Home Hacks
Ideas to save money, time and make stuff work that really doesn’t want to work any more.
Unclogging a power washer foam lance
I purchased a MATCC Foam Canon / Lance a while back. It worked like a charm. I tried to use it this summer and it wouldn’t draw from the bottle nor would it foam. The solution was simple
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The importance of do it yourself during an emergency
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused widespread shutdowns. Homeowners and renters may find themselves with sudden maintenance issues. Can you handle it?
Continue readingRaising the blade for more clearance on a Sears Lawn Tractor.
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I have a well worn Sears LT 1000 lawn tractor that I use for grass cutting, hauling firewood, mulching leaves and snow plowing on 2 1/2 acres. Quite often, we get snow before I’m ready to remove the cutting deck. That means that I have to install the plow. The problem is that when the plow is raised, the ground clearance of the plow is about 1/2 inch. That leads to the plow bottoming out on the lawn and leaving huge ugly divots.
Continue readingTired of a dry room? A cheap, simple humidifier hack
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This is an easy, inexpensive hack to get some extra humidity into a room. It’s not elegant but it works well as a humidifier.
Continue readingUsing a remote meat thermometer to measure HVAC duct temperature.
I needed to get an accurate reading of the air temperature in my ducts when the furnace was running and during the cool down process.
Continue readingRemote locks and lockboxes for your home.
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There may be times when you are away and you need to allow access to your house. There are a few ways to accomplish this.
Continue readingDiagnosing a burning smell from a Vehicle with a laser thermometer
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My mom smelled something that smelled like wiring burning while driving her truck. She took it to the service center but they didn’t find anything. When she pulled up for Easter dinner, I could smell it. The engine compartment seemed OK. I got out the laser thermometer and took readings on the calipers. That identified the problem.
Continue readingGiant Yellow Tag strikes again – Pork Chops
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Once again I got lucky with a Giant Yellow Tag sale. Most stores will discount meats that are approaching their ‘sell by’ date. I ended up with 7 nice thin pork chops for less than six dollars.
Continue readingBacon fat as a cheap fire starter.
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Access to a cheap fire starter is a good thing. I usually have 1 or 2 strips of bacon with breakfast. I’ve been doing the bacon in the microwave. I put a paper towel in a microwave bowl, then the bacon and cover with a paper towel. Afterwards the towels make great fire starters. However, you have to be careful with how you store the grease soaked paper towels because of the danger of spontaneous combustion.
Continue reading35+ year old furnace was not heating. 2 year old Wifi thermostat was the problem.
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After troubleshooting my furnace I realized that the problem wasn’t in my furnace. The problem was that my wifi thermostat was not responding to commands
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