Three Reasons Why Pets In North America May Get Better Medical Care Than Their Owners Do

[spokewrench]

I used to hang my laundry in the house to dry, but then decided to splurge, be wasteful, and start using my clothes dryer.
I put a gentle reminder of my wasteful ways on my clothes dryer,..

(The "Warm" setting isn't actually heated. It's just the power required to spin the motor.)

Mine says, "no heat," "low," "medium," and "high." I never use "no heat." It would take a long time, during which the motor would be drawing power, wearing out the clothes, and pulling air into the house, causing the furnace or air conditioner to use more energy.

How did you determine the wattage? It depends on the duty cycle of the heating element, which replaces the heat absorbed by evaporation. The duty cycle would depend on the temperature chosen and the moisture in the load. It would taper off as the load dried. To determine the power used, I read the power company meter before and after a load. It's much less than is used to heat the water for my top-loading washer.

If the relative humidity isn't too high, I hang laundry outside. It's more to save wear and tear than to save a few cents worth of electricity. When I dry, I use medium because high damages some textiles. I give it 10 or 15 minutes and begin removing what's dry enough.

 

[spokewrench]

I use a one cup coffee maker that comes with a reusable stainless steel mesh coffee filter.
It doesn't waste energy and is almost as easy as instant.

About 25 years ago, I bought a similar 1-cup coffee maker. Heating the reservoir would somehow pump water through a tube to drip on the grounds, in a plastic mesh cup about the size of half a lemon. A thermostat would shut the heating element off when the water was gone. I grew to hate it because it was a cleaning problem. Eventually I threw it away but saved the mesh cup. I'd heat water in a saucepan, turn off the heat, put the coffee in, let it steep, maybe 4 minutes, and use the mesh cup as a strainer when I poured the brew into a cup. The Vietnamese maker was an improvement.

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[PCeBiker]

Mine says, "no heat," "low," "medium," and "high." I never use "no heat." It would take a long time, during which the motor would be drawing power, wearing out the clothes, and pulling air into the house, causing the furnace or air conditioner to use more energy.

My washer and dryer are from the early seventies and came with the house.
They were built to last back then and just keep going.

I've a got warm, hot and an air only setting on the other dial, but there is either something wrong with the warm setting or one of the heater elements was disconnected?

My house was a rental unit before I bought it so maybe they dumbed down the dryer for tenants for safety reasons?

How did you determine the wattage?

I've got a digital power company meter with a real-time Wattmeter readout.

I'm not really sure what's going on with the dryer, and I never took it apart to investigate.
The dryer appears to use 5000 Watts continuously until there is about 5 minutes left on the timer then the heater shuts off.

I think that I'm going to start wasting the extra 60 cents an hour on heated drying?
I rarely do laundry anyway because I'm a heathen and a bachelor, and only wash my clothes when they stink more than my cat.

 

[spokewrench]

My washer and dryer are from the early seventies and came with the house.
They were built to last back then and just keep going.

I've a got warm, hot and an air only setting on the other dial, but there is either something wrong with the warm setting or one of the heater elements was disconnected?

My house was a rental unit before I bought it so maybe they dumbed down the dryer for tenants for safety reasons?

I've got a digital power company meter with a real-time Wattmeter readout.

I'm not really sure what's going on with the dryer, and I never took it apart to investigate.
The dryer appears to use 5000 Watts continuously until there is about 5 minutes left on the timer then the heater shuts off.

I think that I'm going to start wasting the extra 60 cents an hour on heated drying?
I rarely do laundry anyway because I'm a heathen and a bachelor, and only wash my clothes when they stink more than my cat.

When you open the door with a Warm load, do the clothes feel warm?

Roughly, drying time would vary inversely as watts, so the hot setting may be about as thrifty. However, a higher temperature could damage fabrics, and if it really stays on, maybe it's a fire hazard.

Mine may be older than the 70s. I don't remember fixing it except to replace the belt. While it was open, I cleaned lint from in the cabinet and the vent tube that led outdoors. (Houses burn down from accumulated dryer lint.) I also found a schematic, as is usually stashed in a big envelope in major appliances. Maybe there's something wrong with one or more thermostats.

 

[PCeBiker]

About 25 years ago, I bought a similar 1-cup coffee maker.

I've been using one cup coffee makers now for about 40 years.
I got this latest one because it was taller and I could fit my big 16 ounce mug in it.
I got it used from the Salvation Army store for $2.50

Heating the reservoir would somehow pump water through a tube to drip on the grounds, in a plastic mesh cup about the size of half a lemon. A thermostat would shut the heating element off when the water was gone.

