[Noisebridge-discuss] Noisebridge: Death and Taxes

Tue Dec 21 21:24:32 UTC 2010

Hey Patrick, we do occasionally need to cover those windows because the late
afternoon sun slants through them pretty intensely. It is intense enough to
cause heat damage to objects in the area, for an example see the
no-longer-flat cutting mat used for cutting out pattern pieces. Warped by
the heat of the sun. At certain times of the day this low directional light
is so intense it is a real safety hazard in that it obscures actual
visibility by blinding anyone who is working within ten feet of the windows.

For anyone who is eager to work on lights, but unaware:
It is also really important to have adequate lighting in any work area, be
it soldering, sewing, cooking, or woodshop. Sewing your finger, or chopping
it with a rotary tool or kitchen knife, hurts just as much as hitting it
with a hammer.  These lights are not extraneous, and often must be on during
daylight hours if people are Doing Things.

I had actually heard much higher numbers for our power bill, I am surprised
that it hovers sub $1000.  Regardless, I don't think simply eliminating
lights is a real solution here.  Often old fluoros can simply have their
ballasts replaced with newer ballasts to become far more efficient.
Researching this and spec'ing the parts would be a great help if anyone had
some free time for it.  City Lights in soma is a really helpful industrial
supplier. If you go around the side on 12th street there is a contractor's
counter that IME is much more helpful than the ladies in front trying to
sell fancy home fixtures.

mediumreality.com
On Dec 21, 2010 11:53 AM, "Patrick Keys" <citizenkeys at gmail.com> wrote:
> I personally cleared away everything covering the windows along the west
> wall (facing mission street) a couple weeks ago. Please keep those
> windows un-covered for the free natural light.
>
> During the day, there is absolutely no need for the lights to be on
> anywhere except in the woodshop and middle bathroom. And lights should
> only be on in those places when you're using those spaces.
>
>
> Patrick
>
>
> On 12/21/2010 11:21 AM, jim wrote:
>>
>>
>> As to the PG&E bill, we should deprecate using space
>> heaters. most of the heat ( == energy == current == $$$)
>> rises into the ceiling sunlight wells.
>>
>> also, thanks to michael kan's favorite temperature
>> detector, we can see that circuits for both heaters and
>> the old, inefficient flourescent ceiling lamps are
>> carrying lots of current. 't will save one or two
>> hundred a month if we break the consecutive series of
>> light fixtures up so we use fewer.
>> rather than light up the entire space, maybe light
>> up specific work areas when we're using them (and
>> unlight them as we leave).
>> we can save a little more if we install more modern
>> flourescent light fixtures.
>> assuming someone donates sufficient LEDs, we can
>> save even more by using LED lights.
>>
>> the circuits for the rack room are carrying a fair
>> amount of current. perhaps not everything in the rack
>> should be on 24/7?
>>
>> any use of heat is expensive. cooking, too. eat raw
>> foods?
>>
>> maybe we can put out energy jars here and there and
>> ask people using lights, computers, cooking, etc. to
>> chip in? (maybe with instructions not to use the money
>> to buy light bulbs.)
>>
>> i can (and will) deal with some of this. i can do
>> more work more quickly with some help. please email
>> ON LIST if you can volunteer to help with the above.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 2010-12-20 at 23:56 -0800, Andy Isaacson wrote:
>>> On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 06:52:13PM -0800, Patrick Keys wrote:
>>>> Okay, this is at least starting to get constructive.
>>>
>>> Um, we've been being constructive for quite a while, I thought. :)
>>> Glad you could join the party!
>>>
>>>> Right now, we got about $5400.
>>>
>>> That's just our Wells Fargo account -- there's a nontrivial amount in
>>> Paypal too, although I don't have access to get the actual number -- but
>>> yes, that's a good baseline.
>>>
>>>> * Have we paid bills for January yet?
>>>
>>> Best person to answer these questions is our treasurer Kelly, who's
>>> stuck in London due to weather, last I heard. But I'll take a shot at
>>> it.
>>>
>>> I'm pretty sure we haven't paid any of the monthly expenses for January.
>>> AFAIK those consist of
>>> - rent ($3600)
>>> - trash ($120 or something? I vaguely remember seeing a bill at some
>>> point.)
>>> - PG&E (variable, as high as $750)
>>> - DSL ($100 IIRC)
>>>
>>>> * When are January bills due?
>>>
>>> Dunno. Except the rent is due on the 1st, I remember that much.
>>> Doesn't seem like we're going to scrape bottom in January, though, so
>>> I'm not worried about due dates in January. (Due dates in February I am
>>> worried about...)
>>>
>>> -andy
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>
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