The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[JPolen01]

Learn me on LED bulbs for recessed lights. Wife bought some 85w indoor flood lights, 1100 lumens. They say daylight color but as way too bright. I feel like I'm watching TV in 7-11. I'm thinking I need something on the warmer side. Recommendations?

[Sijray21]

Learn me on LED bulbs for recessed lights. Wife bought some 85w indoor flood lights, 1100 lumens. They say daylight color but as way too bright. I feel like I'm watching TV in 7-11. I'm thinking I need something on the warmer side. Recommendations?

Are the ones you have dimmable? I'd just get a dimmer switch instead.

We bought 8 of these for our kitchen reno last fall. Couldn't be happier. Really low profile for any hidden ductwork and fully dimmable (they can get pretty dim and are really bright in their fullest setting). Our kitchen is about 250 ft^2 and they're definitely more than enough light, but I'd rather have that when hooked up to a dimmer switch.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/193207/LITH-0272.html

[JPolen01]

They are on a dimmer but it's the super white color of the light that bothers me. I'm going to try out the Phillips BR30 LED. They seem to have pretty good reviews and do great on dimmer tests and are more of a cool white. I'll report back tomorrow.

[Sully]

It's in the color temp. Daylight being the key word. You want soft white or warm white.

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[Sijray21]

Oh, I assume this was for a living room (I skipped ahead of the TV comment and just saw recessed lighting). Don't get the lights I was referring to then. I like my kitchen lighting similar to my garage in terms if warmness.

[Apoc]

You want color temp in the 2700K range. These look more like 5000K.

[BLINGMW]

You want color temp in the 2700K range. These look more like 5000K.

True. And don't rely on the "warm" , "cool" , "daylight" descriptions. If the manufacturer doesn't list the color temperature, don't buy it.

2200-2400 is what the vintage, decorative filament stuff is, it's kind of fun but inapropriate for a whole room unless it's a bar or dungeon.

2700 is most like old incandescent that people are used to for residential

3000 is a nice compromise I prefer, but it's not that common

3500 is what a lot of commercial T8 flourescents and now LEDs are, will brighten up a kitchen or bathroom without being too harsh but you probably don't want it in your bedroom or for reading.

4000 is also common in T8 and LED for commercial, too harsh IMHO

5000 has no place indoors, typically found in outdoor lighting, parking lots where efficiency is the main concern

The other thing you're often not going to find listed on cheap residential bulbs is the Color Rendering Index (CRI), but you might be able to find on a spec sheet from reputable vendors. Keeping that at 90 or greater is ideal. A room lit by LED at 2700 with 95 CRI looks noticeably better (typically more expensive) than 2700 at 80 CRI, where there's enough colors missing that things start to look drab. There's plenty of cheapo, sub 80 stuff out there that'll make you think you're going blind.

[JPolen01]

You want color temp in the 2700K range. These look more like 5000K.

True. And don't rely on the "warm" , "cool" , "daylight" descriptions. If the manufacturer doesn't list the color temperature, don't buy it.

2200-2400 is what the vintage, decorative filament stuff is, it's kind of fun but inapropriate for a whole room unless it's a bar or dungeon.

2700 is most like old incandescent that people are used to for residential

3000 is a nice compromise I'd like to convert all my house too, but it's not that common

3500 is what a lot of commercial T8 flourescents and now LEDs are, will brighten up a kitchen or bathroom without being too harsh but you probably don't want it in your bedroom or for reading.

4000 is also common in T8 and LED for commercial, too harsh IMHO

5000 has no place indoors, typically found in outdoor lighting, parking lots where efficiency is the main concern

The other thing you're often not going to find listed on cheap residential bulbs is the Color Rendering Index (CRI), but you might be able to find on a spec sheet from reputable vendors. Keeping that at 90 or greater is ideal. An LED at 2700 with 95 CRI looks noticeably better (and is typically more expensive) than a 2700 at 80 CRI, where there's enough colors missing that things start to look drab. There's plenty of cheapo, sub 80 stuff out there that'll make you think you're going blind.

This is what I came here for. Thank you! I am going to give these a shot.

[Evan]

Learn me on LED bulbs for recessed lights. Wife bought some 85w indoor flood lights, 1100 lumens. They say daylight color but as way too bright. I feel like I'm watching TV in 7-11. I'm thinking I need something on the warmer side. Recommendations?

"daylight" is typically 5000k which is way too blue.
"soft" light is typically 2700k which is a bit too yellow.

there are 3000k but they are a bit harder to find. Thats what I use in most of my house.

3500k-3800k would be ideal IMO but unless you want to buy $30 color temp changing bulbs they arent available.

[WRXtranceformed]

These are what I ordered a bunch of for the whole house. They are money. Color is perfect and they are bright but not overwhelmingly so

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DE2...UTF8&psc=1

[Deceus]

You're looking at what's likely going to be my first big project. I was supposed to get $3000 from the seller to fix this and other smaller issues but my VA loan specialist decided to take all the money I was going to be getting and apply it to my funding fee instead ... without telling me ... an hour before I was signing paperwork for the house. Supposedly it was to make it like the seller wasn't paying me for repairs. The cherry on top is that he left me a voicemail to tell me about it and then wouldn't answer his phone until the next day.

I was going to attempt it myself but having the money to hire professional help was a really nice fall-back. I'm hoping it's just a simple matter of digging it out, pushing everything back into place and filling it back up with gravel. I think this is a result of one day last summer where the mountain got 4 inches of rain in an hour. Hopefully I'm just out a Saturday, a shovel and a pickaxe. We'll see ...

