The Walkability project is interesting to me in that I would rather walk or ride a bike to shop or go places yet I live in the suburbs, a statistically less walkable area of Toronto. While we do have better air and a far greater supply of Chinese groceries, I hope that my neighbourhood’s walkability will increase.

The study reveals an overwhelming preference for walkable and transit-supportive neighbourhoods across the GTA, with that preference being strongest in the City of Toronto. It demonstrated that that there are specific neighbourhood features, such as having shops and services within walking distance of homes, and having a variety of small and medium sized food stores within walking distance of homes, that are strongly desired by Toronto residents. It also found that there is a strong latent demand for more walkable neighbourhood features among residents in the City who currently live in less walkable areas.

The study found that people living in walkable neighbourhoods across the GTA, and in Toronto, do more utilitarian walking, take transit more often, drive less often and less far, and have lower body weights, than those who live in less walkable neighbourhoods. These results suggest that people living in more walkable neighbourhoods in the GTA are more physically active with less chance of developing a chronic disease, than those who live in less walkable neighbourhoods. They also suggest that there may be significant air quality, climate change, and traffic reduction benefits associated with walkable and transit-supportive neighbourhoods.

The City of Toronto report has a lovely graphic outlining the walkability of the whole city. Unfortunately the city is so large and my area of Toronto looks so small on the map that I cannot easily identify my house, neighbourhood and its walkability. Therefore it was important to me to map this walkability graphic to a map of Toronto specifically targetting North-East Scarborough. The Walkability graphic is then superimposed over top of the map of Toronto, thereby showing you roads and other landmarks. Find your house, and the related colours will show you the walkabilty information. The walkabilty information is very blurry because the original graphic is quite small and superimposed over the huge map of Toronto. Zooming onto only a small area of Toronto can only result in a blurry image.

Larger image

Toronto is a relatively safe city in comparison to other Canadian cities, and much safer than comparably large American cities. Still, there is crime in every area. Criminals have cars and can drive to wherever they want. Low crime areas may even provide an opportunity for criminal acts. There is no place that is safe from all crime. It also stands to reason that the more dense an area’s population, the more crime should be expected.

I have chosen to research Chinese areas in Toronto because I am Chinese, live in Toronto and have an interest in this topic. It is not because I believe Chinese people have more or less a propensity to commit crime. Of course I hope they have less propensity, but realistically, I know this is difficult to prove.

The Toronto Star had published a series of articles on Toronto’s most populous ethnic enclaves. Note that these ethnic enclaves are usually not predominantly one race, but are mixed race. I believe it is natural for a newly landed immigrant to seek out people who share a similar language and culture, because this makes the immigrant more comfortable and eases integration into Canadian life. Actually it preserves their home land culture and diffuses the effect of moving to Canada somewhat.

That being said, in my area of Toronto, with its predominance of Chinese culture, you can live very happily speaking only Mandarin or Cantonese. One can shop for groceries and other products and not speak a word of English. Large big box grocers are slowly converting more signage over to Chinese, as well as hiring more Chinese speaking staff. There is one big box grocer near my house that is predominantly Chinese and is even designed to look like an independent Chinese grocer. A local store from a Canada-wide home renovation chain near my house hires predominantly Chinese speaking staff, though you can also speak to them in English. No matter that these stores and their staff are biased to Chinese speakers, there is no exclusion of other races displayed. I often see Indian, white and black shoppers rubbing elbows with Mainland Chinese shoppers, all without issue. In turn I also visit Indian and Sri Lankan shops where I am the only non-Indian shopper, where all the signs are in Indian, and the staff speak very little English. This is common here in my area of Toronto. Body language and racial tolerance goes a long way for inter-racial communications and social harmony.

Toronto Ethnic Enclaves: TorStar

Focusing on the predominantly Chinese areas of Toronto, by far the largest block is located in Toronto’s north east, in the suburbs of Scarborough and North York (east). This area is generally bordered by Yonge Street to Markham Road, Steeles Avenue to Highway 401. The more east you go in this area, the heavier the concentration of Chinese culture. Often such a concentration of Chinese culture is a shock to people new to the area, but it should not be. I do understand shock from people who have lived in their houses for 30 years and have seen their neighbourhoods become more Chinese with time. Sometimes I do hear the occasional resentment, but this should be expected, as this area 10 years ago was predominantly white. The map below uses the Toronto Star ethnic enclaves map, with a Google map underneath. Note that there is an even larger concentration of Chinese in Markham/Richmond Hill, just north of Scarborough.

