Buzzing Bulbs Need New Ballast
Q: Our kitchen has 4-foot recessed fluorescent lights, and we’ve noticed an annoying buzzing sound coming from the fixture. I’ve replaced the bulbs, but the sound is still there. Any other ideas?
F.T.
Lake Forest
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A: It’s probably the ballast that needs replacing, says Kathy McNally of McNally Electric in Los Alamitos. This is a common problem and can be fixed by someone who’s reasonably handy.
The type of ballast you’ll buy will be based on the size of the bulbs and the number of them in the fixture.
After turning off power to the circuit, remove the fixture, cut off the wires to the old ballast, match the colors of the new ones and splice them together.
If you’re not comfortable doing it, it’s not a big job for an electrician and shouldn’t be too expensive.
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Q: I’m convinced that the flow of air coming from my central air conditioner is less than it was last year. Also, I was up in my attic area recently, and it seemed cooler than it usually is on a hot summer day. Could it be that there’s a hole in one of the ducts that’s affecting the flow?
L.L.
Orange
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A: It’s possible that a hole could affect the flow of air, but there are other things to check first, says Tom Houlihan of Orange County Appliance Parts in Garden Grove.
One of the biggest reasons you’ll find a change in the air flow is that the filter needs changing. Filters are relatively inexpensive but are often neglected, and these impede the ability of the air conditioner and furnace to work efficiently.
If a new filter doesn’t improve the flow, you might want to have a technician inspect the motor and ducts.
As to the attic area seeming cooler, it’s highly unlikely that a hole, or several holes, in your ducts would cool down an attic on a hot day.
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Q: We have a house that was built in the early 1950s, and the original owners had some beautiful crown molding placed around the ceiling, doors and windows in the living and dining rooms. I’d like to do the same molding in other rooms. How hard is it to have replicas of molding made?
G.Y.
Fullerton
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A: Copies of molding are milled all the time, so it shouldn’t be hard to make some that matches the kind you have, says Eric Prochnow of World of Moulding in Santa Ana.
Depending on the size and how intricate the molding details are, you may have to pay a setup fee of $100 to $300 in addition to the cost of the molding. You’ll find that many moldings will go in and out of style over the years, while some classics are always around.
* If you have a question about your home or garden, A Helping Hand will help you find the answer. Send questions to John Morell, Home Design, The Times Orange County, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.