Question: We are residents of Sun City and I have a problem with the original 911 Light Switch. You have indicated in a previous article that Pass & Seymour have a replacement model. Before going that route, my problem is I just placed six, 4 watt LED blubs in the out outside fixtures. These are dimmer type but not used for the purpose of dimming. When I placed the 6th bulb in its socket all of the bulbs show a small amount of light even when the switch is in the off position. What is the remedy for this situation? The normal incandescent bulbs never produced this result. Do you have any suggestions?
Answer: I assume you are using LED bulbs to save energy. Let’s calculate how much it would cost to light six 4 watt bulbs from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. each night for a year.
4w * 4hr * 365 days * 6 bulbs = 35040
This is the watt hours used per year or 35.04 kwhr per year.
At $.07 per kwhr this would cost $2.45 per year.
Compact florescent light (cfl) bulbs will work on the circuit with the 911 switch. If you use 60w equivalent light bulbs they consume 13 watts. This would raise your cost to $7.97 per year to light these bulbs or an increase of $5.52 over the LCD bulbs.
Question: I live in Del Webb. I was wondering if there is a service within the community that does dryer vent cleaning.
Answer: The latest issue of the Lifestyles magazine has ads from two companies that do dryer vent cleaning. There were also several companies at the latest consumer showcase that provide that service.
We can’t recommend service people because most of us do our own maintenance and repair, and we have no way to judge the quality of the work of others.
If you have suggestions for future tips or have questions about maintenance around your home submit them to ask.the.woodchucks@gmail.com
