Random Questions Mega Thread v1.1

[Wormius]

How much of a pain is it getting to Lake Louise during the summer by car? I haven’t been for a number of years, but have some guests coming so kind of curious what it’s like these days.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

How much of a pain is it getting to Lake Louise during the summer by car? I haven’t been for a number of years, but have some guests coming so kind of curious what it’s like these days.

Unless it's the larches level of traffic, not very? But the parking/shuttle might be the part that is the pain in the ass... but it also depends on luck and time of day you go.

Sometimes I can't get in during the afternoon. So I go elsewhere and then try my luck again at golden hour.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Wormius

How much of a pain is it getting to Lake Louise during the summer by car? I haven’t been for a number of years, but have some guests coming so kind of curious what it’s like these days.

Enough that it ain't worth it

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Enough that it ain't worth it

Agreed that it's not as easy to just show up like before.

But golden hour wise, many guests are already enamored by the fact the sun is out past 9-10 PM and most people/tours aren't staying that late. Usually it's a combination of food/Peyto/Bow falls and Lake Louise with Lake Louise tested to see if it's the first or the last stop for the day trip.

TBH, Lake Louise isn't too challenging to get to. IMO it's Moraine that's the one I can never figure out what is going on.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Agreed that it's not as easy to just show up like before.

But golden hour wise, many guests are already enamored by the fact the sun is out past 9-10 PM and most people/tours aren't staying that late. Usually it's a combination of food/Peyto/Bow falls and Lake Louise with Lake Louise tested to see if it's the first or the last stop for the day trip.

TBH, Lake Louise isn't too challenging to get to. IMO it's Moraine that's the one I can never figure out what is going on.

I was hoping for some spontaneous, let’s go hike to the tea house like we used to kind of idea. So where is the closest place to park now? Can you just park in town and bike to the lake or is it that big lot along hwy 1?

[Fuzz]

These parking lots still exist, it's going to depend on your time of day and if it's a weekend if you can get in.


https://maps.app.goo.gl/VyzCYtcWJmF3s63QA


I believe now the overflow parking is at the ski hill, with buses to town/lake.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I was hoping for some spontaneous, let’s go hike to the tea house like we used to kind of idea. So where is the closest place to park now? Can you just park in town and bike to the lake or is it that big lot along hwy 1?

Lake Louise still has that big lot. It's just paid parking now and still fills up ($8 a vehicle?). The other locations are still the same IIRC. I once paid to park at the Fairmont Lake Louise ($30?). Guests were from out of town that the extra cost so that they didn't miss out was worth it IMO. I thought I recall seeing signs that Fairmont Lake Louise parking changed so that only guests at the hotel could park, but I don't see such verbiage on their website.

I've never tried too hard if it seemed like parking would be a challenge. I just go elsewhere and try again later in the day. Lots of cool and beautiful areas nearby, including Peyto Lake, Emerald Lake and Takakkaw falls not too far away. Rainy days are also worth investigating. Most people clear out on days with light/moderate rain, but if you can get lucky and get a misty view of the lake just when the clouds break... that is special in its own way as well.

With guests, I've never parked in town or the overflow lot half way up. It's just all or nothing/we'll probably get in during golden hour for sure. If late morning/early afternoon I'd say it might be more challenging to get parking, but also depends how lucky you are. If you're up for parking further down/in town and biking/hiking up, I think your odds of a spontaneous attempt for a hike increase and IIRC, it's reported that "hike" is just adding 20-45 minutes of walking along the road. I know some people will book the Lake Louise campground and then consider it a slightly longer hike. Not sure of the shuttle as I've not used it. The shuttle can fill up fast or require booking several days ahead. I ran into the shuttles being fully booked a few times on the day of in other areas of the park, so never bothered trying the shuttles again.

If you go spontaneously around 6-8PM, many people are starting to clear out for dinner/return to Calgary. Should still be enough time/daylight to do a 2 ish hour spontaneous hike and the sun shouldn't be as hot as during the afternoon.

One comment I often make at Lake Louise in the summer, "You should see it in the winter when they build the ice castle on the lake for you to skate around..." Some people think I'm lying until they look up pictures of it.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

My smoke alarms have, on three occasions within the last week, randomly gone off. No one is cooking, there is no smoke. They ring as if there is smoke for a few seconds, then stop. It isn't low batteries - that causes them to "chirp", rather than sound off. It coincides with the installation of central A/C, but I don't know if that is just a coincidence.

Any ideas? Maybe I should post this in the home improvement thread too.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

My smoke alarms have, on three occasions within the last week, randomly gone off.

