The Home Crowd

Brazilian mechanic Alfredo Moser has come up with an ingenious system of daylighting to keep down power bills.  And the shopping list is quite short.

• 2-liter plastic bottle (empty)
• Water (h2o, nice and clean)
• Film roll canister, to cover the bottle’s cap (might be hard to track down, who uses a film camera anymore?)

(Screengrab from the youtube clip, as their clips tend to disappear randomly)

Clever!  This of course, is only useful during the daytime, but I’m certain that puts a nice dent in the ol’ power bill.  It may not seem practical for most of us with attics.  But let’s keep in mind the old sheds you need a flashlight to visit at two in the afternoon, or that open-framed garage when the only natural light comes from your whirlybird roof vent (that spinning thing that squeaks and looks like a christmas ornament).  Of course, the water bottle technique would only be appropriate should you be really in need of light, AND money’s really tight.

They state that the bottles don’t cause the roof to leak, and I’m not certain about their waterproofing method.  But I do know this…. plastic melts.  Give it one simmering hot July afternoon, and I think the water bottle melts like that time you left your favorite CD on the dash of your car.  Maybe a thicker plastic container, say, from a juice container may hold up better.  But if you’re serious about natural daylighting, it’s best to do it right.

My suggestion?  Track down a natural daylighting system such as Solatube.

(Yeah, it’s pretty much what you’re thinking, the light comes in from above, and is routed downward via an ultra-reflective ductwork)

Not only will you cut down on that power bill, but you’ll enjoy bright, natural daylight in the darkest corners of your home, which would have otherwise been dark or unnaturally lit.  Also, installed correctly with it’s corresponding hardware (flashing, waterproofing),  and you don’t have any worries about leaks.  And feel good about saving energy, saving money, and on and on should this type of technology gets picked up in commercial buildings….bet that’d brighten up the ol’ supermarket.

Best of all – You’re home will appear to be co-piloted by R2-D2 himself!!!

Check out Solatube’s site and presentation here – Solatube

DIY, No Electricity lighting from 2 liter bottles from Lifehacker

Shelves that can be disassembled, and reassembled as….. your coffin?  Not sure I’m liking where this is going, but definitely for those who despise their next-of-kin enough to frustrate their mourning with a fun IKEA-ish coffin assembly (unsure if multi-tool allen wrench is included).  Yeah, I know it’s some artsy exposition or something, but geez.

Their synopsis:

Shelves for Life was a self-initiated project by the designer to further explore ideas of built-in sentimentality within our possessions. The aim is to make stronger emotional relationships with our belongings and encourage life-long use.
The shelves are CNC cut in oak veneered plywood to the customer’s measurements. They are intended to be used throughout life as storage for personal belongings. On death, the shelves are dismantled and rebuilt as a coffin. Shelves for Life was launched at the British Library during the Travelling Apothecary Show and simultaneously at Liberties as part of Design UK, during London Design Week, September 2006. The project was subsequently featured in the international press.
The project is currently in production.

Oh yeah, one other thing learned from the construction photo, if you’re gonna die, die thin…

Shelves for life – Link

Very often, in both my professional and personal life, I find myself crunching numbers.  For one, out of necessity, and second, out of curiousity.  Recently, I have found a great resource in Yahoo’s Finance section.  The mortgage calculator works just as how you’d expect, you drop in the figures, and the calculator pops out the appropriate information.

So thinking about buying that 350,000 dollar home?  Well crunch the numbers, add in taxes, home insurance, and get a clear figure in your head before making the big leap.

Yahoo Finance Mortgage Calculator

As you look over your results, you’ll notice your estimated mortgage payment, as well as a comprehensive payment schedule, and also what your home will cost you total (principal + interest).  Now, if you find that simple tool useful, there are many others on the Yahoo Finance page which help out with financial planning, College Saving, Taxes, Insurance, Loans and Retirement Planning.

But if you’re mainly interested in the real estate aspect of the calculator tools, then I also recommend moreso than the Mortgage Calculator, the  “How much home can I afford” calculator.  This calculates home affordability in a more “traditional mortgage’ sense.

Yahoo Finance’s Home Affordability Calculator

These tools, combined with real estate searches such as through various real estate sites and those in the similar vein such as Zillow, can save you some time pounding the proverbial pavement as you’re able to do your homework during the evenings and weekends.