Toronto Largest Chinese Community: North York and Scarborough

If you live in this area you should expect a high predominance of Chinese stores, Chinese literature at local public libraries, Chinese kids in elementary and high schools, and generally more Chinese neighbours. If you love Chinese and Asian food, there is plenty to choose and quality and competition is very high. Go to local parks and you will see and hear from Chinese kids talking Chinese to their Chinese parents, though they most often speak English between themselves. Negatively at local schools you should see a generally lower level of English language skill. This area has a large predominance of new immigrants who’s first language is Chinese and not English. English as a Second Language (ESL) classes are very common in almost all schools. I often meet Grandparents who know not a word of English, speak their local dialect of Chinese and struggle to understand my Mandarin, just like if I had met them while in China.

The next important question I asked myself is, how safe are Toronto’s Chinese enclaves, when compared to Toronto? I have taken the Toronto Star’s Ethnic Enclave map and overlayed a Violent Crimes map from the Toronto Police. The Violent crimes map tracks violent crime calls (lighter green means less violent crime calls), shootings (hollow circles) and homicides (circles with dot), Toronto police carding (Field Information Report, or FIRs), all overlayed on a Google map.

Toronto Violent Calls map: Toronto Police Services

Toronto Chinese Neighbourhoods and Violent Crime Rates

From Yonge Street to Brimley falls into the lowest and second lowest violent crime categories. From Brimley to Markham Road falls into the highest of the five violent crime categories, and one of the areas of Toronto where police stop and question citizens the most.

So is living in a predominantly Chinese area safer than other areas? While it is difficult to say, I would guess that yes, it is safer, but not necessarily because Chinese people are less violent than other races. This large Chinese enclave has less population density, being a suburb of Toronto, and therefore should have fewer violent crime, shootings and homicide rates. This is especially true from Yonge Street to Brimley Avenue. Troubling is the area east of Brimley to Markham Road, which has similar densities but some of the highest rates of violence calls, shootings and homicides in Toronto, though from the map most of the shootings and homicides are outside of the Chinese predominant areas. What this means I do not know and will not speculate.

I do not want to necessarily prove that living in Toronto’s largest Chinese enclave is safer than elsewhere in Toronto, but to bring some facts and statistics to light about the area. Where you buy or rent your home is your decision. Ethnic diversity and crime are but two deciding factors to consider. However if you want to live in a predominantly Chinese neighbourhood in Toronto, you now know where to look.

The TTC seems to have stayed the same. I expected advancements, but this is not so. They struggle to keep from falling backward on themselves. While most bus drivers are courteous, I have met those who are not. Once there was a detour because of a crime and police had closed the road. This driver did not even announce why he was detouring, so many people asked. He got so mad.

One day on the Yonge subway line I was able to try out the new subway trains. This is one long train that you can walk from one end to the other. Very nice. The schedule has LEDs that light red or green, but have no legend, so I did not know their meaning. Was I to guess? The loudness of these trains was by far much less than the old TTC subways, and much more comfortable. Annoying was the fact that the metal passenger handles on the roof and in the middle of the car squeaked incessantly when passengers and the train moved. This was a new train, and these metal handles were squeaking like rusted objects left out in the rain.

Finding your most efficient TTC route takes some time. The Finch East towards Yonge Street has had construction for the last year. Traffic was down to one lane, slowing the express bus to a crawl. That was the last I used that route.

As I knew before, most TTC commuters sleep. At leat 60% of all commuters close their eyes and try to wish away their commuting experience. Others have ear pieces and listen to music while sleeping. It is annoying to walk behind those that fiddle with their phones and e-toys, who slow down because they need to concentrate on their fiddling. Please, people, step aside and fiddle, and let others walk to their destination.

Electronic toys will be the death of many, I am sure. I saw some guy trip on the sidewalk while texting, and there was no break in the sidewalk. Two people walk into each other, both texting on their devices. It is comical. Darwin candidate?

