Window Air Filter 08 23 2010

Pictures not in order of assembly.

Air quality is terrible, smog, mercury, smoke, exhaust gases, you name it the list of perpetrators is a long one and it is not healthy even to read these toxic names...


Stuffy nose at night, allergy problems, dirty bedroom floors, constant dusting. I have found the answer


These are simple window filters you can make with little cost. They can be made to any desired height. Mine are about 8 1/2 inches high and 36 ¾ or 36 7/8 long. The window gaps were slightly different side to side when comparing one window to the other. I am considering making a shorter height pair for my two bedroom windows for the fall and late spring weather when it is colder but not too cold to close the window completely.


Long pieces of the filter frame were made from scrap strips of two by fours that were trimmed to make them modular. The end and middle upright pieces were made from short two by four scraps. And the long strips were fastened to the upright frameworks with inset square screws. Glue was added to the joints before they were closed with the screws. The two frames took me about an hour and half to make working very fast, not including paint drying time.


The frame was then primed, painted and clear coat sealed. Or something like that, maybe they were just primed and clear coated. Anyhow they withstand rain without any coming inside the house and the clear coat keeps them from absorbing water.

The filter material was cut from a new fine furnace filter I bought at Menards (our discounting regional hardware store) for around nine dollars. One filter was enough to -make two of these window filters. The product name TrueBlue Allergan Protection. The original filter size was 20 X 25 X 1 and they are rated MERV 11. They are manufactured by Protection Plus Industries, the website is www.trueblue.com and their phone number is 888-808-9100. And the filter had a metal one inch grating to help it keep rigid, that makes it more durable. A long scissors was used to cut it from the single layer cardboard of the surface of the original filter frameworks, this is the part that is made on the filter to reinforce the filter media from its bellows or pleats and keep the pleats or bellows fixed in place. This allows you to stretch out the filter and make it easier to work with. I have no idea about the fire rating of these and did not consider it because they are placed inside a furnace. But if you light candles or something these would probably burn like a curtain or shade also.


The filter was staple gunned to the wood frame I made. For depth of two relevant issues see:


1. How to make short staples if you don’t have any in stock or on hand.


2. How to make a picture frame.


The filter sits tightly in the window and is held in place by pulling the top down to about abut against the top of the filter. It was made to precision length so it sits snug side to side. The face of the filter with filter media stapled to it faces outdoors. The window screen is still in place when these are used.


A small gasket seals the glass window to glass window gap above the filter that was created between the glass layers as the window is in a raised position. The gasket was made from military surplus foam that was backed with foil and purchased from American Science and Surplus, a brief check tells me they sold out of this, but any 1/4" thick compressible foam that can be cut to dimensional strips of sufficient length will work This material worked very in the past to serve as a window gasket during the winter and summer months to insulate any air gaps.


What surprised me most about using these filters was that when I cleaned and mopped my hardwood floor after three months of having these filters in it was very clear. And upon inspection of the outside of the filter after three months they were gray with dirt. A dirt that would have made it in the house and my lungs, and dust on all the inside that would have to be cleaned. This need for cleaning was eliminated.


To keep cool in summer place a directional quiet fan on a shelf above your bed, mine is a Lasko model 4904, purchased at either Wal*Mart? or Menards? or online? Connect this to one of those cords with a lighted ball switch and locate this next to your head where you can turn it on if weren’t hot when you went to bed but got hot during the night. The cord I have is a YU CHOU model YC14 and I am not sure where I bought it. The convenience of these two parts alone might save you from heat stroke someday. PURCHASE BALL SWITCH CORD HERE


I also have a small ultraviolet air cleaner in my room to further clean the air, Airtech Model 2000 by Exa-Med, I bought this online. Purchase Ultraviolet Air Cleaner Here


I recommend everyone make these window air filters or buy a commercially available model window air filter as they are available on line.


God Bless Those Who Read and Learn and Make and Do


Thomas Paul Murphy


Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy

EFFICIENT BASEMENT LIGHTING WITH NO ADDITIONAL ELECTRICITY 08 02 2010

Before

After

EFFICIENT BASEMENT LIGHTING WITH NO ADDITIONAL ELECTRICITY 

For many years while working in my work shop, I would accidently drop small parts on the floor and it would take some time to find them on the natural color of the concrete floor. This built upon the frustration of already difficult repair projects.  Having some experience with painting floors as I had painted a garage floor to make sweeping up dust easier, I set out to Wal-Mart and purchased 2 gallons of latex white floor paint for about $15. a gal. I prepared the floors of the workshop and wash room by using a floor scraper(model number #93292)  purchased from Harbor Freight for around five dollars and some excess acidic concrete cleaner that I had left over from another project. I poured a cup of this into my mop bucket and filled it with hot water and mopped the floors. I grabbed a second mop head-affixed it to my mop handle and rinse mopped the areas free of any acidic residue. I them thoroughly dried the area with fans and where needed with a clean microfrabic cloth.  The next day I grabbed the roller tray, roller extension handle, some nitrile gloves, 2 cotton balls, an old pair of shoes, 3M model  7500 respirator that I augmented with soft pipe insulation on the neck strap , and roller painted white the first coat on the floors.  When dry the next day, I did the same thing and used a 3 inch paint brush to edge the sides (wearing white socks instead of shoes). Three days after that, I coated it with a clear coat of acrylic paint to seal it.  And three days after that I carefully rolled back in my heavy tools I have mounted on casters purchased from Harbor Freight.  There was no damage to the new paint on the floor. I now have a floor surface that reflects and augments light as if it were a light bulb itself.  It is easier to find parts that fall on the floor and easier to sweep as the pours in the concrete that hold dust are sealed.  My basement workshop and laundry room are now much safer for me and my family.  I effectively saved on lighting and energy costs by efficiently lighting these rooms in this manner. If everyone in the country were to do this millions of dollars worth of time and energy would be saved. The naysayer says that you still have to turn on light bulbs and I say that you don’t have to add any additional electric lighting. Mercury and billions of pounds of carbon monoxide would be spared from the environment, if everyone did this.

