Category Archives: Great Room

DIY Speaker Project

December 13, 2024Great Room, Newsbkrijger

If you know me a little, it won’t be a surprise that eventually I want to be able to enjoy music at a higher quality level than my HomePod. So I ordered a DIY speaker kit from CSS Audio in Michigan. They offer complete kits with the goal to achieve higher quality by not paying for labor. The boxes arrived today:

Unboxed it looks like this.

This will end up in two two-way tower speakers.

I went for the better cross-over filter option, with serious size capacitors, coils and resistors. I could have just ordered the drawings, speakers and filters, but opted for the ready for assembly MDF kit, as in the end, this will make a more exact cabinet than I could make without a big sawing table.

Pellet Stove Arrival

April 5, 2024Great Room, Newsheatingbkrijger

Today the pellet stove was delivered. It’s not installed yet, as the exhaust pipes are still underway, but this is how it will look;

It’s not a huge one, but does come with a remote and an app, as it’s wifi connected. I chose this one because it’s compact and has the exhaust pipe low to the ground, so I don’t have to cut my way through the middle of a 7″ thick cedar wall.

It’s a little odd to be installing a pellet stove this time of year, but like they say; fix the roof when it’s dry, not when it’s raining.

The advantage of my tile floor is that it’s fire proof, so no need to put something under the stove.

The stove comes with a small fresh air hose, that will use outdoor air for combustion. The smoke exits the home through a thimble that runs through the 7″ log wall. A thimble is a double walled pipe to prevent heat coming in contact with the log wall. Once through the wall, the pipe will make a 90 degree turn up and end with a cap to prevent rain or birds entering it.

The big advantage of a pellet stove is that it burns cleaner than a wood stove, and doesn’t require a pipe that extends 3ft above the highest point of the roof, which in my case would be pretty high at around 12 meters. It’s also easier to start;

A simple press on the remote or the app will light it up and within 5 minutes the flames are full.

Then every x seconds, some pellets are dropped into the firepot by an auger.

It’s a little safer and a lot cheaper than a wood fire place, yet has a real fire. Fans blow air that passes the hot sides of the stove, and make it very efficient.

Monday I’m expecting the thimble and pipes, so then I can install it.

Coffee table for Elephants

May 18, 2022Great Room, Newsbkrijger

Reinforced with 16 3” screws and the support beams now routed into the legs, this is now a coffee table fit for elephants. (No, this is not a challenge to see if someone can break it). I can literally jump up and down on it. Of course I don’t way 200 pounds, but even if I did, I could stand on it easily. So it should be good, even for Texas coffee cups.

Heavy Coffee Drinkers

May 18, 2022Great Room, Newsbkrijger

Texans must be heavy coffee drinkers. Very heavy. My coffee table again was broken 😞. Normal use, like putting coffee mugs, plates or anything like that on it would not break it. The only thing that would is jumping on the table. It could be a Texan custom I’m not familiar with to do that, but hey, if that’s what is customary, I will rebuild it in a way that can be done. 🤷

Smart Mirror Restored

May 18, 2022Great Room, Newsgadgetsbkrijger

After 3 years of running flawlessly, I noticed I wasn’t greeted by the smart mirror as I entered Ozuye. Technical analyses showed that the power supply for the raspberry Pi inside had failed. So I ordered a new one, and a soldering iron, so now the Smart Mirror is fully functional again.

The picture above shows the guts of the Smart Mirror with the new soldered in power supply in the top left corner.

Coffee Table

May 18, 2019cedar, Great Roombkrijger

As Arnoud suggested in an earlier comment, another thing I could make out of cedar is a coffee table. So I did. All corners are rounded to 45 degrees, so when you bump into it, it’s never too pointy. Chalk up one more for excess cedar.

The area rug is a low cost Ikea one, but keeps the feet warm when not wearing shoes. (Mind you, in Summer, your feet won’t mind the somewhat cooler tiles at all.)

LockState

May 18, 2019Great Roombkrijger

The August lock was the first gadget I added to Ozuye, allowing me to lock/unlock the front door from my phone and watch. It worked fine, except for one thing; it ran out of batteries within 3 months, even without using the lock. Another downside was that it was only operable by those with the correct App on their phone. And even though most people have a smart phone, it could not be integrated into the operation of the company I’m using for renting it out. So it was time for a change; in comes this new lock.

It’s much like the August lock, in that it can be controlled remotely. But the main difference is that it uses a key code for entry. That key code can be controlled remotely, and different codes can be setup for different people. That way you can have different access codes for cleaning staff, guests, etc. This one does not run out of juice quickly; it uses a wifi connection at intervals to update codes, and goes into sleep mode when not used. To enter a code, you press the top button to “wake up” the lock, and then the code you received.
It’s the default brand used by most rental properties in the area.

Even more Cool

May 16, 2019Great Roombkrijger

What’s more cool than Mr Cool? Two Mr Cool’s. The great room now has Mr Cool 24K, the big brother of Mr Cool 12K that’s in the master bedroom. It can be set to quiet, but if needed can create a breeze that is felt on the other side of the room.

This split unit heat pump can also heat up the great room, with more than twice the capacity of the heaters that I had until now. But as it is May now, I won’t be doing any heating soon, as temperatures don’t drop enough. Mr Cool 24k is a newer generation AC compared to the 12K, and has a new App, that’s a lot easier to use. Both AC units, like almost all lights, I can control remotely. So next time I drive over here, I can set the temperature to 73 before I leave, so when I get there, the great room temperature and humidity is comfortable.

Ultra flat screen

May 15, 2019Great Roombkrijger

The only logical place for a big TV in the great room is right in the middle. And even a very nice flatscreen TV would be in th way there. So I thought of a different solution, involving an obsolete projector, and obsolete Apple TV, and (thanks to my brother Karel for providing) a little gadget that allows an Apple TV to be connected to a VGA screen. Normally that’s prohibited by a technology called HDCP, intended to prevent copying. But with the gadget, and an Ikea roll up blinds set, I now have a 57″ ultra flat TV.

The colors aren’t that blue, that’s just my camera choosing the ambient light as neutral.
It plays Netflix, Music, Radio and anything streamed to it using Airplay. When not in use, you simply roll it up to the ceiling. The HomePod is moved to the tree, to be more natural as a sound source. Tomorrow, I’ll hook up power to the tree under the house, so the extension cords is no longer needed. Also coming is Air conditioning in the great room. More about that also tomorrow.

Feel free to yank my chain

May 12, 2019Great Roombkrijger

The ceiling fan is (big surprise) mounted to the ceiling. But that ceiling is up a bit; about 16 feet up. So the one foot chain that came with the ceiling fan doesn’t really cut it. So now it’s extended so apart from little kids, everyone is now welcome to yank my chain.

Only the fan speed chain has been extended, the light switch is already voice controlled.
At some point I will add a homekit enabled fan switch (https://9to5mac.com/2019/03/04/lutron-smart-fan-speed-control-now-shipping-from-59-homekit-support-at-launch/) but for now, you’ll have to get up and yank my chain.

Ozuye Lodge

B's log home