[Senor_Taylor]

Moving tips? Any suggestions on movers?

Zach, Tyler, and I are hopefully moving to Vienna in very early August. I've tried my best to sell and downsize, but I still have a lot of stuff and I'm not going to waste my time destroying my back trying to wrestle furniture. I was thinking paying for like 3-4 hours would be sufficient to get all of the big stuff from one apartment to the other and everything else can fit in our cars.

A big concern of mine is the garage, which has a lot of stuff that would be nearly impossible to get in the GTI. I'm not sure if there are any stipulations that would stop the movers from grabbing that stuff too. I'm certainly open to offering some beer and dinner to some people that want to help, but I feel very strongly about getting some movers, even if it's for the bare minimum time and avoid renting my own truck.

Thoughts?

[Deceus]

Moving tips? Any suggestions on movers?

Zach, Tyler, and I are hopefully moving to Vienna in very early August. I've tried my best to sell and downsize, but I still have a lot of stuff and I'm not going to waste my time destroying my back trying to wrestle furniture. I was thinking paying for like 3-4 hours would be sufficient to get all of the big stuff from one apartment to the other and everything else can fit in our cars.

A big concern of mine is the garage, which has a lot of stuff that would be nearly impossible to get in the GTI. I'm not sure if there are any stipulations that would stop the movers from grabbing that stuff too. I'm certainly open to offering some beer and dinner to some people that want to help, but I feel very strongly about getting some movers, even if it's for the bare minimum time and avoid renting my own truck.

Thoughts?

I tried looking into something similar when I moved to Fairfax. I really just wanted someone to carry all my shit up 3 flights of stairs but just about any actual business was going to be close to $500 at a bare minimum just to move a few boxes, a dresser and a mattress. I think the best deal through a legit business I found wanted $60 per hour, per person with a 3 hour min. Sounded decent until they mentioned they charged from the moment they rolled off their lot til the time they got back. Paying people $120/hr to sit in traffic didn't really sit well with me.

I'm always down to spend a weekend in NoVA and have a truck with an 8ft bed. Will lift heavy things for some Aslin beers and food. A toolbox might the only thing that may be a pain but I do have some cheap loading ramps for my tailgate.

[.RJ]

you went to college so you dont have to move your own stuff anymore.

[Apoc]

you went to college so you dont have to move your own stuff anymore.

Moving is literally the epitome of "I went to college..." in that I think it's the first thing I ever made the statement about.

Get two quotes and if they're wildly different, get a third. You don't have to spend infinite money to find a decent company, but if the deal is too good to be true it probably is. Loading your stuff and unloading it should be a half to full day, depending on how much stuff you actually have. If you're gonna pay someone to move furniture, you might as well get them to move the packed boxes too. It's probably not worth the cost just to have them move furniture because they usually have minimums or won't do small jobs. My wild ass guess is you're looking at two people for 3-4 hours for everything.

Check their stated liability and your renters insurance for coverage, in case the truck burns to the ground.

[Ryan T]

It’s money well spent to just hire professionals. We moved everything from our old house into storage ourselves, but we had over a month to do it. We then hired movers to move us into the new house. 3 full bedrooms, living and dining room, and all my tools. We filled up a 20’ moving truck 1.5 times and had 3 guys. The only things they wouldn’t move was my safe and my grill. I know the costs are schewed between where I am and NOVA, but 3 guys and a solid 7 hours was $525 plus cash tip ($30 each) to each mover. It was totally worth it. I helped them load stuff, but anytime I came across something awkward or heavy, ‘fuck it, let the movers get it.’

[Sully]

My now wife and her mother wanted movers when we moved into our apartment to do the big stuff. We weren't very organized since it was such a short trip from where we were moving to where we were going (could make multiple trips and didn't have to be out of other place so could do it over multiple days for the small stuff). I was against it but they were paying. Think it was under $300 and they moved the two big dressers and the king bed and full bed. And then some end tables and maybe a few other things. They would have taken more if it was organized. We should have had them take more but I guess it was good cause we were moving to 3rd floor apartment and those dressers were heavy as a bitch.

For alot of our other stuff, I bought some of those big black "industrial" storage bins from Costco to pack in instead of all boxes. Definitely helped for some of the heavy stuff and would be good for garage stuff.

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[Evan]

Just be prepared to pay more than you think. Time from their home base, not when they get there, rounded up hours, they nickel and dime you with tape and blankets. And no, they wont tell you before or give you an estimate.

I always hire movers now, but 3 guys in their 20s should be able to do it easier, faster, and with a lot less hassle than hiring sketchy movers.

[.RJ]

^ This is very true.

Last time I moved they were getting paid by the hour and moving slow AF.

[Sully]

Just want to confirm my suspicion. When your thermostat reads 10 higher (apartment is actually hotter as well) then the set temp and it actually continues to climb a couple degrees after we get home even while the unit is running constantly and only catches up to itself overnight means the thing is broken, right? Probably low Freon but either way, it needs servicing.

Submitted maintenance request explaining it can catch up overnight. So they come look at it at 930 in the morning when I'm not there and leave a note saying it's fine. That night, set at 68. 74 when I get home at 7pm and 78 by 830. I took pictures every hour of the thermostat creeping up but now I have to find time to take them up to the leasing office and explain it to them and this is all happening when they want us to resign for $100 more a month. Ubit must never shut off cause my power bill just came in for last month and it's $250. Wish I could bill the apartment for the overage.

I hate apartment living.

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