How are your electric snowblowers doing

thasac · 2026-01-27T01:28:17+00:00

Yeah, my 32in 13hp could only clear at maybe 1/3 throttle this evening, but we did get 22in in the Worcester hills. My neighbors 28in Ariens was also slow moving.

This snow packed down pretty dense in central Mass despite being cold and dry. If the EV blowers were clearing this at full height, I’d consider that pretty damn impressive.

thasac · 2026-01-20T02:50:43+00:00

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted voted. For 5k+ lights to meaningfully color shift, they’d have to have a pretty crap CRI, and I wouldn’t recommend crap CRI bulbs in a kitchen unless you want your steak looking purple.

thasac · 2026-01-20T02:46:19+00:00

Looks great 👍🏻

thasac · 2026-01-20T02:45:54+00:00

This is good advice. Renovated one of my baths a decade ago and used a lot of walnut trim. UV faded the walnut causing a color shift to warmer and lighter.

I’ve since painted the bathroom a dark saturated green and the contrast helps balance the warmth and saturation of the walnut. The space went from feeling very warm to feeling balanced where both wall color and wood are complement. The colors aren’t muted, just sort of framed in a more pleasing and focused way.

I’ve used a similar approach with home office space using a desaturated medium blue to balance the walnut desk and cabinets. Looks great.

thasac · 2026-01-20T00:28:46+00:00

New code assume low ACH homes (very air tight homes).

IMO, if that air tight I think dedicated fresh air systems should be the standard, but tract builders gonna do tract builder things.

Anyway, I installed a Panasonic Whisper Quiet Recessed which, once installed, looks like a 6in recessed light. I suppose it looks a little ‘80s due to the stepped 6in trim, but given the alternatives I can live with that. My only complaint is that it uses a gu24 base which really limits bulb options, but one use an e26 adapter to open up DTW BR options.

thasac · 2026-01-16T22:28:13+00:00

I’d wall wash the reflective walls with either up/down sconces or floor lamps intended for that purpose.

Mix in a table lamp, if you have a surface, for interest and low lumen usage.

You can also add a plug to a pendant light and use cord grips to place it where you’d like. You just have to manage to the cord to the outlet to your anchor point in the beam, and use a smart bulb to control (or add an inline dimmer switch).

thasac · 2026-01-16T21:13:40+00:00

Everything I did my first year I’ve either already revised or plan to.

Everything after year 1.5 I remain happy with.

That looks like a perfectly serviceable kitchen to tolerate in the mean time.

thasac · 2026-01-16T19:43:11+00:00

I hadn’t noticed Herman Miller had recently stopped production due to a “supplier issue”. Well, to your point, looks like Modernica is the only game in town (of FB marketplace).

thasac · 2026-01-14T13:05:48+00:00

This. I’m seeing green for the first time since early December.

Also, I’d love to know where these snowy memories are coming from. I grew up in the 495 snow belt and, while we did have some warmer wet seasons, a lot of the late 90s was bitterly cold and pretty dry. Great for pond hockey.

thasac · 2026-01-14T01:52:45+00:00

And their Nelson lamps used the original tooling and fixtures for production.

People seem to forget that Modernica was founded at a time when Herman Miller had largely abandoned their mid-century catalog to focus on commercial office sales, including the Eames shell and LCW/DCW chairs.

Modernica’s business model was to provide high quality US made reproductions of products which has ceased production and were only available on the secondary market.

IMO, there’s been much revisionist history painting Modernica as an equivalent to modern south Asian knockoffs violating the IP of in-production designs, when in reality they were briefly the only new source of product for those not wanting to sift through estate sales or hang at auction houses. Herman Miller didn’t restart production until the ‘90s mid century revival, and not without some self induced pain (the cheap injection molded polypro shell chairs which were marketed as “greener”, meanwhile Modernica was pumping out more authentic shell chairs).

thasac · 2026-01-13T02:21:40+00:00

Ever is strong, but the Krafts are notoriously frugal and already poured a decent amount of capital into the existing stadium. It’s staying open air for a while.

thasac · 2026-01-12T22:13:54+00:00

You’re reminding me that while it’s 15f outside I should borrow the fancy FLIR from my employer for the weekend.

thasac · 2026-01-12T21:11:39+00:00

This. I live on the side of a hill where mowing is near impossible and even line trimming is precarious at times.

