2013 Airstream Interstate

Piloting an 8,500-pound motorized house down the highway is far from my idea of fun, yet inexplicably, I'm enjoying myself. My grin has nothing to do with my camper's handling, as this heavily accoutered Mercedes-Benz Sprinter drives like a 25-foot long breadbox. My smile has nothing to do with on-road stability, as the ten-foot-tall, slab-sided vehicle reacts to wind gusts like the vertical stabilizer on a Boeing jet. My delight has nothing to do with its throttle or braking response, either, as both are as numb as your forehead after the eighth beer.

This monstrosity makes me happy for one reason - my passengers are undeniably having a good time.

Two days earlier, I had shoveled my wife and two kids into this Airstream Interstate 3500's sliding door, cranked over its six-cylinder diesel engine and pointed its black and chrome nose out of greater Los Angeles and towards the Grand Canyon. Now, with the 17-million-year-old fissure less than an hour over the horizon, and with everyone chatting giddily about the upcoming spectacle, I've pleasantly come to realize that the motorhome method of travel isn't just for those hobbled bodies with thinning gray hair.

Airstream is the Rolex of the luxury recreational vehicle industry. Tracing its roots back to the early 1930s, the manufacturer had become a household name by the 1960s as the public quickly took note of its trademark streamlined, polished aluminum shells. Even NASA jumped on board, welcoming the crew of Apollo 11 home from the moon at the end of the decade only to quarantine them within a specially modified bright silver Airstream trailer. The Airstream Interstate, a Class-B RV, isn't built for returning astronauts. However, it accommodates earthlings in an innovative package with "car-like" handling, performance and safety, says it maker. The magic is in its chassis, and the details are in its appointments.

Unlike most monstrous RVs cutting wide paths down the highway – nearly all built on steel truck chassis with lightweight wood, metal and fiberglass framing and walls – the Interstate starts as a steel-bodied Mercedes-Benz with a dually rear axle. Even though it's huge by passenger-car standards (nearly 25 feet in length, around 10 feet in height and almost seven feet wide), the RV industry considers this Airstream a compact. Yes, a vehicle that casts a shadow larger than your college dorm room is considered a "compact" in the recreational vehicle world.

Airstream sells two versions of the Interstate, both with the same 170-inch wheelbase. The standard model, with a base price of $125,630, is 23-feet and one-inch long, and six-feet and eight-inches wide. This particular stretched Interstate EXT is 24-feet and five-inches long – with all of the additional length being welcome cargo space behind the rear bench. My EXT tester carried a base price of $136,657. Its optional equipment included a special golf bag storage rack ($452), additional rear flatscreen television ($808), black exterior ($1,260) and a roof-mounted solar panel ($1,307) to maintain the batteries. The grand total, after destination ($984) amounted to $141,468.

Even though you'd expect something this massive to pack a V8 or perhaps a V10, motivation comes by way of a smallish 3.0-liter V6. But this isn't a standard six. Instead, it is the excellent Bluetec turbodiesel from Mercedes-Benz, drinking its oil diet from a 26.4-gallon tank filled through a panel accessed just behind the driver's door. In motorhome application, the engine is rated at 188 horsepower and – more importantly – 325 pound-feet of torque, with that power routed through a traditional five-speed automatic to the dually setup in the rear. The suspension is pure truck, with an independent design up front and a live rear axle at the back end. Stopping the Interstate are four-wheel disc brakes with sliding calipers. It is unusual to find electronic nannies in an RV, yet the Airstream Interstate features electronic traction control, stability control and anti-lock brakes.

But the mechanical specs don't stop there. Slung beneath the rear end is a 2.5-kilowatt generator, fed liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from its own 18.9-gallon tank. It's used to provide fuel/electricity to the 13,500-BTU secondary air conditioning unit (there is an engine-driven A/C compressor too, but cold air is only delivered from the front vents when the V6 is running), 16,000-BTU furnace and the other appliances within the passenger cabin. Other goodies include a 45-amp multi-stage charger, with a 750-watt inverter to divvy and sort the power properly, and a 30 amp/110-volt shore power service. In addition to the diesel and LPG tanks, there is a 32 gallon freshwater tank, 27 gallon gray water (sink drainage) tank and a 15 gallon black water (sewer) tank.

Most passengers will never know about that aforementioned below-the-deck stuff, but they will appreciate the Airstream's luxurious cabin – with a caveat. When we think of an RV, the first thing that comes to mind is stepping up into a cavernous interior complete with swivel captain's chairs, kitchen appliances and a rear bench sofa that turns into a bed with the pull of a lever. The Airstream Interstate does all of that, but in a skinnier... let's say..A polished finish in this solaroutdoorlight for men.. Slim-Fast version.

