Sep 28/29 - relamping

Well, more than relamping.  Re-fixturing ?

In our barn (we call the larger garage the barn to distinguish), I'd installed 8' fluorescent fixtures way back when -- that would have been about this month in 2005, yup, 12 years ago.  A row on each side (the building is 20'x40') and two bulbs per fixture, that wasn't cheap.  However, we got 12 years use out of them.  Well, we sort of got 12 years use.  The fixtures have been dying or more correctly the transformer / ballast or whatever you call it.  It would be more expensive to replace those transformers and lights than to simply go to more normal fixtures with a standard base.  It's been on my to-do list for a couple of years.  The fixtures have also produced a loud hum -- I don't remember the hum when we were living in the barn that fall of 2005; perhaps it's because those fixtures were dying.

So I had to take out the lights - not sure what to do with those now - then the fixtures, long and unwieldy - and then put up regular octagonal boxes and light fixtures.  It was a full day-and-a-half work.  I already had 18 of the fixtures from all the temporary lighting in the cottage when it was being built but needed the boxes.  Home Hardware in Port Loring actually had a sale on the boxes for less that I'd have paid Home Depot, so I picked up a couple of dozen (the excess will get used somewhere). 

It was a great rainy day project and we had rain all day on the 29th.  All I was missing was some music up there.  I'll have to pick up a Bluetooth speaker of some sort.  Jason has one that I could have used; I didn't know it at the time. 

Not having 18 same-style lights, what I've got there now is a combo of LED, Daylight CFL and Warm CFL.  It's odd but who cares.  It's brighter in there now but probably about the same as it used to be when all of the 8' lights would turn on; all 16 of them.

The 18 lights at 9-11 watts add up to less than 16x60 watts, not that it matters a heck-of-a-lot for lights that aren't on for long periods of time.  I've got a bunch of CFL flood lights up there that I could also use if I want to light up the front of the barn, which is typically my working area.  I could also simply replace some with 100 watt equivalent bulbs (or more) vs the current 60 watt equivalent.

That reminds me, I need to pickup or bring up more bulbs.  I'm pretty much out of bulbs at this point.  I've got a big bag of defunct, i.e. dead, CFL bulbs downstairs but Jason tells me that Home Depot doesn't even take them back any more. 

We had dinner next door -- yes, we were "out for dinner".  That was great.  David and Vanda arrived around 9:30.  David has a wry neck -- something that happened to me many years ago -- Vanda drove up. 

We're not sure if Stef and co will come up today.  Mya got skunked so they want to make sure that she won't smell up their car.  I'd want to make sure that she doesn't smell up our house.   It's pretty easy to put the barrier up, if necessary, to limit her to the kitchen where there's no carpet etc.  Temporary smell isn't a big deal.

Today and moving forward to Monday, the weather is supposed to get better each day.  Tuesday they're calling for rain.  We plan on leaving on Wednesday.

Onward !