How old are they? I've heard of that happening if they are approaching end of life. (around 10 years.)

[indes]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

My smoke alarms have, on three occasions within the last week, randomly gone off. No one is cooking, there is no smoke. They ring as if there is smoke for a few seconds, then stop. It isn't low batteries - that causes them to "chirp", rather than sound off. It coincides with the installation of central A/C, but I don't know if that is just a coincidence.

Any ideas? Maybe I should post this in the home improvement thread too.

Are they going off as the AC cycles on? If so it's probably an electrical issue in your panel, or they bumped something with your smoke alarms. Depending how old your house is - the smoke alarms have to be on a dedicated circuit so it should be an easy thing to check at the breaker.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by ken0042

How old are they? I've heard of that happening if they are approaching end of life. (around 10 years.)

2016 build and took possession in 2017, so getting there I guess.

[Wormius]

How many smoke alarms are doing this?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Wormius

How many smoke alarms are doing this?

How many threads should we discuss it in? Do they multiply?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

My smoke alarms have, on three occasions within the last week, randomly gone off. No one is cooking, there is no smoke. They ring as if there is smoke for a few seconds, then stop. It isn't low batteries - that causes them to "chirp", rather than sound off. It coincides with the installation of central A/C, but I don't know if that is just a coincidence.

Any ideas? Maybe I should post this in the home improvement thread too.

This is a problem with the Onelink Smoke and CO detectors we have. Because we open the basement walkout doors so often in the summer, dust and particles start building up at the detector openings and every fall the smoke detector starts randomly going off. I just take the vacuum hose with brush attachment and vacuum it clean and it stops the randomly going off. Until next fall of course.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by indes

Are they going off as the AC cycles on? If so it's probably an electrical issue in your panel, or they bumped something with your smoke alarms. Depending how old your house is - the smoke alarms have to be on a dedicated circuit so it should be an easy thing to check at the breaker.

This is probably the answer given the timing of the AC install and the start of the smoke alarms going off. When a heavy inductive load like AC or an electrical motor is energized it acts as if there is almost no resistance (a dead short) until the magnetic field can be established. During a brief period when this happens, the voltage in your entire house can dip, as voltage collapses during a short circuit event. You can see this happen if it’s dark outside, your AC turns on and the lights in your house go dimmer for a brief moment.

First thing I would do is check and see if the AC turning on is causing this issue. Make note of any other heavy electric loads running at that time (dryer, oven etc). After that, I’d replace your smoke detectors because I think I read that they were getting old? Anyways that has to be done eventually and it may fix the problem if the new smoke detectors are less sensitive to voltage dips.

After that you can call the utility to measure voltage at your house to make sure it’s within the normal range. If none of these things work it’s time to call a sparky.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I bet that is it! I was just told that the lights dimmed when the AC was running - I didn't notice that but my girlfriend did.

What's the solution in that case? What should I do about it?

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I bet that is it! I was just told that the lights dimmed when the AC was running - I didn't notice that but my girlfriend did.

What's the solution in that case? What should I do about it?

Give the post another glance, I explained what I’d try for easy fixes. After replacing the smoke detectors and calling the utility to measure voltage, there are a few options but none of which are cheap. If it’s a new AC unit you may be able to call the installers and explain the issue. A bad starting capacitor in your AC can make the inductive voltage drop even more significant.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Ah, I misread and thought those were options if that wasn't the issue. I'll start there then. Yep, brand new AC unit, but I wasn't sure if it was something they'd just brush off as "that's a problem with your house, not our unit". Guess it doesn't hurt to try.

[Wormius]

Alternatively go with a battery powered detectors if this is the only problem the voltage droop is causing. The life of a battery powered ones are basically same as hardwired, with the sensor being the part that limits lifetime. I picked up a double-pack at Costco.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Ah, I misread and thought those were options if that wasn't the issue. I'll start there then. Yep, brand new AC unit, but I wasn't sure if it was something they'd just brush off as "that's a problem with your house, not our unit". Guess it doesn't hurt to try.

They very well may try to brush it off on you / your house. It’s unlikely but not impossible that the capacitor in your new AC unit has failed or otherwise isnt working properly. Capacitors aren’t very complicated in their design, but they can fail.

Beyond that there are AC soft starters / VFDs which (for simplicity’s sake) cause the motor to start slower, minimizing the “short circuit” effect. But this isn’t a homeowner level job, you need to call in the techs to do this. I’m also not positive if the soft starters are manufacturer recommended either, probably best to get the opinion of the HVAC guys.