For added safety you could add floor grit to the paint, Rustoleum manufactures small bags of this you can buy at the hardware store.

To be honest I have rubber floor mats placed in front of my work bench to reduce fatigue and I painted those white also.

Article originally published at:

http://homeimprovements-thomas.blogspot.com/

http://workshopsecretsbythomasmurphy.blogspot.com/

God Bless Those Who Think

Thomas Paul Murphy

Copyright  2010 Thomas Paul Murphy

Remotely Activated Sump Pump 07 08 2010

Remotely Activated Sump Pump 07 08 2010

A sump pump can save you from tens of thousands if not millions of dollars of loss in wet weather. When and wherein basement flooding becomes prevalent. Do you even know if yours is in working order? They should be tested or triggered by a switch every so often. The easy way to test them is to reach down and gently pull up on the float rod until the motor switch is activated. Make sure yours is plugged into a GFCI outlet.

If yours is located in a closet like mine is or behind a wall or items of storage chances are it is not looked at much. Here is the solution I invented that allows me to periodically the sump pump from outside the closet. I am going to have to describe it as best I can because censorship from someone is preventing me from loading pictures to my blogs.

In effect two eyelet screws mounted in the stud in the closet ceiling serve as pulleys themselves and bastioning points. A small pound test fishing line is tied to the top of the float rod. It is small test so that if it were accidently jarred the mechanism of the sump pump would be less likely to be broken. From the top of the float rod the line is threaded tied to a yellow ¼ nylon rope that has little resistance in terms of friction. The yellow rope is threaded through the eyelets and out a hole in the closet above its door. A brass butterfly knob from an old door handle serve as the end of the pull rope. There is a counterweight on the inside portion of the yellow rope where it hangs in the closet. Like the spring on the pull rope of a lawn mower or outboard motor it assures rope position at rest, and also serves as a stop. If you did not have an internal stop you could potentially break the sump pump. The brass handle is stylish and bares a sense of purpose to the project, as well as being just the right weight.

You need light fishing line cleanly tied to the very top of the float rod so that the float rises normally without resistance to your new apparatus. Place a couple little flags on the fishing line to serve as a reminder of its presence by wrapping two pieces of colorful duck tape around the line and folded back onto itself. Serving as a warning not to shove it or jar it and potentially break the plastic switch or other parts on your sump pump. When placing storage items in and out of your closet.

This system has allowed me to safely test the sump pump periodically and easily. Today was rainy and power was to be cut to our block for electric service upgrades. The first thing I did this morning was flush any water in the sump pump reservoir so that the empty basin could collect and gather its full potential while it is unable to discharge. They do not work without electricity and power failures to your local grid are often the case during storms.

If you have an idea of the proper amperage that would be required to run your sump pump you can buy an inverter for about less than fifty dollars that in turn you could hook up to a car battery removed from you care, Inverters have standard three prong electric outlets on them and in this case convert DC current to AC. This would power your sump pump in a developing emergency. And indeed some people buy portable gas/electric generators for emergency needs, such as this.

Most of the neighbors on my block have never really addressed the issue of basement flooding. The rich Investment Banker that lives down the block did not ever check to assure that his was working and when he needed it, he found out it wasn’t. The same is true of the Criminal Defense lawyer that lives right next to him. There was some nice Curb Wood left at the curb after the rain flooded basements in Whitefish Bay that time. See My blog CurbWoodArt for a description of what that is. The blog is listed under my index.

God Bless Those Who Think

Thomas Paul Murphy

Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy

Easy Cutting Boards For Your Pull out Kitchen Shelves

Do you have pull kitchen shelves on you cabinets? They give you extra space for pots and pans while cleaning, cooking, etc. You really don't want to cut on the laminate surface because it will dull and ruin knives and the surface. Here is a solution I found. I looked at my pull out shelves and saw that there was a 1/8" gap from the top of the pull out shelve to its slot.

I purchased some flexible cutting boards from Amazon.com to match the size of my pullout shelves and placed some double sided carpet tape around the perimeter of what would be the bottom of the cutting board. I then mounted the boards to the pullout shelves and now into addition to pull out shelves they are also pull out cutting boards. And they work great.

To clean them just take a spray bottle that you have added one Tablespoon of bleach to and spray them down, let it sit awhile and wipe off. Repeat process if necessary to ensure clean. These flexible cutting boards did not cost to much either.

The cutting board is the yellow in the picture above.

Here is a link to the exact cutting boards I bought and you can purchase them here too.

http://astore.amazon.com/homeimpro01d-20/detail/B0000CFRBD

God Bless Those Who Think

Thomas Paul Murphy

Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy

http://thomasmurphyindex.blogspot.com/