Led strips replacing fluorescent fixtures

2020/03/25  LED lights to replace T5

Over last 5 years we replaced with LED 4 foot lights both clear and white lens style. The white lens style is our preference . 

Posted originally June 2007

New T5 lighting choices are now available in southern Mexico.

T8 units with electronic ballast were available but with the Cool White lights 4100k, daylight bulbs did not appear to be available.
A supplier has available T5 lights (16 mm or 5/8″ diameter) x 869 mm long, these were 6400K daylight and 21 watts per light, 2 lights per unit. A shoplight configuration with exposed bulbs was 250 peso’s or about $25.00 . One limitation is they are only advertised as 8000 hour lights. The electrical supply house says all fluorescent lights in Mexico are rated 8000 hours. In the U.S. and Canada I see ratings of 20 and 30,000 hours - are they better lights or simply rated longer due to cooler temperatures?
On the negative side we were warned the electricity at the beach may fluctuate a lot and could knock out electronic ballasts, we are going to hide the fluorescent lights behind valances as shown, especially important as T5 lights are brighter than T8. The valances will be over 4 feet long so they can hide a regular t12 light and ballast if these new lights do burn out too frequently. The Valance at $35.00 or 350 peso’s is less expensive than buying a fancy light and should provide a subdued lighting effect. The Cedar valances were made from tree's knocked down by Tropical storm Stan. As all bedrooms are equipped with ceiling fans this directs light to ceiling above fan blades and to floor below without creating a moving shadow effect caused when one has light directed though the blades of a spinning fan.
Addendum October 2009

To date we've not had any of these lights burn out - what has burned out has been the screw in type energy efficient lights we've had elsewhere - I can not say what the hour rating was on those.

This in spite of the fact we have a Square D surge breaker in our electrical panel. Does the surge breaker work, we don't know but we do know the electrical transformer supplying power to us was knocked out by lightning and nothing happened to our appliances.

LED pool lighting, Sand Filtration, Salt water Chlorine generating system

March 2020 - LED Hayward light still works 12 years later and used an average of 4 hours daily, though it is dimmer than when new, time to think about a replacement.

Pentair pump - this is our 2nd, 1st went after about 4 years when the power went out then came back at about 70 volts and stayed that way for some time.  As the electricity savings is the cost of pump for a year we have probably saved about $11,000 in 12 years. We run 24 hours a day at low speed which seems to fend off beach corrosion the best. Also Epoxy coated our 2nd unit before installation as the 1st one was experiencing some exterior corrosion.

Pool Pilot salt water Chlorine Generation system - failed within a year - it did not stand up to the coastal salt air environment, or perhaps to my maintenance person. We reverted to using Stabilized Chlorine powder checked a couple times daily. Sometimes using the tablets for time release if we are going to be delayed in checking. We fill this beach side pool with water from a deeper well that provides about 4000 parts per million salt so the idea would have been splendid had it been reliable. I understand there is a machine that creates chlorine and the sodium water separate for cleaning in large event centers, it would be nice if one of these systems came out for dual use.

July 2008 - Night photo of pool with LED Hayward 50 watt light. This may seem an extravagance having a light that can provide a number of colors but it is using about 1/8 th the watts of a regular pool light, it looks good and enhances pool safety for night time use, I recommend it .

We also used a Pentair high efficiency permanent magnet, programmable variable speed pool pump and 30 inch Hayward sand filter along with 2 inch lines. In addition we used a Pool Pilot Salt water Chlorine generation system. Water for the pool comes from a deeper well that is salty with about 8000 parts per million of salt, we only need 3000 parts to operate the pool but this allows for considerable rain water accumulation before we need to pump more salt water in. The variable speed pump truly saves money and is quiet, currently its set for 20 gallons per minute and runs continuously at 145 watts per hour or 3.48 KW per day, which is providing 1.5 turns of water per day for this 20,000 gallon pool. Electricity at a pricey 28 cents Kilowatt is .97 cents a day for the pumping or $355.00 per year. By contrast a small 1/2 horse pump would require about .37 kilowatt an hour of electricity, if ran 24 hours a day for commercial use thats $2.48 day or $907.56 year

For heavier use we can use timed overrides to boost filtration. Backwash is set to recommended 98 gallons per minute for this filter. Even at 98 gallons per minute the noise level on pump is low enough one doesn't need to raise their voice, this may be helped by our decision to use 2 inch lines which reduces flow restrictions. In addition we used 2 of 45 degree elbows at each turn instead of right angle 90 degree elbows, providing a less restrictive flow. We also made sure to prime all joints with PVC primer when gluing, I am happy to say we started up with a leak free system.

