OT Home Owners: Threadpocalypse

[Kostamojen]

Originally Posted by jtdbsr

You can justify it anyway you want to, what you did is ****ed up and you know it.

Good news!

There's another one I'm trying to trap and kill

If only I could do the same with my loud MAGA neighbors that drive loud as trucks all night too...

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[shikataganai]

Originally Posted by shikataganai

getting the Jetson(/Helio) people out in person next week to see if my house can support a 4 ton heat pump or if I'll have to settle for 3 ton + a backup resistive strip. time pressure to get this done before the new year and likely quick death of the IRA.

their back of napkin 3 ton quote:

edit: if the ductwork supports it I'll go for a 4 ton setup. then it'd be slightly more for the equipment itself, - $1k for not needing resistive strips, and + $750 for another ton of Xcel credits. (above should have been $2,250 Xcel credits/rebate for 3 ton.)

come on ductwork, be big enough!

Originally Posted by shikataganai

so they came out and did their formal assessment today. ductwork marginally large enough for 4 ton vs 3 ton... but their 4 ton setup does not qualify for the Denver or Xcel credits so isn't attractively priced at all.

they also say I will need resistive strips with the 3 ton: it'd hold 70 degrees inside down to 7F ambient with the calculated heating load of 36k BTU but then would hit the strips below that. the $800 Denver wiring credit also somehow dropped off the quote: $4,850 net now with the strips adding $1k.

I thus made my final counter: confirm the $800 wiring credit still is applicable, and pass through the whole $1,500 state credit (they only have to pass through $500 as per their quote but anything up to $1,500 is kosher just optional on their part) so that it's $3,050 net once again and I'll bite.

otherwise my two stage NG furnace will continue to do its thing just fine. $3,050 and $4,850 are mentally different numbers to me when it's play money at stake.

Originally Posted by shikataganai

they declined to match my counteroffer's terms ($800 might be in play due to the resistive strip circuit but not passing through the whole state credit). so I'm balking and not going forward with the 3 ton + resistive strip option at their price point.

they said that in the spring they should have a 4 ton option that qualifies for the Denver and Xcel rebates. that'd be the same maxed out $3,500 Denver rebate but $750 more from Xcel for the extra ton, I believe. axe the $1k upcharge for the no longer needed resistive strips and even if the IRA goes away we'd be near price parity with the 3 ton + resistive quote.

I'd be more tempted by that. and maybe the Republicans will be too busy doing other goofy **** to actually repeal the IRA. who knows

as per the above posts here I didn't go with Jetson's 3 ton + resistive strip option, but they'd said they'd have rebate-eligible 4 ton setups come spring. (and, as I'd predicted, the Republicans have indeed been too busy doing other goofy **** to actually repeal the IRA.) plus I'd have needed a 200A service upgrade ultimately, and I'll have that nailed down soon.

so I emailed Jetson today. they are indeed getting in new 4 ton equipment that's eligible next month, Xcel bumped their credit amounts, and from now until March 15, 2025 seems to be the sweet spot before the Denver credits sunset a bit.

Cliffs Notes: $1,395 net (!)

longer version: I'm not sure what exactly their equipment is--part of their secret sauce--but it should perform well enough if it's Xcel and Denver cold climate air source heat pump credit eligible. I’ve asked my contact for performance data (specifically heat output at -7C or whatever the lowest test point is vs the nameplate output) fwiw.

4 ton. no resistive strips. (even with 200A I'm not sure how much headroom I'd have for strips given the EVSE and hot tub! plus the house's calculated heat load is 36k BTU iirc. so this should be fine with any good cold climate heat pump.)

gross price $17,225, not doing the 200A panel upgrade through them since they can't touch my crazy-low quote from Current Installations even with them applying the $2k-in-this-scenario Denver credit.

up front net to them is $3,995, I believe. that's gross - $3,500 Denver ccASHP - $800 Denver wiring credit - $8,430 Xcel (!!) - the minimum mandated $500 passed through of a potential $1,500 CO heat pump credit.

then there's $2,600 in Fed tax-time credits relevant to the heat pump and main service upgrades, the latter of which I can and will still claim with my alternate vendor service.

do that arithmetic and that's the headline $1,395 then. at that net price it’s an absolute no-brainer to do this imo, and decarbonize my life one more step. (getting the mountain house off its NG 110k hydronic boiler probably is never going to happen, though, barring a future Dem administration instituting a near-100%, uncapped tax credit on electrical service and giant heat pumps alike.)