People are as colourful as usual, with a variety of dress and looks. It is interesting to see them and analyze their dress. Pretty girls everywhere. To fit in and to look normal, seemingly.

I walk and look through my narrow periscope, trying to see the big picture. Maybe the solution is to aggregate these experiences and build up a composite.

You can phone the City of Toronto’s 311 information number to have someone locate your municipal shutoff valve. This is usually on your front lawn, on the side of your house where your water meter is located. Since my grass covered my municipal water shutoff valve, this was not easy and I needed help. The city will dig out the grass covering your shutoff valve as well.

The process for replacing or repairing your main water shutoff valve is pretty simple but a little expensive. These details include:

1. Call a plumbing company the day before and arrange for a plumber to be at your house at 10:30 am. This can be done in advance.
2. The day of the repair, call the City’s 311 information number and request your water be turned off. Tell them that you have booked a plumber for 10:30 am. While the official turnaround time for the city is within 24 hours, they will strive to turn off the water before your plumber arrives. They will provide a reference number, so that if a City worker does not arrive you can call the city back with your number. Today I called the City at 06:00 am to shut off my water, told them about booking my plumber for 10:30 am, and the water technician was at my house at 8:45 am. Someone needs to be home for them to turn off your water. The City of Toronto charges $75CAD to shut off your water. This takes them about 1 minute.
3. The plumber will arrive to change the main water shutoff valve. This valve is under pressure and you certainly do not want this to leak. As well, there is some leakage from the municipal water shutoff valve, and this seepage can make soldering a new valve difficult. Water deep in the pipe turns to steam and prevents a good soldered joint. You might be able to stuff bread in the pipe to prevent this. I had to use a thin polyethylene tube to suction out enough water to replace the valve before it overflowed. This is not a DIY job. Expect to pay around $250 – $300CAD.
4. Once your plumber repairs or replaces your main water shutoff valve, call the City’s 311 info number again to have your water turned on. This will cost you an additional $75CAD, and will take the technician about 1 minute to complete the work. I was told I was lucky today because they arrived at my house 30 minutes after I called. The city will again provide a reference number.
5. Turn on your main water shutoff valve and enjoy your water.

The financial cost at the end of the day was $260CAD for the plumber and $150CAD to the City, for a total of $410CAD.

While the charge from the City seems excessive, we taxpayers must pay more for the water infrastructure that we enjoy daily. In my case my municipal water shutoff valve worked wonderfully, even though it had not moved for near 30 years. The water technician used a tool that was only 1.5′ long. The valve is actually over 4′ deep underground, but there is a 3′ metal rod that stays in the ground and is connected to the shutoff valve. Note that in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto with over 320,000 people, there are only 2 water technicians on staff.

I could not believe that the plumbing company would charge $235 + HST to change one simple water shutoff valve. It certainly became believable when the plumber showed up. My supply pipe, buried in the concrete in my basement, was now a non-standard size. The measured supply diameters were 3/4″, 13/16″ output, 3/4″ threaded output. This connection was soldered. The output of the shutoff valve that goes to the water meter, was a threaded brass pipe. It turns out that the company that made my valve discontinued it many years ago. It took a trip to Home Depot and two trips to the plumbing supply store to get the right fix. This fix took a long time to figure out, but was quickly completed once a solution was found. Alan is a smart guy.

There are some repairs that the average handyman should not do on their own. The risk of flooding is too great to take this risk, so I was willing to call in a professional. I am glad that I did, because in the end it was done properly, and should last another 30 years.

Thanks to Alan Pir of Anta Plumbing (416-231-3331) for a job well done.

Note that the City of Toronto is in the process of replacing all house water meters. Started in 2010 this program will ramp up between 2013 and 2015, Scarborough and most of the City of Toronto included. This water meter replacement will require the home owner to shut off their main water shutoff valve so that the water meter can be replaced. If any homeowner has installed a water shutoff valve after the meter, this will be insufficient. The main water shutoff valve, between the city supply and the City water meter, will need to be serviced.

And because he asked, my Mandarin is quite good. I love this editorial cartoon.

