Yay! More By-laws!

[FlamesKickAss]

yeah we leave our furnace fan on and an electric fan and it was 30 in our house last night.

A/C would be nice, closing windows and shade haven't seemed to help the last couple days.

[Schultzie]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

UGH, people need a nice warm glass of STFU.

Fixed.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Flacker

Which makes a major difference on the wear and tear of starting a vehicle. Hardly SFA. Amazingly, it is possible to heat the garage as well.

Sure, insulating AND heating is great to have.

Cars have these things called block heaters that really help with the "wear and tear".

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Sure, insulating AND heating is great to have.

Cars have these things called block heaters that really help with the "wear and tear".

Having an uninsulted garage and using a block heater is ridiculous.

[Tron_fdc]

It's pretty easy to keep your house cool at night without air conditioning. Open up your bedroom window in one end of the house, block your bedroom door open, close all the other doors in the hallways, block the door open at the end of the hall, and open a window in that room. It creates a bit of a wind tunnel. It works even better with a fan in front of your bedroom window that sucks in the cool air.

I've been doing that for years, and I actually get cold at night.

[TurnedTheCorner]

I want central air. My neighbors are never home anyway. @ bylaw office.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by fotze

I cannot get the upstairs cool no matter what I try, plus I have air conditioning, its useless, can leave it going for hours and it barely cools the upstairs, I think my house has absolute dogcrap insulation, cold as crap in the winter and hot as fata in the summer, the wife and kid have been sleeping in the basement for a week now.

I blame it on all the newfie housebuilders that came out here to do their typical drunken poor job.

Check to make sure that you have insulation in your attic... the house that we just bought didn't, and apparently the old owner has been complaining about it for years. It's only a 5 year old house, but apparently the blown-in insulation was never blown-in.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by fotze

Thanks, I will check, I don't think I have ever seen an attic door though?

Try looking at the roof for a square opening with a push-up type cover. This will be your attic 'door'. It may look something like this, although I've never seen a wooden one with a handle (mine have always been white squares). I'll see if I can find a better picture.

http://img2.timeinc.net/toh/i/a/addi...-access-01.jpg
http://www.helpinaflash.com/images/I...-Fan-Cover.jpg

[Beefcake]

I'm at least partially in favor of the article. I've got a neighbor with (what I beleive to be) a ridiculously loud AC unit, and I can't leave my windows open at night because I can't sleep through the noise of it (and i'm not a particularly light sleeper). I'm not the type to call the city and complain, but I think i'm going to try and find a device to measure the decibels that it's pumping out, and then talk to him about it if they're way outside of the bylaw limits.

To me, it's not an easy question to answer... If I can't sleep at night because of the sound of my neighbor’s A/C unit, should I have to spend the money to install a unit in my own place (I don't otherwise have troubles sleeping with the windows open and a fan going on the hottest days of our summer)? Or should he have to spend the money to put in a new quieter unit, repair the unit, or do some other noise-dampening enhancements to the unit etc?

Also, the unit is at the side of his house, which I know to be the opposite side of the house to his master bedroom, kids' rooms, etc. However, it directly faces what's soon to be my 2-year-old's bedroom window, and in a direct line with our master bedroom windows. So, their sleep-time comfort has unquestionably come at the expense of ours.

I probably sound whiny, but i'm really against the idea that because I live in a city the size of calgary, i shouldn't expect to be able to leave my windows open at night.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Jedi Ninja

Calgary is unique that even on hot days, it rarely stays above 20o overnight. In the summer, we use one of those fans that goes in your window to pull in cold air. It totally rocks.

Those window fans are excellent. And you think it is awesome pulling cold air in? Switch it to exhaust and pull the hot air out. I was sceptical at first, but it works many times better.

I have a window fan sucking the air out at the front of the house and I leave a window open at the back of the house (all upstairs). And I switch the furnace fan on too for a little more cool air coming in.

I also close windows and blinds to block the sun during the day.

Some people like AC and that's fine. In the car it is an absolute must for me. But at home with my little system taking advantage of the relatively cold evenings here in Calgary, I can't justify AC.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Beefcake

I'm at least partially in favor of the article. I've got a neighbor with (what I beleive to be) a ridiculously loud AC unit, and I can't leave my windows open at night because I can't sleep through the noise of it (and i'm not a particularly light sleeper). I'm not the type to call the city and complain, but I think i'm going to try and find a device to measure the decibels that it's pumping out, and then talk to him about it if they're way outside of the bylaw limits.

And that's where it should end. Check the sound levels, and see if it's outside the existing noise by-laws.