[shikataganai]

Originally Posted by shikataganai

Cliffs Notes: $1,395 net (!)

longer version: I'm not sure what exactly their equipment is--part of their secret sauce--but it should perform well enough if it's Xcel and Denver cold climate air source heat pump credit eligible. I've asked my contact for performance data (specifically heat output at -7C or whatever the lowest test point is vs the nameplate output) fwiw.

I now have performance specs on the speced unit by Jetson for that fabulously priced heat pump quote.

First, off, it's a MRCOOL system. Before you run away screaming note that they have a huge lineup from the DIY quick connect systems you're likely thinking of on up. And in particular they have a hyper heat lineup, and their second gen hyper heat offering running R-454B is what's speced here. (Their first gen hyper heat running R-410 didn't seem to perform that great from the specs I saw. But this is not that system.)

From the AHRI listing for this particular nominally 4 ton condenser and air handler:

50k BTU heat output at 47F ambient. 46k at 5F with a COP of 1.90. Online I read that it still should be ~65% nameplate at -22F so similar to Mitsu but can't find that actually confirmed anywhere I can access. I've asked them for this datum but haven't gotten it yet their email answering people didn't have it.

(In their product release page they claim 100% cooling at 109F ambient! Although I note they also claim 100% heat at -5F whereas we're actually at 92% at +5F per the AHRI data. That little "up to" along with specific pairings of condensers/air handlers/sizing is no doubt the cop out.)



Cliffs Notes: this 2nd gen MRCOOL hyper heat system should work just fine for my house per the AHRI data relative to my estimated house heating load of 36k BTU and Denver's design temps of 1 and 92F.

[shikataganai]

and now contract signed with Jetson. I already put $500 some months ago towards their formal estimate (refundable until installation). $3,495 more from me due upon completion, and then this work will be eligible for $2,600 in credits a year from now at 2025 tax-time: $2k for the heat pump, $600 for the electrical service upgrade work. $1,395 net as promised.

edit: install dates scheduled for 4/8-4/9 now. it's happening! got the house service upgraded to 200A yesterday so that's all in place.

[Meat Supply]

I have a 24" fluorescent light fixture above my kitchen sink. Hasn't worked in awhile. I don't have the old bulb tube but at some point years ago I bought an LED replacement but not sure if it's the kind that works with an old school ballast, the box doesn't really say. It's a Philips brand.

I got a new ballast and put it in but nothing...


I know some just work with 120 V I wonder if it would be worth bypassing that ballast? seems like it's harder to find 24" fluorescent tubes at the stores these days.

I know I could buy a whole new fixture and install that but it was kind of a lets see what I can do with what I got sort of deal.




Also....Had a little bit of water intrusion yesterday from giant ice damns on my roof edges. spent several hours out on the ladder with a shovel, axe, and hatchet. That was fun, the ice damn was probably 10" tall and 20" wide at least. pain in the ass but cleared out the damns

Damm.

[shikataganai]

Originally Posted by Meat Supply

I have a 24" fluorescent light fixture above my kitchen sink. Hasn't worked in awhile. I don't have the old bulb tube but at some point years ago I bought an LED replacement but not sure if it's the kind that works with an old school ballast, the box doesn't really say. It's a Philips brand.

I got a new ballast and put it in but nothing...


I know some just work with 120 V I wonder if it would be worth bypassing that ballast? seems like it's harder to find 24" fluorescent tubes at the stores these days.

I know I could buy a whole new fixture and install that but it was kind of a lets see what I can do with what I got sort of deal.