I found running the pump at low speed seems to do a better job of trapping particles than running at high speed. During setup the pool pump was left off long enough for the water to start to go green, however by shocking with chlorine then running pump continuous the water cleared up overnight. I think continuous operation at low levels is superior to start and stop methods.

In Mexico we've had troubles finding pool Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid) but they sell Chlorine with this added so we started our pool off with stabilized Chlorine and then have let the Pool pilot continue to keep the Chlorine level. In future we will special order the Stabilizer from a supplier.

Bed design - sounds simple, buy beds.

2020/03/25

 - Update, these continue to work as good as the day they were made. Customers continue to praise the Orthopedic Mattresses but a good foundation helps to keep the Mattresses lasting longer, as do mattress protectors on top of the mattress. We did convert several rooms to double queen and on those the bed closest to door is using a wood frame base so for the best sleep choose the concrete base.

Not so simple, Box springs are quite rare there, a common wood bed base does away with the box spring completely but it could be destroyed by termites. Often in Hotels Beds are built on a base, so too in Mexico but most often the base is concrete as a raised portion of the floor.

I've laid out a couple bed designs using the Foam, Steel Panel which are covered with concrete. These panels of 2" foam which make a 4" panel x 4 feet x 8 feet cost about $40.00 each. Plus of course the time and concrete to make them into beds. Its best to use a panel design with mesh thats close as the concrete is easier to apply. See www.tridipanel.com.mx www.tridipanel.com and www.covintec.com for suppliers. 

These beds frames are still heavy requiring several people to move them about a room and were made in place in the room on plastic, but for Hotel design they are excellent providing extra space under the bed for people with lots of luggage.

I expect someone will some day improve the design by making the pieces individual with 5 interlocking pieces and using molds instead of hand applying the concrete, then they can sell them commercially. I wish I had thought of it before they were done as above.

Construction in Mexico - step by step

As we near completion we have found out a few things.

1st is things progress much faster when we are there. So much so my wife is now there until we can be finished with the Architect and Contractor.

2nd, don't agree to finishing until the rough construction is completed, followed by water and Electrical, and possibly Air Conditioning lines. Sounds simple but as the building is being built by an Architect with us in Canada it seemed reasonable to go with the Architects suggestion to begin laying tiles on bottom floor while top floor was being built - its not. By getting the rough construction entirely done any budget overruns will at least mean you have a building. Its also cheaper to correct electrical or plumbing issues without ripping out finishing. We've found the best procedure seems to be to start at the top and work down during the finishing stages.

3rd - check out machinery vs manual labour. We found they want to do everything including mixing concrete for plastering by hand. We shipped a small electric mixer from the U.S. and its much more efficient. Also buying a Skill saw greatly sped form preparation. We decided to bury a complete www.infiltratorsystems.com sewer system as backup to our Biolytix.com type system that will be doing drip underground irrigation. By hand this would have taken a month or more. We found a backhoe with expert operator was only $35.00 hr. turning the job into a few days and that included removing 10 trucks of concrete waste from a old pool deck. Fortunately this was able to be used on beach road right of ways nearby to keep people from being stuck in sand.
I would also suggest Redi-mix concrete where available, they can add an additive to make the concrete more waterproof.

Our pressure balance taps appear to work in Mexico using a gravity water system but there is one Caveat - you need water on both cold and hot lines. If only one line is operational then the taps or showers don't work. We are using separate roof mounted tanks for solar hot, and cold water, generally they should both always be working but on startup they were not as we filled the cold tank first. Also we figured to plumb into the Hot Water tank 24" higher, with this configuration once the water level falls below the hot water mark all balanced taps will shut off. This could be beneficial in a water shortage situation leaving some water for emergency use via regular taps but the main thing is to know whats happening.

