1.20

While acknowledging there are a lot of temperature values missing with this scenario, this is great! Except you might point out, until you want to get out of bed. In my scenario, you would want to space heat that bathroom with all the plumbing, and for changing clothes and other bathroom stuff, but you wouldn’t wish to sleep there. Without making a sleeping tent, you could save one penny per night with the arrangement where you sleep, and also keep the bathroom heated all night long...

If a 581 cubic foot (10 long x 7 deep x 8.3 high = 581) space, like a bathroom, is heated during this time at 500 watts…
0.5 x 8 x 0.16 = $0.64, for a month x30 days = $19.20

So the total for a month of heated bed, and heated bathroom = $19.20 + $1.20 = $20.40
Looking back, if we had a 1,500 watt heater in the bedroom eight hours a night, and the bathroom heated with 500 watts, the total would be $57.60 + $19.20 = $76.80

The savings in both cost AND energy is about 75%. You may or may not be impressed, but I am, because I’m a thin person prone to being cold. This is a triple benefit, because I enjoy being toasted by the mattress pad over being kept adequately satisfied with ambient temperature. Now, next step is to try this out of bed.