Also....Had a little bit of water intrusion yesterday from giant ice damns on my roof edges. spent several hours out on the ladder with a shovel, axe, and hatchet. That was fun, the ice damn was probably 10" tall and 20" wide at least. pain in the ass but cleared out the damns

Damm.

sounds like what you need is a LED of that length advertised as plug and play. they're like $10.

[NutBucket]

And if you put HV into a circuit meant for 120 you probably cooked it anyway.

[Meat Supply]

eh, i got it .50 at home depot on clearance a couple years ago. meh.

[shikataganai]

Originally Posted by Meat Supply

eh, i got it .50 at home depot on clearance a couple years ago. meh.

what happened to your possible CO poisoning deal

are you posting from the meaty afterlife

[Meat Supply]

Originally Posted by shikataganai

what happened to your possible CO poisoning deal

are you posting from the meaty afterlife

oh. nothing much. we switched out heaters at work and things were better after that. I did go to the doc's and everything's good. I did wheeze out again that same week Saturday I think. I guess they call it cough syncope and it triggers the Vegas nerve and that causes a big BP drop that may have led to the passing out.

totally healthy

I did switch up my BP meds to one that doesn't have a dry cough side effect that may have triggered my coughing fits.

we'll see. For me it doesn't even feel bad when it happens it's just lights out/lights on. Probably not good regardless but it scares the hell out of meat-wife.

[shikataganai]

cool, glad to hear it's nothing serious. if you want to google it it's the vagus nerve. vasovagal response.

[Tilapia]

Going to hang some 44" long floating shelves on a wall and the bracket it uses is about 24" long. The stud will be at the middle of the bracket. I was planning to secure the two ends of the bracket also with some anchors. The issue with this is the wall goes to an exterior wall. So drywall, insulation and then exterior house wall. The anchors I have use the screw to rotate/open the anchor part to grab the inside of the wall. But with the insulation, it won't open up. What can I use instead? The shelves won't hold more than maybe 10-20 lbs at most. Just the middle two screws on the stud enough? I'm sort of hesitant with that. The spring loaded type toggle bolts? I don't want it too long also so it doesn't poke through any barriers or anything inside the wall.

[340Duster]

I don't see why the thread in inserts won't work. The ones where you drill a set hole and then thread it in with a screwdriver.

[shikataganai]

so I have two PV systems on my roof: a 2.6 kW SolarCity one from the time of the house's erection, and a 11.34 kW Tesla Energy one from later. and only the larger one worked after the solar detach and reset company put it back on the roof after my roof was replaced

just got the scoop on why: they wired the smaller of the two inverters (by a factor of 5 or so per the above) to a string consisting of a third of the bigger array's panels. whoops. then magic smoke escaped from an overvoltage protection varistor in the smaller inverter

now they say it's wired right, with expected voltages on all strings. and they think that replacing this one varistor will fix it. as long as it works, fine with me. quite the incompetence on them in the first place though!



(and once it's fixed I'll pay them the last $10k or so that's due. sitting in a money market account for now.)

[shikataganai]

Originally Posted by shikataganai

so I have two PV systems on my roof: a 2.6 kW SolarCity one from the time of the house's erection, and a 11.34 kW Tesla Energy one from later. and only the larger one worked after the solar detach and reset company put it back on the roof after my roof was replaced

just got the scoop on why: they wired the smaller of the two inverters (by a factor of 5 or so per the above) to a string consisting of a third of the bigger array's panels. whoops. then magic smoke escaped from an overvoltage protection varistor in the smaller inverter

now they say it's wired right, with expected voltages on all strings. and they think that replacing this one varistor will fix it. as long as it works, fine with me. quite the incompetence on them in the first place though!



(and once it's fixed I'll pay them the last $10k or so that's due. sitting in a money market account for now.)

update to this PV inverter saga: they came by and replaced the varistor. and it still doesn't work.

thus they'll be replacing the whole inverter at their expense.

