A Tale of Power.
Jul. 12th, 2007 04:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swestrupI've felt rather out of sorts for the last couple of days and I'm beginning to think it was just some form of heat exhaustion or something. You see, due to the insanity in Quebec's housing construction, our fridge and the master bedroom are on the same 20-amp electrical circuit. Thus if I want an A/C unit in the master bedroom, it has to compete with the Fridge for power. It used to be that whenever both compressors came on at the same time we'd blow the fuse (no breakers in this house).
We eventually fixed this when we discovered that we could buy slow-blow fuses that can take a short over-amperage. So now the two devices can live peacefully on the same circuit. Only, you see, the microwave in the kitchen is ALSO on this same circuit, and its power draw isn't momentary. So, if we are nuking something and the compressor in either the fridge or the A/C unit comes on, we'll even blow a time-delay fuse.
This used to mean that the A/C unit in the bedroom was usually kept off except at night and during the hottest days of summer when we use it to try to bring the house down to a more reasonable temperature. At such times we would try to remember to always run upstairs and turn of the A/C heating anything in the microwave. Of course, we wouldn't always remember and we often went through a dozen fuses in a summer.
Then last year we discovered a slow-blow breaker-fuse! Its just like a slow blow fuse except that when it blows it just pops out a button that can be depressed to reset it. They cost about three times as much as a slow-blow fuse but are completely worth it if you keep blowing fuses.
So, this summer we had a much more cavalier attitude to blowing the fuse. Oh, it was still a pain to have to go into the basement and push the reset button, and then to reset the time on my bedside alarm clock (which is ALSO on that circuit) but at least we didn't keep running out of fuses.
Only about a week ago, it started blowing all by itself, from just the A/C and Fridge on the same line. I wasn't sure if we had some sort of electrical problem in the house (which wouldn't surprise me at all) or if we had just worn it out. So, since I did not want to wake up to a powered-off fridge, I started sleeping with the A/C unit off.
The nights were pretty cool then, so it wouldn't even have been much of a problem, except that the unit blocks the window completely so we can't get any air, and it gets quite warm in there. The first few nights were okay anyway, but the nights have been getting warmer. As a result the bedroom has been going up to 28 or 30 C while I'm trying to sleep. So the last few times I've woken up its been in a puddle of sweat.
I had thought to simply put one of the old slow-blow fuses in the box until I could get to Reno to buy a replacement breaker-fuse, but our basement is currently chaos and I can't find them. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
taxlady did manage to find some fuses, but they were the wrong ones). Last night I realized that I could swap the breaker-fuse with a 20 amp slow-blow fuse that was already in the panel (and on a circuit which we never seem to overload) and I did.
This has the disadvantage that if we now blow the slow-blow fuse, we have no replacement at all, but I was getting grumpy and desperate. So, last night I slept in a room that was maintained at a reasonable temperature. I ended up sleeping far more that I normally would -- 20 hours out of the last 36 -- but I feel considerably better now. I've also been drinking LOTS of water. I must have gotten dehydrated and didn't notice.
So my hours are now somewhat screwed up (which is nothing new for me) but I'm feeling much more able to cope with social situations. This is good, as I'm going to a BBQ this afternoon, and plan to attend botharchdiva's and dread_queen's parties in the next few days. I may even be feeling sufficiently able to cope that I'll be able to make a quick trip to Reno Depot this morning to buy a replacement breaker-fuse and a few spare slow-blow fuses, just in case.
We eventually fixed this when we discovered that we could buy slow-blow fuses that can take a short over-amperage. So now the two devices can live peacefully on the same circuit. Only, you see, the microwave in the kitchen is ALSO on this same circuit, and its power draw isn't momentary. So, if we are nuking something and the compressor in either the fridge or the A/C unit comes on, we'll even blow a time-delay fuse.
This used to mean that the A/C unit in the bedroom was usually kept off except at night and during the hottest days of summer when we use it to try to bring the house down to a more reasonable temperature. At such times we would try to remember to always run upstairs and turn of the A/C heating anything in the microwave. Of course, we wouldn't always remember and we often went through a dozen fuses in a summer.
Then last year we discovered a slow-blow breaker-fuse! Its just like a slow blow fuse except that when it blows it just pops out a button that can be depressed to reset it. They cost about three times as much as a slow-blow fuse but are completely worth it if you keep blowing fuses.
So, this summer we had a much more cavalier attitude to blowing the fuse. Oh, it was still a pain to have to go into the basement and push the reset button, and then to reset the time on my bedside alarm clock (which is ALSO on that circuit) but at least we didn't keep running out of fuses.
Only about a week ago, it started blowing all by itself, from just the A/C and Fridge on the same line. I wasn't sure if we had some sort of electrical problem in the house (which wouldn't surprise me at all) or if we had just worn it out. So, since I did not want to wake up to a powered-off fridge, I started sleeping with the A/C unit off.
The nights were pretty cool then, so it wouldn't even have been much of a problem, except that the unit blocks the window completely so we can't get any air, and it gets quite warm in there. The first few nights were okay anyway, but the nights have been getting warmer. As a result the bedroom has been going up to 28 or 30 C while I'm trying to sleep. So the last few times I've woken up its been in a puddle of sweat.
I had thought to simply put one of the old slow-blow fuses in the box until I could get to Reno to buy a replacement breaker-fuse, but our basement is currently chaos and I can't find them. (
taxlady did manage to find some fuses, but they were the wrong ones). Last night I realized that I could swap the breaker-fuse with a 20 amp slow-blow fuse that was already in the panel (and on a circuit which we never seem to overload) and I did.This has the disadvantage that if we now blow the slow-blow fuse, we have no replacement at all, but I was getting grumpy and desperate. So, last night I slept in a room that was maintained at a reasonable temperature. I ended up sleeping far more that I normally would -- 20 hours out of the last 36 -- but I feel considerably better now. I've also been drinking LOTS of water. I must have gotten dehydrated and didn't notice.
So my hours are now somewhat screwed up (which is nothing new for me) but I'm feeling much more able to cope with social situations. This is good, as I'm going to a BBQ this afternoon, and plan to attend both
archdiva's and dread_queen's parties in the next few days. I may even be feeling sufficiently able to cope that I'll be able to make a quick trip to Reno Depot this morning to buy a replacement breaker-fuse and a few spare slow-blow fuses, just in case.
