Smarv Living

Should I Turn Off The Energy-Saving Lighting Often?

2012-02-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

To combat the cost of electricity, we are switching to energy-saving lightbulbs, which are mostly fluorescent lighting.

There are a few myths related to fluorescent lighting that prompts us asking this questions:
Should I turn off the light when leaving the room?

The short answer is yes. Turn them off if you will be gone for more than 10 minutes.

Myth #1: It takes more energy to start a fluorescent that it does to run it, so leave the lights on all the time to save money on your electric bill.

Reality: When you turn on a fluorescent lamp, there is a very brief jump in current when the ballast charges the cathodes and causes the lamp to start. This inrush of current can be many times greater than the normal operating current of the lamp. However, the spike of current draw normally lasts no longer than 1/10th of a second, and draws the equivalent of about 5 seconds of normal operation. So, if you turn your fluorescent lamp off and on more frequently than every 5 seconds, you will use more power than normal. So, normal switching of fluorescent lamps has very, very, very little effect on a power bill.

Myth #2: Turning fluorescent lamps off and on wears them out right away.

Reality: Electric lights have a published rating for expected life. This rating is in the hundreds of hours for many incandescent lights, and in the thousands of hours for most fluorescents. Fluorescent lights have a life rating based on how many hours they are left on every time they are turned on. This is usually referred to as "burn time", and for fluorescent lights the burn time is three hours.
Every time a fluorescent light is turned on, a tiny amount of the coating on the electrodes is burned off. Eventually, enough coating is burned off, and the lamp fails to start. Most full-size fluorescent lamps are rated to last 20,000 hours when left on for 3 hours every time they are turned on. This means that the lamp has roughly 6,667 starts available to use up. (20,000/3 = 6,667)

Longer burns extend lamp life. If you "burn" your fluorescent lamps shorter than 3 hours per start, you use up your potential starts faster. If you "burn" them longer than 3 hours per start, you use up your starts more slowly. However, you are paying energy costs for the operating time of the lamps, and the most efficient lamp is the one that is not on when it is not needed.

But longer burns use more energy. Operating a light when it is not needed is simply spending money for no purpose. Today's rapidly rising electric rates mandate that every building becomes leaner with energy use to control costs.

So I guess we have to find the trade off point. There is a point where the amount of money you save from turning off the light exceeds the cost of reducing lamp life by more frequent This is too technical and for me it is not worth to worry about it.

If you like to read it futher, please see the site below. I grabed more information from there and it explains in great details on the site.

* Information obtained from Lighting Design Lab.

Darac Grill & Bar

2012-02-07T01:18:00.001-08:00

(03) 9662 2441
51 A'Beckett St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Cost: $10~$15 per person

Darac Grill & Bar is a Korean restaurant that offers not just excellent foods, but also ambience for a relaxing dining.

Dainty Sichuan

2012-02-07T01:18:00.000-08:00

天府川菜馆
(03) 9078 1686
176 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141

Cost: $15~$25 per person

Looking for Sichuan cuisine, look no further. This is THE ONE.

Cutting Boards - Wooden or Plastic

2012-02-07T01:17:00.000-08:00

Had a argument about cutting boards with my partner this weekend. It prompted me into researching on it. There are many types of cutting boards today. What material is better in turns of sanitary?

This site has the best answers; it shows 5 major types of cutting boards with advantages and disadvantages.

Two other sites also show various information (1, 2).

At the end, you make your own decision no what's the best. Wooden seems to be the best choice, but it requires constant maintenance.

Australian Mobile Providers

2012-01-22T23:23:00.000-08:00

Australian Mobile Carriers

Provider	Network Type / Frequencies Supported
Telstra	2G / 3G: GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / UMTS 850 / UMTS 2100
Optus	2G / 3G: GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / UMTS 900 / UMTS 2100
Vodafone	2G / 3G: GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / UMTS 850 / UMTS 900 / UMTS 2100
Three	Merged with Vodafone.

Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)

Provider	Network	Post Paid	Prepaid
AAPT	Vodafone	Yes	No
Amaysim	Optus	Yes	Yes
Boost Mobile	Optus	No	Yes
ClubTelco	Optus	Yes	No
Crazy John's Mobile	Vodafone	Yes	Yes
Dodo	Optus / Vodafone *	Yes	Yes
GoTalk	Vodafone	Yes	Yes
Just Mobile	Vodafone	No	Yes
Lycamobile	Telstra (2G only)	No	Yes
ONEmobile	Optus	No	Yes
People Telecom	Optus	Yes	No
Primus Telecom	Optus	Yes	No
Savvytel	Optus	Yes	Yes
SimTel	Optus / Vodafone **	Yes	No
Revolution Telecom	Vodafone	No	Yes
Think Mobile	Vodafone / Telstra ***	Yes	Yes
TPG	Optus	Yes	No
Virgin Mobile	Optus	Yes	Yes
Woolworths Everyday Mobile	Optus	No	Yes

* Dodo post paid customers are connected to the Optus network. Prepaid customers are connected to the Vodafone network.

** SimTel customers can choose to be connected to either the Optus or Vodafone networks.

*** Think Mobile Classic customers connect through the Telstra network and Think Mobile Swift customers connect through the Vodafone network.

Obtained from International Direct Dial.

MacFuse Not working after Lion upgrade

2011-12-30T17:12:00.000-08:00

After upgrading to new Mac OS Lion, my MacFuse ceased to work and I could not mount any USB drive I have.

Uninstalling MacFuse is not an option. It seems the upgrade broke something there.

I found a way to actually uninstall it and make mounting works again.

OSXFUSE is the word. Download and install it. Remember to click the option to provide MacFuse layer, which would help us to uninstall MacFuse properly.

Civilization V Campaign Edition - Debug Mode (Mac)

2011-11-21T23:47:00.001-08:00

Civilization is one of the best turn-based game. Recently, I started playing Civ 5 on Mac. As usual, I looked for cheat codes to speed up the learning curve. All I found in the net were all related to PC.

Here is how you do it in Mac.

You will need to edit the config file via Terminal. The file is under /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Civilization V Campaign Edition/config.ini
Change "DebugPanel = 0" to "DebugPanel = 1"
In game, all you need to do is press ~ key to open debug panel.
As far as I know, the only useful cheat is Reveal All.

Have fun!

Breeze MasterCard® - 10% cashback

2011-11-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

Offered by Bankwest!

Happiness is a low rate

Looking for a credit card with a low rate and loads of great benefits? You've found it. The new Bankwest Breeze is now offering you 10% cashback on your festive spend at all department stores, grocery stores and on eating out for 3 months. That's right, 10% cashback... no catches, just happy shopping!!
Breeze also offers you the lowest ongoing purchase rate of any MasterCard in Australia – just 10.99% p.a.
It can even help you consolidate outstanding balances on your non-Bankwest credit cards. Transfer them over to your new Bankwest Breeze MasterCard and you'll pay only 5.99% p.a. for the first 12 months.

Why Breeze MasterCard is a winner:

10% cashback on your everyday spend at department stores, grocery stores and on eating out for 3 months.^#
Australia's lowest MasterCard purchase rate of 10.99% p.a.
up to 55 days interest free on purchases
we won’t charge the Annual Fee in the 2nd & subsequent years where the annual spend is $10,000 or more for Classic cards, $15,000 or more for Gold cards or $20,000 or more for Platinum cards*
5.99% p.a. for the first 12 months on non-Bankwest credit card balance transfers
if you find goods you buy with your card cheaper within 21 days, claim the difference^
up to 12 months extra warranty on top of the manufacturer's warranty^
three months free protection against loss, theft or accidental damage of any goods you buy with your card^
up to three additional cardholders at no additional fee

Consumer Ratings

2011-11-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

Canstar Blue

Canstar Blue is an exciting new initiative of CANSTAR CANNEX, the ratings company. Canstar Blue’s goal is to help consumers make the right choices by promoting product excellence. Canstar Blue ratings are based on customer satisfaction, hence our tag line ‘by consumers for consumers’.

Choice

The People’s Watchdog Independent and transparent, CHOICE was founded in 1960 with one clear mission: to ensure the consumer voice is heard loudly and clearly. CHOICE empowers consumers to get the most out of all their purchasing decisions by providing a mix of advocacy and advice .

Solid Food For Babies - Rice Cereal

2011-11-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

When the baby is over 6 months, we can start introducing solid food for her. The first choice is rice cereal which is easy to make.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup brown rice (brown rice is preferred)
1 cup water
little formula/ breast-milk

Instruction:

Sterilise all cookwave first.
Blend brown rice and make a powder.
Boil water and add brown rice powder.
Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir constantly.
Add little formula or breast-milk for the taste.