I did not lay plastic piping in the concrete for solar hot water, I was too concerned the different expansion might cause cracking of the concrete roof. Instead I ordered 2x10foot Pool solar hot water heaters. Enough for 16x10 feet which are to be on angle below the hot water tank. These were about 600.00 total and I intend to install a little at a time not wanting to get the hot water tank over 140 degrees Farenheit. Unfortunately this item was back ordered so I wasn't able to get them installed at Christmas.

Slowly the hotel proceeds. The 2 pictures with red tile roof are Architectural renderings. Our Architect has asked to arrange a booking for December so we anticipate he will have it relatively finished by then.

Note the Tridipanel.com type concrete covered foam/steel mesh panels in the overhangs. This should make for a very cool shaded building reducing air conditioning requirements.

Ken Graham
CommunityPrinters.com

Our intent is to make a Hotel Lodge as ecological as is possible, in spite of man made materials, by having those materials last as long as possible.

1. That is the walls and roof include 3 inch foam sandwiched between salt resistant concrete to reduce cooling loads (see www.tridipanel.com.mx , www.tridipanel.com , www.tridipanel.org for huricane resistant panels).

2. We are also trying to find a Geothermal Heat Pump installer in Mexico which would use cool ground water for cooling (this is about 4 times as efficient as regular Air Conditioning and would also provide as a side benefit free hot water.

3. A large cistern to use rainwater from the roof, almost 40,000 liters.

4. Low flow showers with shower heads designed for gravity feed reguiring only 3 psi (water level about 8 feet above shower head) are ready to install, we will be using traditional tanks on roof system.

5. Solar Water Distillers; and Solar Water Heaters if the Geothermal system is not initially installed. Solar roof drying of sheets & location of laundry.

6. An Australian Design Sewage Treatment Plant capable of treating effluent safe to use in underground drip irrigation system. www.biolytix.com and from a African seller http://www.biolytix.co.za/

7. Energy efficient lighting. At a minimum fluorescent.

T rating is the size in 1/8ths inch so T12 means 1 1/4" diameter,
T 8 are 1" diameter
T 5 ar 5/8" diameter

Minimum T12 bulbs but will be trying for T8 as the most cost effective as my information is they are about the same as T5 in energy use for amount of light and use same holders as T12 with only the ballast being different. The T5 uses less material in manufacture but requires special fixtures.

We will also be looking at a few LED lights for special locations such as pool area.

8. Salt base chlorine generation for the pool.

Ken Graham

Adding a hot water heating system.

Usually we think of some add on to a house for hot water heating.

Then the next question is if the concrete roof is not poured yet why not put
the tubing in the poured concrete roof - notice the roof is going to be poured on this reinforced styrofoam of the type available at www.tridipanel.com or www.tridipanel.com.mx , each of the 3 sites displays slighly different info so check all out.

Going against that - I notice a trend in Mexico is to add a Gallera - a sheet metal
covering above the roof to cut down roof temperatures and was mentioning to
my wife perhaps we should have the architect extend the columns through the
roof to allow for this in the future. Therefore in the case it was covered,
tubing there would not work.

However given we don't cover the balcony overhang perhaps that would be a
ideal place for running tubing in the concrete. I am thinking of tubing as
is used in heating cement floors, a type of durable plastic and I think
copper manifolds. The overhang in this case is over 1 meters by 20 meters. I
am thinking in terms of perhaps 120 foot loops with no joins in the
concrete. This should then last the life of the structure as there would
never be a worry of frost this far south about on par with Hawaii for
latitude. I am thinking for a 12 bedroom small hotel this should reduce cost from over 3000.00 which was suggested for a heating system as is used to heat pool water to under 1000.00

This would limit the requirements to manifolds and pumps and storage tanks
and perhaps sensors to turn pump on and off. Original plan called for 6 of 1000 litre plastic tanks on the roof. I am thinking to use 1 to 2 for hot water.

I've attached a few photos of construction to date, though they don't show the intended overhangs that will be dropping about 3 feet to door height to limit sun exposure into the rooms. Ceilings are 3 meters (10 feet) high in part due to planned ceiling fans.