Or, go and talk to the guy. If one of my neighbours had an issue with the noise of my A/C unit, we could see what we could work out.

[Raekwon]

Well the best way to solve the noise problem is to just get A/C of your own. I can't help it if you need to have your window open to stay cool, I sure as hell don't.

[Gobsgraham]

I doubt the airplanes flying over my house every 15 minutes make less noise than my AC. Can I call bylaw to see if they can not allow planes to fly after 10:00?

[MarchHare]

Or the #%@$ who loves to gun his motorbike down the back lane at 6am most mornings?

This. Oh god, this.

In my 7+ years of living in Calgary, I've never once been disturbed by a noisy air conditioner. I didn't even realize this was an issue. Those $!#*ers who make a completely unreasonable amount of noise on their bikes, though, can bite my shiny metal ass. I'm shocked that there isn't already some form of anti-nuisance bylaw against excessive vehicle noise.

[urban1]

A/Cs can be annnoying and hence why, whenever possible, people will put them at the side of their house and away from any of their own windows. My folks live out east where summers are hotter and more people have AC than not so that eases the problem somewhat. You can have your windows closed and AC on so you dont have to listen to your neighbours. It still can get annoying listening to a neighbours old noisy AC when your sitting out in your yard and especially is your neighbour has relative peace and quiet because his AC is far away from his usable backyard space.

Many municipalities have passed bylaws that require minimum distance from your neighbours house for your AC installation. Hey, if you say its not an issue, then you shouldnt have a problem putting it in your own back yard or under your own bedroom window. This works well. Existing units can be grandfathered and left alone. Any new or replacement units needs to adhere to the new rules.

Having a rule that you can only have it on until a certain hour is ridiculous.

The other problem in Calgary is that few people have AC. Thats somewhat ridiculous on its own. Look at all the $400k+ homes that have been built in the past few years. Whats an extra $3k on that mortgage for an AC?
What compounds the problem is all these tiny lots which leave little space or separation from your neighbour.

Originally Posted by Beefcake

I'm at least partially in favor of the article. I've got a neighbor with (what I beleive to be) a ridiculously loud AC unit, and I can't leave my windows open at night because I can't sleep through the noise of it (and i'm not a particularly light sleeper). I'm not the type to call the city and complain, but I think i'm going to try and find a device to measure the decibels that it's pumping out, and then talk to him about it if they're way outside of the bylaw limits.

To me, it's not an easy question to answer... If I can't sleep at night because of the sound of my neighbor’s A/C unit, should I have to spend the money to install a unit in my own place (I don't otherwise have troubles sleeping with the windows open and a fan going on the hottest days of our summer)? Or should he have to spend the money to put in a new quieter unit, repair the unit, or do some other noise-dampening enhancements to the unit etc?

Also, the unit is at the side of his house, which I know to be the opposite side of the house to his master bedroom, kids' rooms, etc. However, it directly faces what's soon to be my 2-year-old's bedroom window, and in a direct line with our master bedroom windows. So, their sleep-time comfort has unquestionably come at the expense of ours.

I probably sound whiny, but i'm really against the idea that because I live in a city the size of calgary, i shouldn't expect to be able to leave my windows open at night.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by urban1

Whats an extra $3k on that mortgage for an AC?

That's what always gets me. People say there are only a couple of weeks per year that you need A/C; yet they own a quad, jet ski, boat, or RV that also gets used a couple of week per year, and cost so much more.

My personal favourite is the people who spend $30K to develop their basement to have a cool place to sleep; instead of $3-5K on A/C.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by ken0042

That's what always gets me. People say there are only a couple of weeks per year that you need A/C; yet they own a quad, jet ski, boat, or RV that also gets used a couple of week per year, and cost so much more.

My personal favourite is the people who spend $30K to develop their basement to have a cool place to sleep; instead of $3-5K on A/C.

The problem with this is that it is not only a one-time $3-5K. The on-going electricity bills (etc) make it a much more difficult decision.

[ken0042]

I figure mine costs about $20 in electricity to operate per month. It's about $1 per 8 hours of usage.

So $60-80 per year.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by calculoso

The problem with this is that it is not only a one-time $3-5K. The on-going electricity bills (etc) make it a much more difficult decision.

And having like 6 fans as well as the furnace running all night doesn't increase the electricity use?

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Not everyone can do that. I can only open my windows if it isn't very windy because of dust from nearby construction.

Bingo. I live in Cranston, and there is construction going on in every direction. Before I got A/C I opened my windows, and everything would be covered in dust. In my room I have roughly $6K in electronics, that I definitely don't want dust to settle in those.