The more the US has access to cheap oil, the more they will waste it. Overall I think the US and therefore the World would benefit by more expensive oil prices. This also applies to us Canadians. While we all talk conservation and environmental protection, I see way too many SUVs and other large vehicles transporting one driver, and a lack of motivation to fund and build mass transit. I hope that gas prices will double and therefore match that of Europe. ]]> http://dontai.com/wp/2011/11/22/hows-your-mandarin-editorial-cartoon/feed/ 0 http://dontai.com/wp/2011/11/08/diy-roofing-asphalt-shingles-advice/ http://dontai.com/wp/2011/11/08/diy-roofing-asphalt-shingles-advice/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:20:14 +0000 dontai http://dontai.com/wp/?p=4001 Let me state the obvious that it is easier to blog than to roof. Roofing is hard work and dangerous. My south exposure roof was looking tattered, with shingles curling and losing a lot of small particulate. As I have not found a steady full-time job and could not afford the +$6,000 CAD fee for a professional roofer, and fearing a roof leak, I decided to DIY a large section of my roof. The roof job is progressing very well, though I have not gotten used to the hard physical labour.

Heed advice on Safety. If you fall off the roof, you will break a leg or arm if you at best. If you have a two story house you might also kill yourself. Gravity is a hard mistress. While I have very good balance, a couple of issues can conspire against you. First and foremost is the heat. Who would have thought that even at a seemingly balmy 22C, it would be too hot to roof. There is no shade on the roof, so you really need a hat. I quickly noticed that roof shingles, particularly white or grey, reflect the sun back to you, further heating you up. I am an IT project manager and business analyst and cannot take this much heat. I admit I am soft and would rather use my brains than brawn. A couple of hours roofing and you can dehydrate very quickly. As this progresses seemingly slowly you really do not notice much, until you find yourself a little dizzy from heat exposure. Alarm bells ring and my inner self orders me off the roof, for fear of falling off. Dizzy and on the roof is a bad situation.

Roofing is also bad for your skin. Asphalt shingles are rough by design and quickly scratches up your skin. I have learned in the past to wear gloves and knee pads. The knee pads are turned 90 degrees to the outside so that when you sit sideways the pads protrude and protect your upper legs and knees. Boots with good grip are mandatory. I use rubber rain boots as these have better grip than my steel toed boots.

Shingles are sold in sets of 21, called a “bundle“. A bundle is quite heavy, around 60 lbs. You need to carry these bundles up the ladder to your roof. I open the bundle and carry up three at a time. Shingles are awkward to carry, scratch your skin and damage your eaves trough if you are careless. The old shingles are simply dropped off your roof to the ground, to be cleaned up later. It would be better to have a large garbage bin.

I bought my shingle bundles from the Depot of Roofing Supplies, 3820 Midland Ave in Scarborough. They seem to serve largely Chinese contractors. One young girl speaks English, but it is much easier speaking to them in Mandarin. Cash will give you a small discount. I would deal with them again. They were honest and easy to work with. They sell Iko brand.

The general theory of using shingles to waterproof your roof is not complex. You put down tar paper first, which is waterproof but fragile. Shingles are placed upper one above lower ones, in a staggered pattern. As water runs downhill, from the upper shingle down to the lower shingle, it is transported to the eaves trough, to the downspout and safely away from the house. Flashing are thin metal pieces used to further strengthen roof stressors, such as where two roof surfaces meet. A concave meeting is called a “valley”, a convex meeting is called a “peak” or “ridge”. Thankfully there are numerous helpful sources on the internet on properly installing flashing. Take care to do your valley flashing well and not puncture the galvalized steel with nails, and the valley will be waterproof.

To remove an individual shingle start removing the nails two rows up, then the nails one row up, then the nails for the shingle. Slowly and carefully remove the shingle. Old shingles will be brittle, so take care when removing nails. I used a small pry bar and a hammer. Professional roofers use a metal tool that looks like a spade. This is fast and applicable if you want to remove the whole roof. To do a section and to keep the roofing felt in good condition you need to remove shingles individually.

Disposal of the old shingles is problematic. I need to take them to the city disposal station, only open to the public between 6-8am or on Mondays. The disposal fee will be about $20. Hauling my old shingles to the dump will finish the job for this year.