This is putting the cart before the horse, discussing water distillation before a house.

Sufficient to say I will get to the house/hotel we are building.

The 1st question is why bother with a water still?

Water is currently about 10 pesos (1.00) for a 20 litre Garafon (5 gallon container) delivered to the door. Presumeably this is water that is processed through a membrane filter. Unfortunately my wife and others have seen bottles being filled at the car wash amongst other things. Also as we have seen in past years after tropical storms, the time of most rain is typically the time bridges are out, water pump stations destroyed and no water arrives in the town plumbing.

I have found a couple references on the internet to water stills both commercial and self made

http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/sstill.htm

it seems the self made units started with experimentation with concrete and went to lighter materials. However even the beach at Tapachula is not a desert, there are dry spells such as March but still the possibility of 2 meters of rain a year. Consequently with the hot sun and ample moisture wood is subject to rot. In fact till you have lived in the tropics it is hard to imagine the corrosive nature of the environment.

6 months of sun and rain can ruin a paint job on a vehicle. Salt from the beach combined with moisture can eat up steel in a year.

With this in mind I felt for a solar distiller to survive I would have to go back to concrete and glass. I am doing it with a different material though. A combination of foam and steel triangles called various names Tridi Panel of
www.Tridipanel.org
www.Tridipanel.com
www.Tridipanel.com.mx
or
Combitech by another supplier in southern Mexico.

You might also want a sulphate resistant type cement, type 50.

I thought to use a patio door size piece of glass as mentioned in other references but investigated the standard glass size in Mexico which is 1.8 meter x 2.6 meter and the thickest standard available is 6 milimeter for only 450 pesos or $45.00. Cut glass may be double but we found a glass shop willing to provide a single cut for 30 peso if we bought the entire sheet of glass. This gave me 2 sheets of a size of 1.8meter x 1.3 meter.
The glass cutters use pieces of used rubber inner tube to handle the glass. Its worth a few pesos to have several 8 inch x 8 inch or 20cm squares.

The Tridi Panel is available in several multiples of 4' x ?. However we had 4' by 8' for building a house and determined to try with that. The Glass however needs to be on too much of a angle if keeping within the 4 feet width. The Tridi panel has a steel overlap of about 4 extra inches for multiple sheets side by side. Therefore we re.duced the height by going wider about 52" wide, attaching the vertical back to that.

You will notice 6 tubes on the unit.

The clean water drain 1,
Fill 1,
Actual drain of tray in case desiring to flush unit, 1
Fluid level 3,
thinking the unit should not run dry in a day and wanting about 2 times the liquid I felt the maximum evaporation would occur when the minimum water was added that did not run the unit dry or precipitate out solids. It would be easir to have extra fluid levels and experiment.

It appears above water level may be best with white so as to keep air temperature lower to promote cooling of air so as to increase condensation on glass.

The Tridi panel was about $40.00 for a 4x8 foot sheet with 3" foam and total thickness of about 4.5 inch with concrete. 1.5 required per unit so again a benefit to building 2 units at 1 time.

Tridi Panel , 3 pieces $120.00
Glass 1 (2) pieces 48.00
Black cement colorant 5.80 Using in attempt to eliminate need for black silicone
Cement, sand, lime 30.00 ?? Guestimate
Silicone White 2 tubes 9.00 For embedding glass, white to prevent heat build up.
PVC tubing 3/4" 5.00 Guestimate - Used so we could go to 1/2 inch copper if
did not work.

Guess what the PVC tubing looks to be a bad idea, in part because it is not intended to work with hot water and also it will be exposed to lots of UV. I expect to replace or line the PVC with copper and silicone over the exposed PVC. Then use enough copper to get out of the sun and at that point switch to PEX. A plastic tubing intended for hot water usage rated at 50 years. But must not be exposed to lots of sun light. A vendor in Mexico sells a product known as Tubo Plus.

Material cost of 2 units under 150.00 material each.

Will they work to create 5 gallons 20 litres per day each - to be seen, if yes then payback could be under 1 year. If distillation amount is significantly less then units will have less monetary justification. Though having clean water after a tropical storm might be considered priceless.