I of course, had to take my first one apart to investigate.
There is a one way valve below the reservoir that allows water into the heated metal tubing inside. When the water boils it is forced up through the tubing and into the basket but not back up into the reservoir.
Once the heated metal tubing is empty, gravity feeds more water down from the reservoir into the heated tubing.

I grew to hate it because it was a cleaning problem.

I would just boil vinegar through it to clear the lime build-up then a few cups fresh water to wash it out.

I use RO water now and I never have to clean it.
RO water makes better coffee too.

This is my RO water set up,..

The RO filter was only $68 at the time but the cheap valve started leaking within a few months, so I bought a proper brass valve for ~$30.

The filter wastes 2 liters of water for every liter of RO water that it makes, and I couldn't bare to do that, so I routed the waste water to to my toilet tank and shut off the water feed to my toilet.

I feed the RO water into two plastic jugs above the toilet then rigged up PEX pipe to a valve above the kitchen sink.

Then I added an electric solenoid valve ($23) and a wind up electric timer switch ($27) so I can fill my toilet tank with exactly enough water without waste.


Which leads me to a question for you and @PDoz ,..

I have a 3 stage RO filter, with a sediment filter as the first stage, an activated carbon filter as the second stage, followed by the composite membrane filter.

My tap water reads ~210 PPM TDS and my RO water reads ~12 PPM.
But recently, my RO water jugs are filling up with bubbles which I think means that my carbon filter is saturated and the chlorine is now getting through and degassing in my water jugs.

So my question is, what exactly are those bubbles?
Oxygen, CO2, chlorine gas? Or what?

You guys mentioned biofilm, and I was thinking that having the chlorine go through the membrane might actually be a good thing, and kill anything that might be growing in the membrane filter?

The filter specs say that the filter doesn't remove hydrogen sulfide from water, so I guess gasses get through any RO filter and need to be separately removed before or after filtration.

The PPM of my filtered water has remained the same since new so I know the filter is working and either the gas doesn't affect my reading or it degasses in the jugs.

Would chlorine getting into the membrane damage it? Or would it actually sterilize it to keep it clean and safe for drinking?

I can replace the entire filter for ~$70 or even try to repack my carbon filter as an experiment (I've got a couple of bags of activated carbon for aquarium use) or just leave it be and let it degass in the jugs?

 

[kevinmccune]

Mine says, "no heat," "low," "medium," and "high." I never use "no heat." It would take a long time, during which the motor would be drawing power, wearing out the clothes, and pulling air into the house, causing the furnace or air conditioner to use more energy.

How did you determine the wattage? It depends on the duty cycle of the heating element, which replaces the heat absorbed by evaporation. The duty cycle would depend on the temperature chosen and the moisture in the load. It would taper off as the load dried. To determine the power used, I read the power company meter before and after a load. It's much less than is used to heat the water for my top-loading washer.

If the relative humidity isn't too high, I hang laundry outside. It's more to save wear and tear than to save a few cents worth of electricity. When I dry, I use medium because high damages some textiles. I give it 10 or 15 minutes and begin removing what's dry enough.

i like air dried,especially when its breezy the clothes seem fresher

i

 

[kevinmccune]

I've been using one cup coffee makers now for about 40 years.
I got this latest one because it was taller and I could fit my big 16 ounce mug in it.
I got it used from the Salvation Army store for $2.50



I of course, had to take my first one apart to investigate.
There is a one way valve below the reservoir that allows water into the heated metal tubing inside. When the water boils it is forced up through the tubing and into the basket but not back up into the reservoir.
Once the heated metal tubing is empty, gravity feeds more water down from the reservoir into the heated tubing.



I would just boil vinegar through it to clear the lime build-up then a few cups fresh water to wash it out.

I use RO water now and I never have to clean it.
RO water makes better coffee too.

This is my RO water set up,..

View attachment 168876

The RO filter was only $68 at the time but the cheap valve started leaking within a few months, so I bought a proper brass valve for ~$30.

The filter wastes 2 liters of water for every liter of RO water that it makes, and I couldn't bare to do that, so I routed the waste water to to my toilet tank and shut off the water feed to my toilet.

I feed the RO water into two plastic jugs above the toilet then rigged up PEX pipe to a valve above the kitchen sink.

View attachment 168878

Then I added an electric solenoid valve ($23) and a wind up electric timer switch ($27) so I can fill my toilet tank with exactly enough water without waste.


Which leads me to a question for you and @PDoz ,..

I have a 3 stage RO filter, with a sediment filter as the first stage, an activated carbon filter as the second stage, followed by the composite membrane filter.

My tap water reads ~210 PPM TDS and my RO water reads ~12 PPM.
But recently, my RO water jugs are filling up with bubbles which I think means that my carbon filter is saturated and the chlorine is now getting through and degassing in my water jugs.