The site however, is run by Yahoo, which therefore means I find it pretty reliable.  That is, unless microsoft succeeds in buying out yahoo.  In which case, your results and reliability may vary.

DB Fletcher Design out of the UK, has this table which I saw for the first time a couple of years ago, but I still find it impressive with its circular expanding action, for which I can’t even comprehend the machinery within the table itself.

Its intended uses are for the home and the deck of a yacht. I don’t have a yacht, so I’m not even getting into that discussion, but I could imagine how great it’d be to have one of these at home. How? Well, you’re definitely volunteering to host thanksgiving dinner upon delivery for one. Difference is, you likely won’t set up the table until after all the guests have arrived. And as soon as all the oohs die down, you can bust out the ol’ centerpiece. The kid’s table, would be of course, your previous dining table.

Here’s a video of the Fletcher Capstan Table

At their site they have 3 videos available, but I found that one to be the best, as it is the only one with sound. And for good reason, that thing’s loud! I’ve heard quieter pin-setters at a bowling alley.

Anyhow, interested? It’ll set you back about 50-70K according to their website. And it only comes in circle-shaped. Seems like a square shaped table would be great also, so long as it could shape-shift on a 90 degree turn so as to still keep you squared off in whatever dining space you place it in.

DB Fletcher – Link.

I came across Zillow a couple of years ago via a link to a page on their site, showcasing the actual locations of the TV homes we all grew up watching. The Brady Bunch house is there, as is the Bewitched house and the 90210 house (which was miles away from Beverly Hills near Pasadena actually), and also Archie Bunker’s House. But does anyone even know which of those houses was his? I remember quite vividly many row houses, shakily filmed from a moving car.

Immediately upon viewing this list, I remembered a good friend of mine and how she was a huge fan of the series “Charmed”. Personally, I was a huge fan of Alyssa Milano. Difference was, the house from Charmed was not actually in San Francisco as the show would lead you to believe, but actually nearby, a few blocks north of Downtown L.A., literally blocks away from Dodger Stadium. So we did a day trip and I managed to get a great ‘touristy’ pic of her in front of the house. It was a fun little trip and a great exercise in using a valuable web-based resource for real estate. (Not sure how well she’s coming along with getting me that pic with Alyssa Milano though)

Link to “Charmed” house page here.

If you’d like to see the list of famous homes Zillow has found, here’s the link – Zillow Famous Homes

But let’s say for instance, that you’re looking to sell your home, you could look it up on Zillow and get a ‘ballpark’ estimate of your home’s worth. I say ‘ballpark’ because based on what I’ve seen, I don’t feel the estimates are accurate, especially not in the current housing market (as of April, 2008). How would I know, you say? By keeping a close eye on what those close to me are buying and selling. Know someone who’s buying/selling? Look it up on Zillow and see just how closely their estimates match up to actual sale/purchase price.

For example, in February a friend was purchasing a home. It was a fixer-upper/distressed property in a neighborhood that at best could be described as “in need of redevelopment”. After touring the home, and seeing the condition it was in, I didn’t feel Zillow’s estimate was close, but that was probably just figured out by some equation of area value, square footage, number of beds/baths. I also didn’t feel it took into consideration the current housing market. It was overinflated, and considering the dire condition of the home, and the housing downturn, I imagined the price my friend paid was 14% less than Zillow’s estimate. Said friend had bought for less than that even, 16 % less than the Zillow estimate. That, two months ago, I found somewhat understandable, knowing that this site likely had no clue about the home’s condition. But after checking again on the same property this week, Zillow has raised the value 17% higher than the original estimate from two months ago.

So, if you’re curious about what your home is worth, or if you’re curious about a prospective home, give Zillow a shot. It’s free, there’s no annoying registration required, just type in the address of the property. Zillow has partnered over the last 2 years with thousands of real estate brokers and agents, and recently, has partnered up with Sears to expand resources. I expect Zillow will grow and eventually get a better grasp at actual value than artificial value. They’ll have to, or in this market, they’ll be so far off when it comes to numbers that it won’t be a reliable service.

Now, if you’re serious about what your home is worth, check out the site, then hire a professional appraisor.

In the meantime, I’m gonna try to figure out what I’m gonna have to offer to buy Tony Soprano’s house.

Link to house from The Soprano’s – here.