[the_saintusa]

Upgrading home alarm and monitoring system. Our has reached end of life (11 years old, and was near the end of that life cycle) and some sensors were acting up.

Replacing all sensors and main board/keypad.
Replacing outdoor cameras.
Adding our garage door openers to home system.
Cellular back up in addition to wifi.

Was significantly cheaper than I expected. Mildly pleased.

[samagon]

Originally Posted by the_saintusa

Upgrading home alarm and monitoring system. Our has reached end of life (11 years old, and was near the end of that life cycle) and some sensors were acting up.

Replacing all sensors and main board/keypad.
Replacing outdoor cameras.
Adding our garage door openers to home system.
Cellular back up in addition to wifi.

Was significantly cheaper than I expected. Mildly pleased.

I like the idea of an "Edge AI" (not an actual AI, just a LLM) for security.

we're getting close to being able to put a computer into a space, hook some cameras to it, use face detection and if it doesn't match, then you get a notification on your phone and can take appropriate steps.

right now I have ecobee and pay them the $5/month to send me notifications when doors are open, and system armed, but I hate traditional security systems (ADT, or whatever), they are completely useless, imo.

[the_saintusa]

Originally Posted by samagon

I like the idea of an "Edge AI" (not an actual AI, just a LLM) for security.

we're getting close to being able to put a computer into a space, hook some cameras to it, use face detection and if it doesn't match, then you get a notification on your phone and can take appropriate steps.

right now I have ecobee and pay them the $5/month to send me notifications when doors are open, and system armed, but I hate traditional security systems (ADT, or whatever), they are completely useless, imo.

Agree we are getting close to what you want.

We have a combination of Google Nest Cameras around the house that can detect 'strange people' and send a notification. It is incredibly accurate and very happy with the ability to differentiate between known people and unknown people. We have cameras mounted around the house as well and being able to see things is always nice.

Apparently we can integrate it into the 'home security app', but I prefer to keep it separate as we use Google Nest for the cameras we have at our 2nd property.

They will add cameras in similar areas, but will have it integrated. Some redundancy is ok with me.


Regarding outdoor camera monitoring, my colleague just showed me footage from his 3 outdoor cameras of an attempted murder that occured right in front of his house. There is a popular local chain restaurant that the primary owner is buying out (legally) the second minor owner. Apparently the 2nd guy doesn't want to be bought out and attempted to kill him a few nights ago. The victim survived with some through and through wounds, but the assailant was unable to kill him from point blank shooting him in the back (while the victim was getting groceries out of the back of his car).

The footage is pretty impressive.

The best I have seen is people checking to see if car doors are locked and people throwing eggs at a house.

[SVX WRX]

Originally Posted by the_saintusa

We have a combination of Google Nest Cameras around the house that can detect 'strange people' and send a notification. It is incredibly accurate and very happy with the ability to differentiate between known people and unknown people.

my Nest doorbell cam thinks i deliver the mail every day.

not "incredibly accurate", but other than that, i like it.

[orndog]

My Ring thinks my wife's (rose)bush is a person when the wind blows.

[vapore0n]

time to trim your wife's bush

[torquemada]

Originally Posted by orndog

My Ring thinks my wife's (rose)bush is a person when the wind blows.

- YouTube

- YouTube

[Matt A]

anyone get a HELOC lately?

we are starting a total home renovation next April, so looking at a HELOC now just to have that part done.

[the_saintusa]

Originally Posted by SVX WRX

my Nest doorbell cam thinks i deliver the mail every day.

not "incredibly accurate", but other than that, i like it.

haha.

I find for our needs it recognizes 'strangers' and let's us know consistently and accurately.

I am surprised how it does reliably manage the different zones and separates the 'notifications' based on the zone of interest.

[samagon]

Originally Posted by Matt A

anyone get a HELOC lately?

we are starting a total home renovation next April, so looking at a HELOC now just to have that part done.

I had one almost a decade ago at this point.

you're probably already doing it, but compare the HELOC vs a regular home improvement loan.