Nerdman Speaks

Ever take a shower after someone else or after the dishwasher or washing machine has been running only to discover there’s only 5 minutes of hot water left? If you often end up leaving the shower shivering, cursing under your breath with conditioner still in your hair, you’re a prime candidate for a Tankless Water Heater. We’ve been using one for about three years and I thought I’d share with you the positives and the negatives (that somehow the salesperson always fails to tell you about).

Positives

• Endless Hot Water - The claims are true, a tankless water heater (about the size of a large PC in a 1600 sq ft home) continuously puts out hot water, even when another shower or appliances is also drawing hot water.
• Uses Less Gas - The water in a traditional hot water heater tank has to be kept hot, whether or not you are currently using hot water. A tankless water heater is an “on demand” system and natural gas is only consumed during hot water use. The claims are that it uses less gas. I have no way to prove this but it seems logical.

Negatives

• Also Requires Electricity - Unlike a traditional water heater tank, a tankless system requires power to run. If your power is down, you get no hot water. If your electricity is down a lot, this can be a deal killer. Also, on our brand, Noritz, if our power goes down, we have to go into the heater closet where it’s hanging and turn the unit back on.
• It’s Not Silent - If your tankless system is installed in the house (not in the garage or on the outside), you will hear it whirring away when hot water is being used. It’s not loud, but it’s not silent.
• Higher Upfront Cost - Expect to pay 2-3 times more for a tankless water heater over a traditional water tank. Endless hot water has a high initial price.

There is a popular misconcenption about tankless water heaters. Many people assume it means that you instantly get hot water when you turn on the hot water faucet in the kitchen or bathroom. This is not true. Just like the water in a hot water tank, the hot water generated by a tankless system still has to travel through pipes to get to its destination. The water already in the pipes cools rather quickly and that water is what first comes out of the tap. Depending on how many feet of copper are between the sink and the tankless system, it can still take 30 seconds or longer before you get hot water out of the faucet.

If you want instant hot water, there are two ways to do that. Install a small electric tankless directly under the sink where you want the instant hot water. Or you can have a circulator system installed (hot water is constantly circulated through all the hot water piping in the house, which of course uses more gas and electricity).

Despite the one major negative (requires electricity), we’ve been very happy with our tankless water heater. Being able to take a long shower without ever worrying about running out of hot water is priceless.

If you think the ever growing number of webcams, red light cameras and surveillance cameras is already overbearing, prepare for a lot more — cameras and applications.

This new Microsoft Virtual Earth Preview hints at what’s to come. Although the site is slow and you can’t “drive” around with a realtime view, it certainly points to the future of cameras and their use on the Internet.

Today, street scenes are being captured and stored for photographic mapping services (much like aerial photography has been for years). As slick as this is, these are still archived photos, some dating back months or years. To keep a database of city street views is labor intensive and the images quickly become out of date.

What I predict will happen, although not for some years, is the deployment of live high resolution cameras scattered throughout major metropolitian areas, all tied back into mapping sites. It’s a mashup of virtual mapping and webcams, which to the end user will look more like a video game through real life, in real time.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Owners of video iPods, if you want to watch slide shows or videos on your TV, you do not need to buy the “proprietary” audio/video cable that Apple sells.

I was suprised to learn that you can use any standard 1/8 inch stereo plug to 3 x RCA (video, left, right) cable. You simply swap the yellow video and one of the audio connectors around.

That’s a headline I’d like to see. And now that Apple has developed an Intel version of their OS, maybe it’s not that far fetched. Apple has won over millions of Windows users with iTunes and iPods, yet their OS market share still hovers at around 3%, as it has for years.

Why not take the iPod momentum and run with it. Release an OS that will directly compete with Microsoft Windows. The only way to do this is to wean it off Apple hardware — release a Mac OS that will run on Intel/AMD boxes that normally run Windows.

Apple and Google? Who better to take on Microsoft than Google — Google has deep pockets, has already invaded Microsoft’s terrain (and is Microsoft enemy #1), has user respect and a great brand. Combine this with Apple’s great OS and someone could finally give Bill Gates a run for his money. And to really drive the point home, sell the OS for $99. I’ve never owned a Mac, but I would buy Mac OS for PC in a heartbeat.

Not many people have visited the Great Pyramids of Egypt, but virtually everyone’s heard of them. Now anyone can visit them live via a new website appropriately titled pyramidcam.com. This is definitely a first, and it’s a unique way to view these manmade mysteries. Keep in mind that since this is a live site, you’ll be watching on Egypt’s clock, which is seven hours ahead of eastern standard time. If you miss the daylight shots, there’s an hourly gallery of all images taken in the past as well as a best images page.

Anyone in the market for an HDTV set would be wise not to purchase cables at any of the retail outlets. A typical HDMI cable costs $120 at a store like Cirtcuit City (even Costco is high at $100). A generic version costs as little as $10. The stores prey on the ignorance of HDTV buyers and salespeople are trained to upsell warranties, cables and mounts (for LCD and Plasma screens).

The biggest culprit is Monster Cable, but the big box and electronics retails chains all play a big part. Why sell a $10 cable when you can sell a $120 cable? What profit is missed on selling the highly competitive flat panels is gained on selling accessories.

The unsuspecting customer is told by the salesperson that you’ll want the best quality cable for your new TV. In most outlets, only the Monster Cable brand is offered (it almost seems like a monopoly). The truth is you can buy a cable that will work just as well for 90% less.

Here are the facts about the three most popular cables for HDTV — HDMI, DVI and Component Video:

HDMI — A single connector cable that transmits digital video and audio. This is quickly becoming the preferred method of connecting HD cables boxes and DVRs to flat panel TVs. It looks like a fat USB cable.

Premium Retail Price (6 ft.): $125
Generic Online Price (6 ft.): $10 with free shipping

DVI — A single connector cable that transmits digital video. This cable is usually used to connect computers to LCD screens but it also used to connect HD cable boxes to HDTV sets. HDMI (see above) is based on DVI but also includes audio and is an easier to connect cable.

Premium Retail Price (6 ft.): $100
Generic Online Price (6 ft.): $29 with free shipping

Component Video Cable — A 3-connector cable that carries RGB (red/green/blue) video. Technically, it transmits luminance(Y)/red(Pr)/blue(Pb), but the end result is a superior way to transmit video over S-Video or Composite video, but the signal is analog and the quality is not as high as HDMI or DVI.

Premium Retail Price (20 ft.): $99
Generic Online Price (20 ft.): $19 with free shipping
Quite often a standard audio video cable (yellow/red/white) will work just fine.

If you like spending 12 times more than necessary on cables, the mega thick Monster Cable is the brand for you. Personally, I don’t like to spend a lot of time looking at or touching my cables. Once connected, they’re hidden and need to serve only one purpose, delivering high quality signals from my HD cable box or DVD player to my flat screen. In my testing, I saw no difference in video/audio quality between the premium and generic brands.

Nerdman 8-}