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Tried and True T5s

Though new technologies are gaining ground in the marketplace, many retailers reported that T5 High Output (HO) systems remain their top sellers.Light On! ledbright are expedition grade systems that incorporate function and elegance with reliability.

"T5 lights still sell the best for us," McWilliams said. "They are inexpensive and still allow the consumer to grow a wide variety of coral. There are many brands that sell well, including the Tek fixtures by Sunlight Supply, Aquatic Life and many others."

For the majority of retailers, HO systems can still dominate their lighting offerings. T5 fixtures are the mainstay of lighting sales at Saltwater Fanta-Seas in Portland, Ore.Great range of all types of ledlightbulbss, from novelty flying lantern packs to paper lanterns., reported owner Patrick McBride.

While opinions vary regarding the staying power of T5s, Aquatic Life's Michael Elliott noted that despite the boom in LED interest, T5HOs still reign for two reasons.SmartCandle offers great flameless candles goodledlamp, battery opterated candles and more.

"One, the price point is still really good and, two, there are more light spectrum options with T5HO bulbs versus new LEDs," Elliot said. "This is especially important depending on the types of corals you are trying to grow."

To successfully market and sell LED lighting, retailers may need to make customers aware of the system's advantages.

"The stores need to give the hobbyist the cost benefits of changing to LEDs," Mandalia at Innovative Marine said.
"One of our key dealers in Michigan had a spreadsheet giving the cost of a customer's old lighting systems—halides, compacts, T5, you choose—and showed them their savings over the next five years in bulb replacements and energy savings," he added. "This makes it an easy sale for them."

Showcasing success can prove effective, too, especially when it comes to LEDs, which some hobbyists may still be skeptical about. Case in point: The Fish Gallery's 72- by 30- by 24-inch primary reef display, which features four Aqua Sol LEDs, is designed to show customers what they can expect over the long term with a variety of different corals.

"Retailers need to be careful not to appear to push the more expensive lighting options," McWilliams at Amazon Stingrays said. "Be honest with your customers about what the various light system capabilities are, and help them choose a system that fits their needs and their budget.

"For instance, I make sure my customers know that they don't need a $2,000-plus LED system to try coral," he added. "But if it's in their budget,Browse through our impressive range of bestlighting-led and buy online now. they will be very happy with LEDs."

Energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs have been responsible for at least three property floodings in Iqaluit this year, say city officials.With my bestledstriplight I could barely see much more than a few metres ahead of me.

Some Iqaluit residents who rely on trucked water delivery use fluorescent bulbs for their outdoor fill-indicator light, and that's causing a problem, said Keith Baines, foreman of Truck Services with the City of Iqaluit.

"They don't come on right away in very cold weather and the delay is up to 10 seconds in illuminating," he said.

Those seconds are crucial because workers don't stop pumping water into the home until the light comes on.

One Stop Green Now Carries Plumen Energy Saving Designer Light Bulbs

Glass tubes can be bent is many different shapes so why are there thousands of manufacturers but only three types of light bulb designs? Plumen aims to address this problem by using a dynamic, sculptured form that contrasts to the dull regular shapes of existing low energy bulbs in an attempt to make the Plumen a centerpiece and not an afterthought.

Some people buy energy saving light bulbs out of a pure moral obligation. Whether it's the way they look or the quality of light they give off, they end up sacrificing design just to save energy.Browse through our impressive range of shinebrightled and buy online now. The makers of Plumen, the popular energy saving designer light bulb, believe people should not have to sacrifice design for energy savings. Make the bulb attractive and people will be willing to spend a bit more to enjoy a better quality of light and design they will appreciate everyday.

Plumen is the antithesis of low energy light bulbs. Rather than hide the unappealing traditional compact fluorescent light behind boring utility, Plumen 001 is a bulb that wants to be shown off. The Plumen bulb uses 80% less energy and lasts 8 times longer than incandescent bulbs, giving anyone the opportunity to purchase an ecological product with style. It works just like any low energy bulb but has a lot more presence. The name comes from 'plume' – a bird's show feather, designed to attract attention to a bird's prowess and beauty.

One Stop Green, LLC facilitates environmentally friendly improvements to residential and commercial properties through distribution of green, energy efficient equipment. They offer every product needed for sustainable energy independence in the categories of solar, wind, water, lighting, green building, and green living solutions enabling homeowners, businesses and commercial property owners to master their usage by reducing waste, producing renewable energy and implementing energy efficient consumption methods.

Next up is bulb type, either tungsten or fluorescent. The primary benefit of tungsten is lots of light from a single bulb, but that light burns very hot, which consumes power, overheats your subjects, delays tear down until the bulb cools and require special handling. Cool fluorescent lights are easy by comparison, but don't create as much light.

