Product review: GE 50 Pint ADER50LN Basement Dehumidifer

I have been using a dehumidifier in the basement to get rid of the "basement" smell. When my old model stopped working I purchased GE ADER50LN based on Consumer Reports recommendation as their Best Buy. Consumer Reports indicated that models that remove 60 to 70 pints of moisture per day (i.e. the larger models) usually remove the moisture faster and thus use less energy than the smaller ones. I just received my first electric bill and I can see that it is lower than with the old model.

What I like:
1) More efficient, lower electricity cost
2) There is a light that tells you when the filter needs changing
3) It has a timer
4) It has a digital display
5) It has frost control

 

To evacuate water directly into the drain (so I don't have to empty the bucket manually), I purchased a pump. A small tube empties the water from the dehumidifier into the pump (rather than into the internal bucket). The pump pumps the water into a longer tube which drains into the the same drain where the water from the washing machine does. All I had to do is to purchased a PVC drain splitter in a home improvement store and attach it to the drain I had for washing machine.

I am attaching the photo to illustrate my explanation. The white PVC pipe in the photo is the piece I attached, the beige PVS pipe is the original pipe. I cut down the original pipe so the new pipe would be at a similar height after I attached it.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: White Dutch Clover Seed

 Early last spring I purchased 5 pound bag of White Dutch Clover on Amazon.  I have been very pleased with it. The germination rate of the clover I received was excellent during the fist some.  I had a little bit of it left over and replanted the left over seed this spring and they came in beautifully as well.

I took pictures (posted at the end of the review)  with the progress of my clover lawn.
Photo #1: clover lawn after 5 days
Photo #2: clover lawn after 15 days
Photo #3 & #4: clover after 23 days, clover after 23 days close-up
Photo #5 clover after 30 days
Photo #6 clover after 45 days -> appearance of flowers, this is my final photo

I have a lot of lawn and due to back problems limited ability to care for it as well as I should to keep it nice and green. Following a construction project late last fall a large area of my lawn became a patch of clay. After reading about eco lawns I decided to try to reseed the bold patch with clover rather than grass. I selected white Dutch clover because it is low growing (it reaches 4 inches when it matures) and was rated well for the North East region where I live.

I liked that Clover is a perennial and will propagate on its own. I like that Clover helps grass grow. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria that form nodules on the roots of the clover fix nitrogen from the air and increases the nitrogen in the lawn helping the grass to grow. What was important to me that clover grows vigorously even in poor soil, which is exactly what I have.

I read that the ideal time to plant is mid-April before grass starts growing quickly and provides competition for water. It can be planted later in the season as well, by then watering frequently becomes crucial for clover lawn establishment. I planted my clover in the third week of April, seeding some over the new grass that just started growing, some in the clay left by the construction, and some over patches that had dead grass.

Some information I found indicates that you need both clover AND grass to make a "clover lawn" as they are complementary in their ecological functioning and one supports the other. By planting my clover in several ways I will be able to see if I also need to add grass seed to the clover lawn.

The instructions said not to spread them by hand, so I came up with the following solution. I used a large spice bottle (the kind you get at Costco) and opened the side with the round holes and used it as a shaker to spread the seeds.

I watered daily (if there was no rain). The instructions said you only need to do it for 7 to 10 days, but I am watering to insure good growth.

One section of my lawn which included clover is mowed regularly once a week. The clover did not survive many weeks of mowing. It came back a couple of times, but eventually died out completely. A section that has not been mowed still has healthy looking clover.

In the fall the regular mowing ended and I am happy to report that the clover came back in the section which was regularly mowed and where it stopped growing during the summer!

The clover wintered fairly well and I saw plenty of re-growth this spring.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product Review: Suncast Rust Resistant Metal Garden Hose Guide

I own several sets of Suncast rust resistant metal garden hose guides.  The oldest set is 4 years old and it still looks good, no rust.  In attached photo the image in the garden shows the oldest guide and you see that it still looks like new despite being outside for 4 years.

I use the garden guides not only for regular water hoses (for example when I wash my car and want to guide the hose between the flowers to avoid damaging my flower beds) but also to guide my drip irrigation drip tubes.  These guides are sturdier and more attractive than the typical plastic stakes that are used with the drip irrigation system. I use these metal guides on the drip irrigation lines that don't end with emitters and thus have the water come out with more force.  The small plastic stakes can't always handle the initial force of the water and move a bit from where I want them to deposit water, but these metal guides work great.

PHOTOS:

1. Photo #1 shows the set of two guides in this order, placed on grid mat for size reference (detailed size info below)
2. Photo #2 shows one of the guides on a digital scale, it comes in as 12.6 oz
3. Photo #3 shows the 4 year old guide holding my drip irrigation line, you can see how I threaded the small holes to place the drip irrigation tubing exactly where I wanted

SIZE:

1. The length of the spike is 11"
2. The width between the two legs of the spike is 3"
3. The big opening for the regular size house is 2"
4. The entire width of the top part is 6.5"
5. The two small openings at the top which I use for the drop line are a bit under 1"

Overall, very pleased the guide and multiple uses I get out of it.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Ames True Temper Decorative Free Standing Metal Hose Hanger

This decorative hanger looks good, but I found it to be hard to install. Photo of installed hanger with annotation comments is attached under customer photos.

