101–110 of 113 posts
Is Airport Express the best option for music? I don't like the idea of tying myself to Apple and iTunes. Nor do I have any use for the Wifi/USB connectivity that seems to make up the bulk of the Airport's functionality.
I would do a wet kitchen and wet bathroom. Having commercial style drain directly accessible in the floor makes life so much easier. Just think about it... how great would it be to hose down the entire room. It's actually very common to have a wet bathroom in asia. Some other things I like: • zoned small duct/high velocity AC • PEX for non-potable water supply • overkill on electrical wiring • wainscoting • gray wate…
For instance, bathrooms that are easily cleanable. I myself really like the way that Japanese homes generally separate the toilet, sink, and bath/shower into separate rooms. With the bath/shower essentially being a tiled room, it's really easy to clean up without splashing water everywhere.
A continuous hot water heater will pay for itself (and let you take Japanese-style baths).
Here's what I did when we built our house about 10 years ago: I ran a bundled cable containing 2 cat5 and 2 coax to each bedroom, the kitchen, my office and the family room. Even with wireless it's nice to be able to put another access point in pretty much any room. I did additional single cat5 runs to various places where I didn't think I'd need all four. Today I'm not sure the coax is still justified, but it has be…
Are these Airports really the cheapest/best way to get music playing? seems like a lot of wasted technology in them if I'm just connecting them to ethernet.
Here's what I did when we built our house about 10 years ago: I ran a bundled cable containing 2 cat5 and 2 coax to each bedroom, the kitchen, my office and the family room. Even with wireless it's nice to be able to put another access point in pretty much any room. I did additional single cat5 runs to various places where I didn't think I'd need all four. Today I'm not sure the coax is still justified, but it has be…
Do these Aiports do 802.11n at 5.8GHz or only 2.4GHz?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A home that can breath is also more comfortable. It keeps moisture in check and helps with stale air transfer.
No it's not! That was thought 30 years ago, but building technology has advanced. Ventilation needs to be controlled. Having cracks and leaking windows is very inefficient in keeping an optimal indoor climate, not to mention very energy inefficient. An airtight, very well insulated house with active ventilation (an indoor climate control system, not to be confused with airco) is the best way to get an optimal indoor…
Ethernet everywhere, and more than you think you need, even if you don't terminate every connection. Put in Cat-6, as it's easier to pull, and future proof. Everywhere you think you might need one cable, put 2, need 2, put 4. In fact, 4 strands/room might not be overkill. Where everything comes back to, put a patch panel - you can buy panels with 24 square slots and a bracket to hook it into the wall. I'd put this in…
And you're not limited to cat6. You Can drop coax, cat3/5/6, fiber, or whatever.
In the coming years the price of water will change considerably. You probably wont regret installing a rainwater harvesting system. Also, there is a way to finesse the wasted water that goes down the drain in the shower back into your toilet tanks.
There's a (relatively low) upper bound on the price of water based on cost of desalinating water (turning ocean water into drinkable water). It looks like, today, water desalination can be done for about a $1000 per acre-foot, which is only ~40% more expensive than current prices ( http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120053698876396483.html?mod=... ). Granted there aren't desalination plants everywhere - but in the event…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No it's not! That was thought 30 years ago, but building technology has advanced. Ventilation needs to be controlled. Having cracks and leaking windows is very inefficient in keeping an optimal indoor climate, not to mention very energy inefficient. An airtight, very well insulated house with active ventilation (an indoor climate control system, not to be confused with airco) is the best way to get an optimal indoor…
I wasn't talking about leaking windows. You can't seal a house up and think it's going to be a nice place to live. You need a way for the house to breath. Which is exactly what you've said.