This must be just about the most boring picture of all time but let me explain.
It shows the ceiling above our annex stairway. Almost every light in the water tower is a light emitting diode or LED, fitted on the understanding that their long life pays for their high initial cost because of their minimal power consumption compared with traditional incandescent and the later halogen bulbs.
The blob in the middle is a fire alarm. The three smaller blobs behind it are failed LED lights. The two white blobs are the sole survivors of five flipping expensive LED bulbs. These things are supposed to last for thousands of hours but I'm here to tell you they don't. We have only lived here for 18 months and these particular lights are in occasional use only.
LEDs have died in most of the rooms here. I find I need as large a stock of LED replacement bulbs as my former stocks of conventional bulbs.
Do not be LED up the garden path with promises of long life from LEDs.
oooOOOooo
Still with electrics another pitfall for a new-build (or a de-facto new build of a restoration) is the question of 'future proofing' your home by the provision of extravagant mileages of redundant wiring, overtaken by Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies. It applies to data and telephone cables, speaker cables and TV / radio cables and aerials. We have a veritable Christmas tree of aerials, all but one of which (a single satellite dish) are unnecessary.
Caveat emptor.
Not sure if it is etiquette for the Blogger to 'comment' but this is part of an e-mail I have had from a friend who has for many years had a TV aerial business:
ReplyDelete"The days of large expensive aerials are gone, pretty well. We always advise Freesat nowadays if the terrestrial reception is problematic. One little dish feeds all the tellys and recorders, and as far as the user is concerned the thing is indistinguishable from aerial reception. It’s a blow for the trade though! I used to love those massive aerial jobs!"