I know I am not a roofer. I know the theory of how a roofing system works but the physicality of reroofing is something I would rather leave to someone else. It is best to know your limitations. While I have been repairing the odd broken shingle for about 10 years, this in no way qualifies me for doing the whole job.

Other possible roofing supply companies in Scarborough include: Danforth Roofing Supply and Roofer’s Edge (Warden/Lawrence).

Reshingling of part of my roof went well. I did not fall off. Dirty yes, but it had to be done.

Sucking out the insulation in my attic was traumatic due to cause. The house was much colder at night. Still, I feel better than the cellulose insulation is not gone. Cellulose insulation is a fire hazard and is pretty combustible. Though it will not dramatically burst into flame it will smolder for hours until it reaches wood, which it will set on fire. Why is this type of insulation still being sold I do not know. We replaced our cellulose insulation with blown in fibreglass.

An empty attic space allowed me to repair the vapour barrier. Over 30 years ago, builders were not too particular about ensuring your attic vapour barrier was sealed. There were rips all over, places not sealed. I used sheathing tape, aka Tuck tape, to seal up ajoining sections of vapour barrier, repair ripped sections, and replaced a section. Ideally I wanted to spray foam the vapour barrier, but a quote from Insta-Insulation came in at ~$4,000 (Walltite Eco), way over my budget. Spray foam would have been the best. Steve Maxwell recommends Tiger Foam. I will consider this next time, but they do not have pickup locations in East Toronto.

Vent stacks were not sealed. These were sealed with spray foam. Mice openings were found and also sealed with spray foam. I walked the perimeter of the house and found many small openings, which I sealed with spray foam.

Most annoying of all is that I discovered that my two bathroom fans were venting into the attic. Both fans were venting into a galvanized pipe, which went somewhere and was covered with insulation. Once the insulation was gone it was clear than the original installers simply jammed the galvanized pipe into the eave as best they could and left it like that. Unfortunately they did not cut the soffit plywood and no soffit venting was done. As the home owner some 35 years after the fact, I had to again get up on my roof, remove the eavestrough and fascia, remove the existing aluminum siding used as soffit, find the exhaust pipes, cut the soffit plywood, install 90° elbows, buy and cut vented soffit, merge the vented soffit into the original aluminum siding used as soffit, then reinstall everything back to original. The new vented soffit material needed to be bent in order to seamlessly hook into the old aluminum siding. I also added styrofoam baffles throughout the attic space. I did learn a lot doing this but it was still a lot of work that I did not intend to do. I have the satisfaction now that my fans are venting to the outside. My neighbour confirms that his fans are venting into his attic.

There is more attic venting I can do, but at a cost. I have three soffit vents in my aluminum siding soffit. Only one has the soffit plywood cut and is venting to the outside. The other two are sealed tight. The deception is maddening. The fix would be to remove my downspouts and eavestrough, remove all the fascia, remove the aluminum siding soffit, cut holes into the soffit plywood, add new aluminum soffit vents, then reinstall everything back to original. The problem is that the new aluminum soffit is much longer than the old aluminum siding soffit. Replacing a couple of panels in the middle of a 25′ run and then ensuring that the end pieces seamlessly fit, as original, is quite difficult. Retrofitting this back to original so that it looks like nothing was changed is quite a challenge. While I like challenges, I pick them with care and only when they bias to my benefit.

Crawling around my attic I find a pot light near my front door. It was the original one that came with the house. Rated at 150 watts, there was cellulose insulation all around it. I find out that this fixture is safe provided there is no insulation covering it, but without insulation and vapour barrier, in the winter hot air from the house enters the attic, melts snow from the roof, which then refreezes causing an ice dam. I have been pondering why I have been having small ice dams for over 5 years, and I believe I have found the source.

The original pot light, being 35 years old, was not rated for contact with insulation. I do not think they had this standard back in the day. A new, IC (insulation contact) rated pot light was purchased for $17CAD. A building code rated vapour barrier of thick blue plastic was also purchased for $8CAD. These costs are small. Installation would be more difficult. The old Halo brand pot light was made of thick steel and is well made. The 4 nails holding it to the rafters would not come out, so I had to cut the nails with a dremel. The new Halo brand pot light installed easily, and the electrical 3 wire connection was a very simple push in type. Halo makes some good stuff.

