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watchthewaves

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Posts posted by watchthewaves

  1. Posted

    Thank you lyefam for the invaluable comment! :yamseng:

    I'm surprised to know that it's the upper deck that doesn't feel the wind: I thought it would be the lower deck who won't feel the wind & the upper deck would be blown away by the strong wind :D Would it be because of the compulsory distance of the fan blades from the ceiling?

    And how far away from the bed are the blades? I'm concerned about the safety as well. My neighbor actually suggests me don't install the fan due to safety reason. :drunk:

    If an adult stands on the ladder/steps reaches out, can touch or almost touch the fan blades, I'd be worried. Consider wall fans or stand fans instead. Likely the upper deck no wind because it is more to the side than under the fan.

    My experience with this KDK fan is that the motor is quiet, but you get wind sound because the blades are going so fast. Can't be helped. To get less wind noise means slower speed, and at a slower speed, to get the same breeze you need longer blades.

    Any noise would be parts rubbing against each other. So check that installation is properly done so that the fan is securely mounted and is stable. If not stable, and it wobbles, that's when you'll get parts touching and rubbing.

  2. Posted

    The SIP read 124 inches deep!! So the architect suggested built a " half low wall" for the wet kitchen over it, plus a pond.

    Didnt know need to construct trench just to build this party well....by the way, wats a "party wall"?

    The party wall refers to the wall between you and your neighbour.

    As Lauer mentioned, the trench is built around the sewer to protect it. I believe this would allow you to build closer to the sewer. Check with your architect what exactly can or cannot be done if the trench is constructed, so you know your options.

  3. Posted

    Confused with lux with lumens? i suggest you do up some LED education : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux

    The whole issue here is that your downlight only provides 200lm at 1 meter but its running at 12w. My designed downlight, runs at 9w but gives 700lm after cover @ 1.2 meter. Certainly the considerations like brand of the LED chip, driver class are important. But what is the real point of using LEDs? lower wattage equal or more brightness.

    Certainly the track records would show. Retailers without sound knowledge, only create like a customer i met today in the east. They have the whole house done with LEDs, but complain that the brightness is not enough. Selling is easy, but knowing what you are dealing with needs a heart.

    Tried reading up as well as re-looking at the posts here. If I understand it correctly, looks like different lights for different purposes.

    Lumens measures total light output (ie, measured at the light source). Lux (which is lumens per sq metre) measures illuminance (ie, measures light at the object being lighted up).

    So the lumens of a lamp is a fixed number. But the further you move away from it, the lower the lux number will drop because the area covered by the light increases.

    Their lamp produces 750lm with 12W, giving 62.5lm/W. This is pretty decent efficiency for LED, as far as I know.

    Yours produces 700lm with 9W, giving close to 78lm/W. Pretty impressive, assuming it's not being overdriven.

    Assuming that all the figures above are accurate, your lamp is more efficient but produces less light - 6% to 7% less.

    But when you start measuring how objects are being lighted up, we need to look at lux. So, if at 1m, they measure 200 lux, that's taking into account the beam angle - ie, the 750lm is spread out over the area covered by the beam angle (120 degrees, which is pretty broad). If, at 1.2m, your lamp measures 700lux (you stated 700lm in your post, but I presume you meant lux, because lm measures light output at source, so distance is not a factor), it probably means that your beam angle is much narrower than theirs. Likely different lamps for different uses. A large beam angle for general lighting (like ceiling downlights) and a narrow angle for accent lighting (eg, lighting up artwork)

    That's my understanding anyway. Still learning.

  4. Posted · Edited by watchthewaves

    My comments here are from a consumer perspective, who has done some research; not someone in the industry. For those who are looking for 100% guaranteed savings type of answer, I'd suggest that you stick to current PLC energy savers. I feel that we are seeing LED design and manufacturing just starting to make economic sense, so in maybe one to three years time, you'll see even better lumen per watt, have more choices and can also better tell the good quality ones from the inferior ones.

    But if you want to consider getting now, do take these factors into consideration:

    - LIGHT OUTPUT. Unless you are going to simply trust a salesman when you tells you that LED 12W equals to PLC 36W, ask for the lumen output too. As others have pointed out before, depending on the design, 1W of LED can output different lumen. For more critical areas, you may even want to be more detailed - look at lumen, beam angle, take into account how high the ceiling and what the light is going to be like at desk level, even get a lighting simulation done. Current LED technology is good enough to be able to provide good lighting for use in all the different areas of the house. You just need to choose properly.

    - QUALITY. No one really knows much about quality now because its too early to tell. So when you pay less, it could be "pay peanuts, get monkeys" or you could've gotten a quality product at a bargain. Like someone else mentioned, if you can, consider paying a bit more to get lights that are designed by established names. For now, just have to trust that when they manufacture in China, they will QC properly. Might also want to see what warranty you can get. It can be up to 3 years, depending on manufacturer.

