In the context of the numerous announcements this week, one little thing has unfortunately been somewhat overlooked. However, in case of an emergency, this little thing could be worth its weight in gold for all of us. From October, Philips Hue will finally offer spare parts for its products....
So far I’ve only purchased hue bulbs. I’ve been absolutely thrilled with every single one. Based on the reports I’ve seen I will 100% be investing solely in their products for smart bulbs/lamps unless another product steps it up.
In my last house, I had the hue bridge implemented into homeassistant. All light bulb names and rooms/groups and scenes synced with whatever was established on the hub. Gave me the reliability of the hue hub and the flexibility of homeassistant.
It definitely requires more patience to tinker with and get set up, but I highly recommend anyone who is motivated to give it a try!
Why YSK: When you cook meat, any water on the surface must first evaporate before much browning can occur. You want to get as much of a Maillard reaction as possible in the limited cooking time you have before the meat reaches the correct internal temperature. Removing the moisture first means that the heat of the cooking...
My parents ALWAYS marinate their steaks in a ziplock bag of liquid marinade, immediately slap those soggy slabs on the grill without drying, and subsequently cook them to a rubbery puck of grey meat. Suggestions to change their ways is futile - Americans don’t like being told they bbq incorrectly…
Honestly, I’ve stopped seasoning my steak beyond salt and pepper and wouldn’t personally marinate anything other than something like a skirt steak for fajitas anymore.
If I were to marinate again, I would pull the steak out of marinade and let if drip dry over a towel for 30 minutes or so (or as long as I had patience for - I’m guilty of allllllways cutting corners).
I’m on mobile and tbh don’t have time to dig into this too much, but I think you would do well to calculate the point of optimum efficiency for your specific scenario. I am in a similar scenario and hope to put together a spreadsheet that I could share if it doesn’t already exist elsewhere, but here is what I would do:
Find out if your heat pump IOM specifies the minimum ambient temperature before electric auxiliary heat kicks in (sometimes called “em heat” or emergen heat). Electric heat will always be the most expensive source of heat, so you should use oil heat when temperatures drop below that.
Look up the peak electric rate (in $/kW-hr) for your utility company. Use this to calculate the cost, per hour, to run your heat pump in all temperatures tabulated in your link. This will tell you how expensive it is to run your heat pump in a worst-case scenario.
Calculate the cost to run your boiler, per hour. This is where you will have to do your own homework on efficiency of your boiler, rate of consumption, and cost of oil in your location. Hard to say if the boiler will run at full capacity or part load, but most are capable of running between 20-100% of nameplate capacity (5:1 turn-down). Summarize your findings into a coat to run your boiler per hour.
When the answer for #2 exceeds the answer for #3, you’ve identified your switch point! Note that this relies on a number of assumptions, like that the heat pump is running full capacity.
Philips Hue finally offers spare parts (hueblog.com)
In the context of the numerous announcements this week, one little thing has unfortunately been somewhat overlooked. However, in case of an emergency, this little thing could be worth its weight in gold for all of us. From October, Philips Hue will finally offer spare parts for its products....
packets of ketchup are super wasteful
The grams of waste per teaspoon of ketchup seems high....
YSK: You should dry off beef before cooking. Doing so promotes the Maillard Reaction, which will make the meat taste and look better. (www.seriouseats.com)
Why YSK: When you cook meat, any water on the surface must first evaporate before much browning can occur. You want to get as much of a Maillard reaction as possible in the limited cooking time you have before the meat reaches the correct internal temperature. Removing the moisture first means that the heat of the cooking...
Heat Pump switch-over temperature?
Hi folks, I got a heat pump installed at my home and I’m looking to better understand when/how it switches over to backup fuel in the winter....