Installation of the pot light vapour barrier was much harder. The vapour barrier looks like a plastic box with the top open. It must be cut and tuck taped into place, around the rafters and pot light. Doing this taping took me about 3 times more time than installing the pot light. Eventually I was done. The insulation guys covered it with pink blown in fiberglass, as it was intended. The pot light is now air tight and insulated. There will be no hot or cold air infiltration from my living space into the attic, thereby eliminating my ice dam problem. I will see this winter.

With all the work I have done this month, the house hardly looks any different. All my work was behind the scenes and hidden. The original builder skipped corners where the home buyer could not see. I suppose this is common in the building industry. A building inspector cannot see every little detail. I do wonder about the integrity of the workers, who skipped steps and cheated the original home owner, and all subsequent home owners. I did learn a lot more about the systems that run my house.

One can only control your own actions. I would never cut corners on a job, even if I knew the owner would not see it. Eventually someone finds out you cheated them, and sooner or later you will be found out. Do the best job you can, because the end result will shine through.

Lights of America LED bulbs 2025LEDE12-65k claim 40 watt bulb equivalent and 30,000 hr life. Real world says 25 watts equivalent and maybe 1,000 hrs. Do not buy this junk.

Browsing through Walmart here in Toronto, Canada, I stumbled upon some LED light bulbs on sale. From a company named “Lights of America”, they have a smaller base for use in a chandelier. Regularly $5.50CAD, they were going for $2.00CAD. Labeled “Made in China”, I hesitated. I could buy them, research them, and if necessary, return them if I was not happy. The results of research were that these LED light bulbs are junk and should be returned. They not only do not live up to brightness claims, but also only last a max of 1,000 of their claimed 30,000 hours of use.

My experience is that light bulbs made in China do not last long, especially the compact florescent ones. LED is a new technology, giving off no heat and is safe to dispose. They also last much longer than CFs. These comparisons, however, assume the bulbs are properly made.

It did not take a long search on Google, after fishing through all the web sites that sell these bulbs, to find some very negative reviews. Intriguingly, the company “Lights of America” was being charged by the US Federal Trade Commission, for fraudulent claims. Their claim that their 1.5 watt bulbs are as bright as a 40 watt incandescent is in dispute. Light output is closer to a 25 watt bulb than 40. More critically, their supposed bulb life of 30,000 hours has been tested to yield an actual figure of no more than 1,000 hours.

In the FTC’s original complaint against Lights of America, Inc. and its two principals, filed in September 2010, the agency charged that since 2008, Lights of America has overstated the light output and life expectancy of its LED bulbs. The agency also charged that Lights of America misled consumers about how the brightness of its LED bulbs compares to traditional incandescent lights.

At the court’s direction, the FTC’s amended complaint details where and when the challenged claims were made, and alleges that specific testing contradicts many of the defendants’ claims. For example, defendants claimed that certain bulbs lasted 30,000 hours, but U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) testing found that they lost as much as 90 percent of their output after only 1,000 hours. The amended complaint also alleges additional facts to show that the individual defendants controlled the company and knew, or should have known, about the practices the FTC is challenging.

Here is the original FTC charge:

The FTC alleges that in many instances, Lights of America’s LED bulbs produced significantly less light, as measured in lumens, than the company claimed in its promotional materials. For example, one bulb was promoted as producing 90 lumens of light output, but Lights of America’s own tests showed it produced only 43 lumens.

Also, in many cases, Lights of America deceptively compared the brightness of its LED light bulbs with incandescent bulbs, the FTC alleges. For example, the firm claimed that one of its LED lantern bulbs could replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb. However, while the typical 40-watt incandescent bulb produces about 400 lumens, the Lights of America LED bulb produced only 74 lumens.

Moreover, the FTC complaint states that in many instances, Lights of America’s LED bulbs would not last as long as the company’s promotional materials said they would. In one case, for example, the firm said that one of its LED recessed bulbs would last 30,000 hours. Independent tests, however, showed that the bulb would not last as long as claimed because it lost 80 percent of its light output after only 1,000 hours.