So my question is, what exactly are those bubbles?
Oxygen, CO2, chlorine gas? Or what?

You guys mentioned biofilm, and I was thinking that having the chlorine go through the membrane might actually be a good thing, and kill anything that might be growing in the membrane filter?

The filter specs say that the filter doesn't remove hydrogen sulfide from water, so I guess gasses get through any RO filter and need to be separately removed before or after filtration.

The PPM of my filtered water has remained the same since new so I know the filter is working and either the gas doesn't affect my reading or it degasses in the jugs.

Would chlorine getting into the membrane damage it? Or would it actually sterilize it to keep it clean and safe for drinking?

I can replace the entire filter for ~$70 or even try to repack my carbon filter as an experiment (I've got a couple of bags of activated carbon for aquarium use) or just leave it be and let it degass in the jugs?

an aeration system can get rid of gasous sulfer compounds and a uv filter will kill a lot of nastiescan you imagine what you are drinking in most towns.

 

[PCeBiker]

When you open the door with a Warm load, do the clothes feel warm?

Nope. It's cold inside.

However, a higher temperature could damage fabrics, and if it really stays on, maybe it's a fire hazard.

I never really fully dry the clothes with heat because the clothes get full of static (especially synthetics during the dry winter) and lint sticks to everything even with the dryer sheets, so I finish up with cold air to help remove the static and lint.

I never did go outside and watch the meter for a long time to see if the thermostat is cycling.
I'm pretty sure it is. The dryer never feels excessively hot.

Mine may be older than the 70s. I don't remember fixing it except to replace the belt. While it was open, I cleaned lint from in the cabinet and the vent tube that led outdoors. (Houses burn down from accumulated dryer lint.) I also found a schematic, as is usually stashed in a big envelope in major appliances. Maybe there's something wrong with one or more thermostats.

I only opened up my dryer once when the drum stopped turning and only needed to put the belt back on after it had fell off, but I neglected to investigate and check for schematics.
That does remind me. I should clean out my cabinet and vent tube again.

I remember when the dryer on a cruise ship caught fire and shut down the entire ship.
It was stranded at sea for about a week with no power or plumbing.
Don't know how the fire ended up shutting down the engine?
What a s*it show.

 

[PCeBiker]

an aeration system can get rid of gasous sulfer compounds and a uv filter will kill a lot of nastiescan you imagine what you are drinking in most towns.

Our town had an incident similar to Flint Michigan about 30 years ago, then a bunch of people died in Walkerton in 2000.
Since then, the government has cracked down hard on water safety.

I've got no problem drinking the water from the tap. I can smell a chlorine smell (no rotten egg smell) in the tap water and in the jugs above the toilet, but not in the RO water from that tap.

I don't mind letting the water degass in the jugs. It only takes about a day and I don't drink two jugs worth of coffee a day.
I was just wondering if chlorine can damage the membrane filter?

I guess it's simple enough to find out.
I'll just keep testing the TDS of the RO water.
If the TDS rises above ~12, then it's time to replace the filter.

 

[spokewrench]

I remember when the dryer on a cruise ship caught fire and shut down the entire ship.
It was stranded at sea for about a week with no power or plumbing.
Don't know how the fire ended up shutting down the engine?
What a s*it show.

The Ecstacy, July 20, 1998. A fitter was called because the mangle was mangling linen. Trying to adjust it, he broke a bolt. He and another fitter got welding gear. While one of them welded, the other moved the cables, which caused a spark that lit lint under the machinery. They threw water on it, but burning lint flew up and ignited lint in the vent duct above the mangle. Fanned by the blower, the intense fire shot to the end of the vent, near the stern. The propulsion motors had contactors so they could be shut off in an emergency. Cables supplying the coils passed near the exit. They shorted in the heat and the contactors opened, leaving the ship disabled.

Heat from the duct set off fire alarms in five compartments. That shorted out the system, which could no longer tell officers what else was burning. From the outlet, burning lint blew a long way, igniting polypropylene rope piled on the stern. Burning rope caused most of the damage.

In February, 1967, I was on a cruise in the Pacific when there was an intense laundry fire. A bulkhead was between the fire and a compartment full of gasoline. My accommodations were on the other side of that compartment. The lights didn't go out, so I read a paperback while the staff fought to save the ship.

In July, 1975, I was on another ship when the laundry caught fire. The ship had passed several days of inspection 4 months ago, and the inspectors had ignored the illegal plastic laundry hampers. Crewmen with common sense closed doors so the toxic plastic fumes wouldn't kill us all, but others, trained by the inspectors, ran around behind them opening the doors back up. We were moored in Halifax. Some Canadian firemen were in town, and they put the fire out.