The hose hanger comes in two sections. The bottom part is about 12 inches. You have to drive in first, then insert to the top part, screw down the two screws (at the point you are working at ground level) and then need to drive down assembled hanger some more to hide the screws. The spike ends with a pretty blunt edge, so you need to push hard to drive it into the ground. I was using the hammer and 2 by 4, but eventually found that stepping on top of it and putting all my weight on it worked best. Screwing the bolts requires a wrench to turn and wise grips to hold the nut. Working at the ground level was very difficult, I actually had to dig a hole to give me better access to the bottom bolt. After the hanger was assembled both bolts were still visible and the entire hanger was somewhat wobbly. I wanted to drive it down another couple of inches, but was unable to do so despite working on with a hammer (over 2 by 4) for quite some time.

The hanger itself looks rust resistant, but the bolts and nuts are not. Both are above the ground (one at the ground level, the second one about an inch higher), so they are visible and exposed. They are somewhat unsightly and I suspect they will rust.

Despite being somewhat wobbly it looks good and holds the water hose very conveniently. It takes me less time and less effort to put away the water hose, than using a water hose caddy with a crank I used before. After a back surgery I had trouble bending down to crank, and this stand allows me to coil the hose without bending.

If the spike had a sharp point, or if it had a step on which you can step to drive it down the installation would have been easier. For that reason I am rating the hanger with 4 stars.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product Review: RHA MA-350 headphones for MP3 player, tablet, phone

RHA MA-350 are now my primary headphones for my MP3 and are being used every day. I am attaching a collage of 2 photos under customers photos that I will be referencing in this review.

COMFORT

I found these earphones very comfortable. They fit perfectly right out of the box. They came with 2 additional rubber tips bigger and smaller for additional fit options. The profile of the buds is very flat, so I was able to rest my head on the pillow without feeling them sticking out of my ear. They work perfectly while traveling. Photo #1 shows the headphones from the back and from the side so you can see the profile. You can also see the additional rubber tips in both Photo #1 and Photo #2.

The earphones have a fabric covered braided cord, which worked great to prevent tangles. I normally wrap the cord around my MP3 player and when I take it out again I have to spend several minutes untangling the cord. It took a lot less time with these earphones. The cord and earphone feel well made and like that will take a lot of abuse.

The earphones come with a nice cloth bag which is big enough to house not only the headphones but my MP3 player. In my daily use I now use this bag to carry both these headphones and my MP3 player. Photo #2 shows the cloth bag.

SOUND

I was pleased with the sound. The sound was full and rich at high and low volumes. I enjoyed the sound of both bass and mid-tones. The sound isolation is very good. I went for a walk while listening and ambient noises did not bother me.

OVERALL

These earphones were provided to me by the manufacturer for evaluation without any obligations or conditions.
I am very pleased with sound quality as well as fit and comfort. I recommend them.


You can find "RHA MA350 In-Ear Headphone" on Amazon by following this link


Ali Julia review ★★★★★ 

Product Review: DIG hose timer for watering

I have a two zone drip irrigation system, which uses two different timers: this DIG timer (green on in the photo) and an Orbit 91213 timer (blue one in the photo). DIG timer stands for Digital Irrigation and is available from The Drip Store either on Amazon or on their web site. The DIG timer has been in use for 3 summers so far. This DIG timer is better in a number of ways described below.

I LIKE:

1. Programmable options are extremely flexible. I can complete control on how frequently the watering occurs within one day as well as how many minutes it lasts
2. Despite all the options it is simple to use
3. It has a manual override if I need to give the plants a little extra water
4. It works on one 9 volt battery, I am able to use rechargeable 9 Volt batteries.
5. It does not use a lot of juice, rechargeable 9 volt battery is not discharged by the end of the summer
6. The time is well built, it long lasting, this will be my fourth summer using this timer
7. I have zero leaks from it (I use teflon tape on each connection)

I DO NOT LIKE:

1. nothing at all

COMPARISON with ORBIT 91213 in side-by-side use

1. Orbit programmating is very limited. The minimum time period you can set it up for is every 6 hours. It has to be exactly 6 hours apart, that means it will water 4 times a day. However, I do not want to water in the middle of the night as might promote root rot. What I want is to water more frequently during the day, but not at night. This timer does not give that type of control, where as DIG timer does.

2. Orbit timer eats batteries at a very fast clip. It could not last on re-chargeable batteries more than 2 weeks. I had to switch to regular batteries and change them once a month. I went through 3 sets of non-rechargeable batteries last summer (the first year I had a two timer system).

3. Orbit timer has a bigger LCD screen, and I find it to be a bit easier to read. This is useful as I need to keep an eye on it to know when to change the battery!

4. Orbit time shape (flat) is a little easier to work with when the timer is not mounted.

I am attaching a photo of my irrigation system with two timers side by side.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Black and Decker shovel

I was surprised to see that Black and Decker makes shovels but when I took in my hands I was impressed with how well made it felt. Sturdy, heavy duty, and it felt very comfortable in my hands.  This weekend we used it in the garden to dig holes for the new bushes and it did an outstanding job even in a somewhat rocky ground.  The only way it could have been better if it could dig holes on its own without any help from me!

This is a nice tool to have around the house.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★