While I find the use of LEDs very compelling, it is difficult to justify the price of $2.00CAD for the bulb. LEDs are in general expensive to buy, and therefore LED bulbs reflect this. These LED light bulbs use 20 LEDs, which means each LED costs about $0.10CAD each. This is by far much cheaper than buying good quality LEDs individually.

Overwhelmingly the reviews of Light of America LED bulbs is terrible. Junk. The nerds at CandlePowerForums support their junk claim with some meaningful numbers. I do trust that they know what they are doing. PhysicsForums says much the same. Several people have received recall notices from Costco offering refunds. Walmart will only refund bulbs that are not already burned out. The two year warranty from LoA requires you to pay for postage back to California, which is more expensive than the actual bulb. The LoA warranty is bogus.

The Lights of America web site does not even mention these chandelier lights, even though they are sold throughout the US and Canada. The packaging also does not mention lumen ratings. It is all very sneaky and I do not want any part of it. Their web site also makes no mention of their legal troubles with the Federal Trade Commission. Nor is there any resolution or steps taken to help customers.

I am very disappointed in the 40 w equiv. 1.5 Watt LED bulbs I got from Walmart. They put out very little light. More like a 15 watt standard bulb. No where NEAR a 40 watt like they claim.

First off, they last about a month before going out. Walmart was ok about taking those back since I kept the packing and receipt but the ones that failed after 95 days they wouldn’t accept even though the package says if the bulb fails within 2 years take it back to the retailer OR send it back to lights of america. Well, Walmart says the packing can say that but it doesn’t fall within their return policy so they won’t take them back. If you try to get lights of America to replace them the will charge you in shipping the amount of a new bulb so is that really under warranty if they are ripping you like that? After buying 8 bulbs, 7 are already out. 2 of those failed after only an hours use or less (turning on the light about 3 to 4 times at most). I know LED will be the way to go in the future but right now, they don’t put out enough light and don’t last very long due to the manufacturing process. Lights of America should be ashamed. They really have a gimmick going with their 2 year return policy. It is far cheaper and better on the environment using standard bulbs until they get this technology down a little better. Bulbs that last a few clicks of the light switch fill up a land fill faster than the 100 year old bulb technology that last 2 or 3 years

source

Given all the terrible reviews of dim light and short bulb life I think the best thing is to return them and get GE CFs. In the future LED technology will improve and prices will go down. Today you simply buy LED junk.

Sure there are many excellent Chinese made products, but they are drowned out by an ocean of cheap quality junk. It irks me madly when I use a product for a short period of time, only to have it break. Usually the product experiences regular wear and tear use, not abuse. When I take it apart to try to fix it, I often find critical components are made of cheap plastic. These components are hidden from the consumer, who only finds out when it breaks for no good reason. These products are giving China a bad name. Such is the case of a paper shredder kindly given to us by a neighbour. Premature breakage of products is a waste of natural resources, cheats consumers and is plain and simple bad for the environment. I hate it.

My neighbour was kind enough to give me her paper shredder. This one was a no brand name, no factory name, Made in China, model number WMC6X. It is slow and could only shred 6 pages at a time, which is Ok for our family. She bought a faster and more expensive model. The Little Weed and I started shredding paper. After a couple minutes the shredder would heat up and shut down. Once cooled down it would resume working. A couple of days goes by and while shredding we hear a thunk and the shredding mechanism refuses to move while the motor is running. I begin to take it apart to find out if the shredder had slipped a belt or something else, such as a paper jam.

What I found was disappointing. The motor’s main axle was connected to the shredder’s transmission and subsequently to the shredding teeth. The shredder’s transmission was completely made of cheap plastic gears. The reason the shredder stopped working was because the first gear directly connected to the motor had destroyed itself, thereby decoupling the motor drive from the rest of the transmission. The shredder was therefore irreparable.

The shredding teeth mechanism was made of metal and was in pristine condition. Who was the smart one that decided the transmission gears should be made of cheap plastic?

