The very common GU10 bulb fitted often within mains voltage downlights and also in many modern spotlights is changing. You can now get a very good LED version of this bulbs at Tesco for £8 each.
While that might sound a lot, these bulbs last 25 years but the main advantage is the saving on electricity.
My kitchen has nine 35 watt GU10s in the downlights and if I use these lights for two hours a day that costs me £63 per year in electricity. If I change them to LED versions it will only cost me £3 per year so in the first year I’ve almost paid for the bulbs. In the next 24 years I save about £1400.
Be sure to buy ones that are 3000K (Kelvin) colour temperature which is a nice yellowy warm white light similar to the old tungsten bulbs. Any that are about 5 – 6000K will look very blue and cold.
Another advantage is these bulbs don’t get hot so there is virtually no fire risk from them.
Furthermore, unlike some low energy bulbs these are bright straight away.
Monthly Archives: March 2013
GU10 bulbs
B&Q or B&Queue?
I hate inefficiency and yet it seems to thrive at certain outlets. It happens to me too often for this to be coincidence where I find myself standing around waiting to pay while an assortment of shop assistants deal with anything other than serving.
And while this happens to me so often at B&Q that I have nicknamed them B&Queue (because I seem to be forever queuing to pay) it now seems to have infected Screwfix (which is part of the same Kingfisher group).
On a recent visit (in the evening so the trade part was closed) I waited while two counter staff helped a third to empty the contents of a shedder into a plastic waste bag. So with all three staff occupied on this paramount task which became needlessly time-consuming and a source of great amusement to the three participants, there was nobody available to serve me or the other people waiting like idiots in the queue.
We are accused of being a nation of queuers but, as I see it, you often don’t have much choice. But at least I vote with my legs whenever possible and go to Toolstation where the staff are quicker and which has the added benefit of quite often being cheaper.
How much wallpaper for a room?
Most wallpapers come in 60cm width rolls and depending on both the pattern repeat distance and the actual height of your walls each roll will generally give four lengths from floor to ceiling.
So to estimate the number of rolls required simply measure all around the room (across all the walls to be papered) seeing how many 60cm widths you can measure and then divide this number by 4 for the number of rolls.
Remember to always add a bit extra for waste and fiddly bits.
Good ideas are sometimes obvious
I’m hoping people might add to this. Sometimes things seem obvious like I was working a few weeks ago in a new house that had the utility/laundry room on the first floor. First I thought how strange but then why not? Instead of taking all your clothes, bed linen, etc downstairs to wash, only to bring it back up again ..why not do it on the first floor?
The seven ages of children
When I’m working at people’s houses they quite often have children and I’ve noticed the following (which applies equally to boys and girls):
Below one year old they are scared of me and my noisy drill.
Between one and two they are intrigued by me and puzzled by what I might be doing.
Two to three they want to know what I’m doing.
Three to four they incessantly ask questions about everything I’m doing and a lot else besides.
Four to five they bring things to show me and often want to know if I might be Bob the Builder or some other character that is vaguely DIY related.
Five to six they try to mimic what I’m doing with their own plastic drill or tool kit.
Six and above they think they would like to me when they grow up …if only they knew such aspirations are not well placed.
Baby stair gate dangers
After recently fitting a stairgate like this for a client at the top of a flight of stairs:
my client (whose business is safety) commented that he wanted the gate refitted with the bottom bar level with top floor against the front edge of the first step so as to avoid a trip hazard. The following is the email thread for general interest (names and dates omitted)
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I’d like it so the floor cross bar is below and flush with the landing so there is no trip hazard at the top of the stairs.
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Okay but I’m not sure the stairgate would move to the position you propose.
Almost everyone has them like that (and I see lots whether I’ve fitted them or not).
Two things to consider:
1) would there be anything to brace the lower stud against if it is forward of the top newel post
2) does the bottom bar of the stairgate (when placed flush with the floor but forward of stair nosing) simply place a new trip hazard there for when you are coming up the stairs (although slightly less so than going down). In other words, the hazard is still there …just relocated?
_______________________________
1) yes but more filling wood might be needed
2) yes, but the likely consequence of falling up the stairs is far less severe than the likely consequence of falling down the stairs (multiplied by baby)
Safety is my industry, I have a standard answer for the ‘that’s how we’ve always done it’ argument :0D
Much appreciated.
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I think in reality the answer to the ‘that’s how we’ve always done it’ argument is twofold being firstly that this stair gate in not really designed to be safely installed at the top of stairs (given the horizontal bar at the bottom) and secondly there is no better/safer way to put it in this location than how people usually do it (including me).
My reasoning is that placed flush with the floor in front of the top stair, apart from the bracing issues mentioned already, it would have to have the gate opening forwards and across the stairs. As such, either partially opened or tending to self close afterwards, the gate could catch on clothing thus more easily causing the fall downstairs you are eager to avoid.
In this position, opening onto the landing is no longer viable because the design has a blue trailing lug at the bottom of the gate to ensure positive location when closing and also to give extra safety against trying the force open the gate. This trailing lug has to come up against the bar at the bottom of the frame so obviously this bar can’t be flush with floor and the bar must have to be above floor level. Given this design short-coming in my opinion I would say a small vertical projection of around 10mm creates an unexpected ‘sneaky’ trip hazard that is greater than a more prominent one that you would obviously have to step over. From personal experience, I more often stub my toe on small door thresholds than ever I do on larger steps etc that I have to step over or up.
In addition, and incidentally, trying to locate the gate with the front bar flush might also cause the gate part to drag across the carpet and being difficult to open while holding a baby creates yet more potential for grief.
I would say better options are:
1) Move the stair gate to the landing the other side of the bannister or place it across the bedroom door opening.
2) Swap it with the one at the bottom of your stairs (or buy another one of these) because this type is a better design for going at the top of the stairs having no cross bar trip hazard. The one you have at the top currently if placed lower down the stairs would then have to open forwards but any danger created is minimised by size on the potential fall (ie only a fews steps and not the whole staircase to fall down).
I hope this helps.
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