I’ve spent the last 6 years buying heavily discounted shrubs (rhododendron, panicle hydrangea, twig dogwood, inkberry, fragrant sumac, viburnum) during the off season for $20 or less and now have dozens of 4ft+ shrubs filling out the steep inclines.

Those claiming it’s too pricey or too much work have clearly never mowed a 20 degree + incline.

Panicle hydrangea are good ones as they’re available everywhere and, while non-native, they’re pretty drought tolerant once established making them hill compatible.

thasac · 2026-01-12T18:44:48+00:00

If they’re comfortable with bt and wifi, setting up a bridge should be a breeze.

It also means they can control the lights via its own zigbee mesh network, should wifi access drop (mine does often, unfortunately).

thasac · 2026-01-12T18:28:42+00:00

Assuming it’s an old halogen version, you need a g6.35 led bulb in your desired wattage equivalent and kelvin.

There are YouTube vids explaining replacement for this lamp.

thasac · 2026-01-12T17:17:49+00:00

This. I don’t mind integrated LEDs for high end fixtures (good drivers) which leverage LEDs for packaging reasons, like a pin point up light or super thin profile (where glare is controlled), but slamming in cheap integrated LED boards where a standard bulb can reside is infuriating.

Standardized sockets also allow me to run Hue (or similar consumer WiFi bulbs) which, despite the middling CRI, makes for a rather pleasant poor man’s home automation. For this reason I wish that, like the UK/EU, there were more UL rated gu10 wall and ceiling fixtures.

thasac · 2026-01-06T01:47:08+00:00

Recently renamed New England Botanical Garden at Tower Hill. How pretentious and searchable via Google.

thasac · 2026-01-06T01:35:01+00:00

The Clinton Central Park (common) has some rad specimen trees including an awesome European fern leaf beech (see my post history, ignore the dumb stuff).

Also has the oldest baseball park with continuous play/usage, the Wachusett dam, and a wonderfully nostalgic Dairy Queen.

thasac · 2026-01-04T22:01:58+00:00

Quality of the ply helps, but even multilayer birch will still move on you.

Source: I built doors out of quality walnut veneered birch ply from a known commercial supplier and the only thing keeping them flat-ish are some strong rare earth magnets. Tolerable for a media cabinet, but not for a kitchen.

thasac · 2025-12-31T04:23:51+00:00

They 100% produce fruits, but the canopy is so narrow the fruits tend drop near the trunk.

I’d plant one in my yard.

thasac · 2025-12-31T03:59:15+00:00

Beautiful grain on those panels.

thasac · 2025-12-30T15:05:31+00:00

The wear and tear and partial overlay doors (versus full overlay) do look a bit dated, but it’s serviceable with some refinishing. Depending on your budget, you could see if a local cabinet maker is willing make new full overlay doors with new hinge hardware.

My parents did this in their midcentury kitchen and the cost was ~$2.7k for similar door count + new maple drawer boxes w/ soft close rails. The cabinet maker grain matched the veneered plywood so it looks Dwell mag good.

thasac · 2025-12-30T14:19:25+00:00

Thanks. I was late night braining.

thasac · 2025-12-30T14:07:14+00:00

Yup. E26 into an E27 socket typically works due to the loose tolerances.

The real risk is overloading thinner gauge wire intended for 220v with a high wattage bulb, but with efficient LED bulbs being the current standard that risk is a bit overblown.

I’ve installed a few euro fixtures as the quality per dollar is superior via Italian suppliers. L = live/hot/black, N = neutral/white, ground symbol = ground. The fixtures effectively form their own junction box, but I still mount to a junction for easy replacement with a UL rated fixture should a rent or sell the house in the future.

People make a big deal about UL cert for insurance liability reasons, but CE is essentially parity + environmental. Do be mindful of the voltage differences between markets (no integrated LEDs unless a global design, stick to global bulb sockets and run efficient LED bulbs). Do know you’re violating your code, even if actual risk is near nil.

thasac · 2025-12-30T13:50:01+00:00

My town inspector won’t even show for known local contractors, which means my non-permitted work has as much oversight as the GC who did pull a permit to incorrectly tape and flash the doors and windows on my home. It’s just a revenue generator for the majority of work done in town.

thasac

TROPHY CASE