Getting Familiar with Hunter Sprinklers

XCore Controller

I became familiar with Hunter Sprinklers and Hunter Sprinkler heads when they became easier to find then Rainbird products. Years ago, it was hard to find anything other than Rainbird sprinklers at my local Home Depot stores. I was reluctant to replace my old sprinkler heads with another brand, not because I loved Rainbird, but because I was not familiar with any other brands. Other brands of Lawn Sprinkler Systems. Replacement heads have their own settings and it can be confusing learning a new way of setting them up every time you need to replace heads. I am no longer intimidated by non-Rain Bird brands. IN fact, Hunter Sprinklers replacement heads are easy to use and last just as long if not longer than the other 3 or 4 brands I’ve tried, including Rainbird. Besides my own favorable experience, there is another good reason to trust Hunter Sprinklers. Read the rest of this entry

Single Cup Coffee Brewer

This brand new Mr Coffee Keurig machine I just bought at a Costco is a Single Cup Brewer game changer. Why? Well, for starters, the Mr Coffee Keurig from Costco is about half the price of other single-cup brewers and it comes with 20 K-Cups for 20 cups of coffee. This is one of those products that I love outside of the box so quickly and unreservedly that I almost hate to continue using it, lest I find some faults with it. The Mr Coffee Keurig machine is an impressive single-cup coffee maker and and an affordable one - at least in the short term. I recently reviewed the Tassimo in my Tassimo vs Keurig article two weeks prior to buying this little, inexpensive single cup brewer. I went to Costco to look for Tassimo Coffee when unexpectedly, I found a demonstrator brewing single cup coffee samples with this Mr Coffee Keurig single cup brewer. The cheap price tag quickly caught my eye and I wondered if a coffee maker so cheap could be any good. As I looked at the display, I noticed the words on the box said, "Keurig Brewer". Having been very impressed with the Keurig Brewer at the Loews Hotel I stayed at in Philadelphia, I decided the Mr Coffee Keurig was worth a closer look!
Read the rest of this entry

The Tassimo vs Keurig Single Cup Show Down

Single Cup Brewer

This Tassimo vs Keurig Single Cup Coffee maker showdown is a result of my life-long desire to enjoy the best tasting coffee at home without the muss, fuss, mess and expenses of a fancy Starbucks Type Heavy Duty coffee brewer or without having to drive to a Starbucks and wait in line behind phony coffee drinkers. Haven't you ever wished you could just make just one 8 ounce cup of really hot, strong coffee at home without having to wait in line behind those sweet-drink fake-o coffee foo-foo snobs ordering their latte with half-and-half and just a splash of this and that with nutmeg and whipped cream, etc, etc? You only want a good, strong hot cup of coffee and you're willing to pay $1.68 - $2.50 for it, depending on whether or not it's sized as a Tall, Grande or Vente. Well, would if you could make a cup of coffee just as hot, fresh and strong for 1/3rd the price. Well, this is what the Tassimo vs Keurig single cup coffee makers claim they can do.

To be honest, I’ve never thought much of single-cup brewers. I used to think, “So, they brew one cup of coffee at a time? What’s the big deal with that? “Well, my recent visit at the Philadelphia Loews Hotel last week changed my mind completely. In our room was a Keurig Single Cup Brewer, with an assortment of Coffees, Teas and Hot Chocolate K-Cups. I’ve heard the constant bickering of the Tassimo vs Keurig debates, but what I didn’t understand was how convenient these single cup brewers are and perfect for a Hotel stay.
Read the rest of this entry

Digital Plug In Timer

Timers for Lights

I became a Timers For Lights Fanatic a few years ago when looking for a convenient way to turn the the Christmas Lights on and off a few seasons ago. I got out one of those old mechanical timers that I used many years ago for turning a living room lamp on and off from 5:00 to 10:00 PM During the winter hours. Mechanical Timers For Lights products have always been a pain for me to use. You have to line up those little stops in the time slot holes for the on and off positions. For me, this procedure has always been a confusing and tedious task. The numbers on the timer are difficult to see and you're never sure exactly how close it is to the actual time. Surprisingly, three other programmable timers that came with my house are also mechanic timers: Timers for Lights, Sprinkler System Timer and Water Heater Timer. Actually, the Water heater is for my pool but it is made to be used on Water Heater appliances as well. After getting my outdoor lights setup with the mechanical timer, I began considering how programmable timers for lights make a great security device. Why not buy a handful of them for turning on and off lights in the house? Or, even for turning a radio on and off when you're not home during the day or evening, electric timers are great, little security devices, whether used for indoor lighting, lamps, aquarium, poop pump, outdoor lighting or music, TV and other natural sound in the home? Now, if only I could find a decent digital plug-in timer for lights switch that is quick, easy and less confusing to program.  Here's what I found for an easier, better Timers For Lights Solution and keeping track of our amps and watts. Read the rest of this entry

Electric Heaters for Home

Oil Filled Electric Heaters

Oil Filled Electric Heaters are an efficient way to heat up a room. This winter, I decided to do some research on energy efficient space heaters for my drafty home. Unless, I turn my furnace thermostat up to 71 degrees, there are 4 rooms in the house which are just a tad too cool to stay comfortable sitting in for long periods of time. The Den, Office, Upstairs Vacant Bed Room and the finished Basement could all use some extra heat. The basement is the biggest problem area of the house because this is where we like to watch the big screen television. While the basement has low ceilings, it is a very large, open room, so I knew it would be a challenge finding a space heater to keep the area around the television warm without zapping our energy bill. The review I did on Amish Heaters and Edenpure Heaters revealed that what is bigger and more expensive is certainly not always better. These are Quarts Infrared heaters and they do have several advantages. At $195.00, the Dr Heater seemed like a bargain in comparison of the Amish and EdenPure products. After reading about the larger-sized, 1500 Quartz Infrared Heaters, I learned that many of the smaller, energy efficient space heaters were more affordable and did just as good of a job warming rooms of the house. Oil Filled Electric Heaters and Ceramic Space Heaters are rated very highly by hundreds of different users. Both of these portable home heaters are rated highly for quiet, heat output, low price and energy efficiency. I was really torn over which of them to buy; both have their pros and cons, so I decided to try a few of the different types of oil filled electric heaters for home. Read the rest of this entry