    - PLC - BALLAST CONSUMES ELCTRICITY. But its not all so negative for LED. When comparing wattage, for PLC, don't forget to take the ballast into consideration. Many don't use the electronic one, which is more expensive. If you use the normal magnetic ballast, it can add up to maybe 8W-10W per ballast. So a PLC 18W could actually be consuming closer to 25W. If you're doing your savings calculation, you'll need to take this into account.

    - PLC - CANNOT TAKE FREQUENT ON OFF. For areas where you switch on and then shortly switch off again, not a good idea to use PLC. They die much faster than their rated life. Should be on for, say, about 20 mins. Also, they take a while to brighten up, but this usually isn't a major issue for most people.

    - PLC - MERCURY. Present in small amounts, both in PLC and standard flourescent tubes. Singapore, unlike some other countries, does not have a proper way of disposing of these lamps. They should not be thrown away with the usual garbage, but be disposed of so that the mercury does not get into the environment and poison it. If you care about the earth, think about this.

    End of the day, I believe that, buying with care, you can reap a savings after several years. You'll have a higher upfront cost, but long term, not only you benefit, but the earth benefits too.

    All the best with your decision.

  7. Posted

    How does laminated glass reduce noise?

    Any good contractor with reasonable prices to recommend?

    You can google for info on laminated glass and noise reduction/sound insulation.

    Or take a read of the technical bulletin here:

    http://www.pilkington.com/products/bp/bybenefit/noisecontrol/optiphon/default.htm

    Double glazing, which is the term commonly used for a glazing of 2 layers of glass separated by an air gap, is more for heat insulation. For sound insulation, the air gap must be big, like 6 cm or more.

    Laminated glass is usually 2 sheets sandwiching a layer of PVB and is more effective in reducing sound. It gets more effective when you use glass of different thickness.

    Its not just about the glass. You have to pay attention to the whole window system -- any gaps? how tightly secured?

    You can try Fascina. They are one of the more known ones. You can also engage the usual window makers who are cheaper, but you'll probably have to specify what you want and won't be able to really rely on them for advice. Then there are the smaller, more boutique type of businesses. They have good engineering and can cost anything from in between Fascina and the mass market manufacturers to way above Fascina.

  8. Posted

    to reduce noise coming in from heavy traffic in front of my room :)

    Main purpose of double glazing is to reduce heat. It will also cut the noise. But if your main purpose is to cut noise, should consider laminated glass instead. Get it with the 2 sheets of glass at different thickness. More effective.

  15. Posted

    I'm looking for rollers with reliable mechanism that won't get stiff or breakdown over time. For those who have gotten rollers from Mr Chew, do you know where he sources the mechanism from? Local or imported (from Japan?)? Or he has both, and you choose based on your budget?

    Apart from Mr Chew, would like to get other recommendations from others too, on reliable roller mechanism brands.

    I'm also looking to get normal curtains. My pet peeve here is that after a few years, some of my current curtains drawing mechanism jams up. Either something at the rails jams up, or the drawing string frays and won't catch onto or jams into the plaster rollers. So again, I'm looking for reliability here. If can't find, then I may resort to opening and closing simply by pulling the curtains across the windows.

    Thanks.

  16. Posted

    Granite does not come in black only. Although colours are limited.

    Your top is Korean-made quartz (eg LG Viatera, Hanstone) or Corian? Quartz is harder than granite, so should be harder to scratch. So whether the Korean branded ones or Caesarstone, as long as they meet specs, should be similar I believe. But if you mean your top is Corian (acrylic solid surface), then it will of course scratch and stain easier than quartz or granite.

  18. Posted

    Need to be clear about the beam angle of the particular LED light you are buying. The MR16 ones that can be direct replacement for halogen spotlights generally have narrower beams. Because they are designed to replace the halogen spotlights anyway. The ones that are designed as downlights would generally have wider beam angles, though possibly not as wide as PLC downlights.

  19. Posted

    buttercarp,

    Just wondering whether have you stayed in an inter-terrace that has no airwell/skylight before. If not, you may want to reconsider whether that extra space is so critical that you really need to build a floor there. After all, its likely that you are adding to your common area only, right?

    I'm bringing this up because for inter-terraces that are re-built, I see that it is quite common to include an airwell or skylight that goes all the way through from top to bottom to bring natural light into the house. If not, it can get pretty dark (and depressing), whether day or night, and you have to turn on lights even in the day.

  23. Posted · Edited by watchthewaves

    What colour is your Fascina windows? So far, I hear good feedback for the standard white ones. However, I'm told that other colours, because the top layer is laminated, is not as durable? How old are your windows and what has your experience been?

    I know alum is heavier, so a good track and hinge system is needed. That's what I'm looking for.

  25. Posted

    You can try fascina. It is one of the more premium quality product. http://www.fascina.com.sg

    Alternatively, you can get a carpenter craftman to help you design it using part tempered glass and partly using high quality chengai wood, using higher end weather proof stainless steel track system and hinges.

    I'm OK with standard local aluminium frame. I am interested in good heavy duty track system and hinges. Any suggestion of where to look for these?

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