How do fluorescent lights compare to tungsten in lighting output? In their product specs on the B&H website, Lowel says that the three 55 watt fluorescent bulbs in the Trio kit generate "approximately 2000W of conventional tungsten light (119 foot-candles of light at 6' distance)--for a total of app.Browse a huge selection for ledlight at chinabuye. 6000W of light output."

That would suggest that you multiply fluorescent watts by a factor of 12 to approximate tungsten lighting power, which sounds high to me. On their web site, Wescott states that the the 500 watt output of their light kit provides the "equivalent output of 2100 watts," a four to one ratio that sounds closer to the mark. Fortunately, you can move fluorescent lights much closer to the subject without risking first degree burns, which helps even the score a bit.

Break out the Jubilee bunting

As well as 60 years of stability and continuity, it seems the Queen has another gift for each of us in Diamond Jubilee year. Eight new friends.

According to research carried out by community event co-ordinators Streets Alive, that’s the dividend we will all reap by attending a Jubilee street party or similar get-together over the holiday weekend of June 2 to 5.

Actually, the figure should be slightly qualified, in that the precise statistic is 7.9 – and the word “friends” is perhaps putting it a bit strongly, too.

“Neighbours you haven’t met before, whom you can now be friendly with; that would be a more accurate way of putting it,” says Chris Gittins, director of Streets Alive, which has established itself as the national authority on open-air knees-ups.

“That’s the lasting contribution which a street party makes, beyond the enjoyment of the actual day. It gives you the chance to meet people who live near you and who, like you, want to be friendly, but without being friends, and without having obligations beyond looking after your keys or watering your plants while you’re away.”

And it’s in pursuit of that peculiarly British form of semi-detached-ness that Streets Alive has compiled a whole website’s worth of advice, both for this summer’s would-be street party organisers, and for the local councils on whose patch those bashes will be held.

And there looks like being many thousands of them – even at this early stage, councils say they have already received 3,500 street party applications, a figure which means the Jubilee celebrations will dwarf those held to mark last year’s royal wedding.

Part of the boom, says Gittins, is down to an uncommon outbreak of common sense among our legislators.

“There was quite a lot of silliness last year, with councils charging for road closures and putting all sorts of bureaucratic obstacles in the way of people organising royal wedding parties,” he says. “Signs are, though, that most of those problems have now been sorted out.”

There are, of course, a few exceptions to the rule. If you want to hang up little rows of Union Jacks in Hampshire, you’ll still have to apply to the county council first, for a bunting licence. And only the other day the mayor of Wivenhoe, Essex was complaining about his local county council needing reassurance that the weight of his bunting wasn’t going to pull down telegraph poles.

That said, a growing number of councils have decided to cut right through the blue-white-and-red tape this June, particularly when it comes to taking out public liability cover. This despite dire prophecies from people like James Buck, of quote comparison site PublicLiabilityInsurance.org

“The number of things that can go wrong at a street party really is untold,” he warns, mentioning fireworks, sky lanterns and a “claimant-friendly legal environment” just for starters.

Insurance companies generally require organisers of even the smallest street parties to take out 5million worth of cover – enough to pay out for two deaths and a compete re-surfacing of the road: the kind of eventuality which would require the tombola to get really out of hand.

Premiums may not be large, starting at around 50,Some people are concerned that if they use ledbright or flashing lights on their bike they are breaking the law.With my bikelight2012 I could barely see much more than a few metres ahead of me. but they are enough to put some people off. In recognition, some councils have announced that they will take out blanket cover on behalf of all street parties in their area (hurrah for Basingstoke and Deane in Hampshire). Meanwhile, others have dropped the insurance requirement completely (Oxford City Council) and some are offering to pay the first 50 on any public liability insurance premium which party organisers decide to take out.

Others are letting their statutory hair down, and actually offering to help fund the fun; Sherwood Council, in Nottinghamshire, has put aside a fund of 20,where you can learn about divinglamp as well as buy your bike lights online.000,The fire is the latest dangerous incident involving Chinese brightshine, which are increasingly released at weddings and other celebrations. while East Dorset District Council has a treasure chest of 30,000 for party organisers to dip into. And, while the grants being given aren’t large (500 is an average),We can produce ledflashlight. that money can still go a long way.

In the Hertfordshire town of Radlett, for example, organisers are using a 1,000 grant from Hertsmere Borough Council to turn part of the main shopping street into a enormous party venue on Jubilee Sunday. They’re putting out 150 tables (bookable at 20 a time, two bottles of wine included) and staging an all-day programme of entertainment with a 1940s and 50s flavour: local swing band, The Bevin Boys; singing trio, The Three Belles (Hertfordshire’s answer to the Andrews Sisters); plus a pair of magicians, an Elvis impersonator and rubber-inflatable sculptress Miss Ballooniverse.