All I could think of is what a waste of natural resources. We spend the resources to make this product, ship it across from China to Canada, only to have it fail prematurely due to a couple of cheaply made plastic gears? Now we need to dispose of it? By this method we will pillage Mother Nature and Mother Earth very quickly, short changing our children and grandchildren. Who is the winner here?

Chinese made paper shredder, no brand name nor factory, model number WMC6X, irreparable because of this cheaply made plastic gear. While there were many metal parts in this paper shredder, the gears driving these metal parts are plastic? Who decided this? What a waste of resources, not to mention cheating the consumer. Photo 3x macro.

I am unsure who to blame. Do we, as North American consumers demand and therefore receive products as the cheapest price possible, even if it quickly breaks? Are these paper shredders designed by North American engineers to a price point, rather than a quality standard? Do we blame the Chinese factory for skimping on quality in order to maximize their profit? Either way, these shoddily made products are a waste of money for consumers and a waste of natural resources for the whole Earth. We need to work better and smarter if we want to have a future as bright as our past.

I have traced the model number of this shredder down to the Aurora Office Equipment Company Shanghai, SHANGHAI, E237840, 388 JIANXIN RD, JIADING DISTRICT, 200000 SHANGHAI, CHINA. Please do not buy their products, as they are badly made. Apparently Ace Hardware carries them under the Aurora brand name. This company is connected to the Aurora Group of Taiwan.

Toronto’s suburbs are car oriented. I know this because if you ride a bicycle or walk in Scarborough you have a good chance of getting run over by drivers in a rush to get to wherever. Just yesterday I was riding my bicycle on the road, and a driver drove his vehicle perilously close to me in a threatening way and told me to ride faster because I was slowing him down. Markham is even more car oriented.

Markham built a north-south mini-highway, Highway 69, to the border of Toronto, Steeles Avenue. In 2005 Markham then asked Toronto to extend their mini-highway south to Highway 401. With dissent from local residents, environmental activists and local politicians, this proposal was flatly refused, and rightly so. Local residents feared they would end up with expropriated land and an 8 lane highway through their neighbourhood. The Ontario government refused to force Toronto to build this highway.

The new proposal is slightly different but not all that much better. The mini-highway from Markham (blue dots) will end at Steeles Avenue. Steeles avenue, now a 2 lane road, will expand to six lanes going westbound (red dots). A new 4 lane road will then cut southward into existing farmland to connect up to Morningside Road (pink dots), which now connects to Highway 401.

Morningside Avenue Extension Proposal, 2011, Toronto, Canada. More cars and more traffic for local residents.

I oppose this proposal because not a half kilometer west of this proposal is Highway 48, Markham Road, which is a north-south 8 lane monolith of a highway that connects to Highway 401. Why build yet another north-south 4 lane highway through suburban Toronto to connect to Highway 401 when there is already an existing 8 lane highway doing the same. We do not need more roads to cater to more vehicular traffic.

A more appropriate solution would be to expand Steeles Avenue westbound from Markham’s Highway 9 all the way to Highway 48 or Markham Road. From Steeles Avenue to Highway 401, convert Markham Road into a real highway, increasing speeds from the existing 60 kph zone to an 80 kph zone. Markham Road today is a large highway, largely industrial, with few side streets and traffic lights. It could be easily updated to handle the increased speed limit.

Morningside Road Extension, Aerial Photo, 2011, Toronto, Canada. Prime farmland would be destroyed. The local community would see a huge highway in their backyard.

Sometimes the answer to transportation is not to continue to build more and larger roads. When you already have a huge 8 lane north-south highway not half a kilometer west, and you want to add yet another 4 lane road close by, you know you are addicted to some kind of drug: This drug is the automobile. We need to stop thinking car-centric and start thinking more public transit. Expand the Go train instead. Increase the efficiency of existing roads if you must, but these roads are already at capacity. As Markham and areas north of Toronto expand, commuting by car will become slower and slower. Proposals such as the Morningside Road extension should not be approved. More capacity for cars is not the long term solution to the Greater Toronto Area’s transportation needs.

Map of the Rouge Valley area near Steeles Avenue, which includes Markham Road, Morningside Avenue, the Toronto Zoo, and the Pickering Town Line. The ravine here makes road building problematic. This area will become a national park in the future, so don't develop on it now.