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Putting power back into grid is such mess. I would be super conservative about payback periods.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:18
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H110Hawk posted:Yes this is the standard setup for a battery system. For example, and you should not buy this system if you value your home, tesla has it so you can power your home in a blackout, sell back excess power when at full charge, and also do demand selling of your stored energy. Every possible combo. (This is in California where your ppa can include buyback of stored generation.) I think Enphase has this kind of thing too, I'd much rather go with them if I were in the position to do so.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:21
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oh I would never buy a Tesla anythingCalidus posted:Putting power back into grid is such mess. I would be super conservative about payback periods. yyyyeah I've heard it's a poo poo show, but this is probably the lowest of my priorities, third to emergency backup and then offset of mains usage. I'm gonna pay upfront anyway
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Jul 28, 2023 17:28
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Well, what you want does exist, so you can probably start looking for installers in your area.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:29
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The residential solar industry is frequently focused on roping people into borderline usurious loan schemes and has found "your installation will pay for itself by selling back to the utility" to be the most effective way to get people to ignore that fat 20-30% origination fee hidden in the payments. Batteries would push the system cost past breakeven and we can't have that getting in the way of our sales pitch.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:39
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I live in an area that loses power a few times a year, and we decided we'd rather have solar and a battery than a generator. Automatic switches that cut off feed into the grid when the power goes down are fairly common. Modern inverters automatically stop feeding into the grid when the power goes down. Side note: You can use just a battery as backup, store energy at night when it's cheap, and then use it in the daytime; California will give you a rebate for that.
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Jul 28, 2023 17:47
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Danhenge posted:I think Enphase has this kind of thing too, I'd much rather go with them if I were in the position to do so. Yea, Enphase can do it. You'd need a bunch of batteries if you wanted to support the entire house, but you can get away with a much smaller one if you just want to protect some critical circuits. https://enphase.com/homeowners You likely do not just want "sunlight backup"
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Jul 28, 2023 20:46
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At my wife's request I bought a new, more attractive, doorbell button to replace the gross old plastic one. I was going to install it but I realized that the doorbell doesn't work. I don't know where the bell unit is, I don't recall when it last worked. And I'm not sure the wires are still connected. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good wireless doorbell? Just a button and a chime, no video. Or is it one of those things where I should buy whatever off Amazon? Bonus: Just put the finishing touch on the gym decor 
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Jul 29, 2023 23:49
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Lmao
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Jul 29, 2023 23:50
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Vim Fuego posted:At my wife's request I bought a new, more attractive, doorbell button to replace the gross old plastic one. I was going to install it but I realized that the doorbell doesn't work. I don't know where the bell unit is, I don't recall when it last worked. And I'm not sure the wires are still connected. I bought this doorbell last year. I'm running it from a video doorbell to a wired to wireless adapter. It works well. Honeywell Home RDWL915W Series 9 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08964B9D5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Other additional item you would need is the push button. https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-RP...01LXKH0ED&psc=1 I'm happy with mine so far.
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Jul 30, 2023 00:22
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With a gym theme: I almost finished installing Mrs Pony's birthday present but decided to get another 4'x2' portion of plywood for the other side instead of ripping the one one I had in half and having a step down where you'd be loading the bar.  4" lag screws into the floor joists. If the roof had a hole for a crane cable you could probably lift the whole shed from the rack.
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Jul 30, 2023 00:50
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I'm going to be installing a number of recessed lights in my kitchen soon. What is the better option, traditional cans or the slim canless LED style ones?
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Jul 30, 2023 13:58
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Slim canless are called remodel lights. Can lights require you to mount them to rafters while slim ones require there are no rafters where you want to mount them. This is why in some rooms you'll see oddly paced lights, because they had to find rafters to hang them. Remodel ones are usually significantly cheaper and they're both wired exactly the same.Both look the same after they're complete. Don't cheap out on these, some of the cheaper ones are known to catch fire. I bought HALO brand and have been very happy with them. I'd also suggest you put them all on dimmer switches because they're loving bright as hell.
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Jul 30, 2023 14:19
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oh rly posted:I bought this doorbell last year. I'm running it from a video doorbell to a wired to wireless adapter. It works well. Thanks!
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Jul 30, 2023 16:13
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Shifty Pony posted:With a gym theme: I almost finished installing Mrs Pony's birthday present but decided to get another 4'x2' portion of plywood for the other side instead of ripping the one one I had in half and having a step down where you'd be loading the bar. if your wife can lift the entire shed, you need to send them to the world's strongest competition 
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Jul 30, 2023 16:46
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brugroffil posted:I'm going to be installing a number of recessed lights in my kitchen soon. What is the better option, traditional cans or the slim canless LED style ones? I have installed a bundle of Lithonia WF series canless lights and can't be happier. A couple of corrections I have from Mustache Rides post. They're 1/2" thick, and you can install them under joists or rafters since they are literally the thickness of your drywall, assuming you have 1/2" or thicker drywall. My last house had 3/8" drywall so that would have been a minor setback. You can also install them in brackets if you're doing new construction, so they are more stable and easily replaced later. I like them so much I replaced the four remodel cans in my kitchen with them, particularly because they were so big they had clearance issues with the plumbing above and I was remodeling that plumbing. The kitchen got the 6" lights, my hallway got the 3" size, and the bathrooms got the 4" I think. If I was doing the kitchen again I'd actually run two more and use a dimmer.
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Jul 30, 2023 16:47
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Thanks! It's mainly for a kitchen remodel, and we had (6) 6" on a dimmer in mind. I'll talk to our contractor but I'm leaning towards the canless style rather than the remodel cans.
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Jul 31, 2023 02:42
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If you’re just going to shove an LED with an integrated trim ring into the can, then I don’t see much point in paying for the can at all. Just use the easy surface mount lights.
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Jul 31, 2023 02:53
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If you are already opening up the ceiling or paying someone to do it I would definitely opt for the proper can lights. The canless remodel lights are decent, but you lose massive amounts of long term flexibility which IMO isn't worth the one time frustration savings at installation. If you want a different color temperature in a few years? Want to take advantage of advances in LED phosphor technology and have a higher CRI? Want to install a smart dimmer but find that the remodel lights get blinky on that model? Tough poo poo, you're replacing all of your light fixtures. And if one fails you'll almost certainly have to replace all of them because a new one (if you can find the same model) will have slightly different brightness and color temperature from not having been run for years. To me the remodel lights are really really good but only for replacing single light fixtures in places where an exposed bulb is bad and light quality is of secondary importance. Utility closets, pantries, stuff like that. They even make some models with integrated pull chains or motion sensors, which is pretty slick. Edit: my previous house had these installed everywhere, and it was kind of the worst of both worlds:  Sure you could replace a light, but doing so meant also replacing the trim and some of the manufacturers had distinctly different designs which stuck out (sometimes literally, they would protrude a bit more). After going through all the effort and cost of installing can lights and high quality dimmers everywhere the landlord used the cheapest model of actual light that flashed like crazy when the dimmers were actually used, and I needed up replacing eight of the drat things over five years. Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 10:34 on Jul 31, 2023 |
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Jul 31, 2023 10:20
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Shifty Pony posted:If you are already opening up the ceiling or paying someone to do it I would definitely opt for the proper can lights. The canless remodel lights are decent, but you lose massive amounts of long term flexibility which IMO isn't worth the one time frustration savings at installation. Quality recessed lighting is overwhelmingly "remodel" style now. https://www.lotusledlights.com/products/filter-category-regressed If you've not shopped for this type of lighting in the last few years I can see how you might hold your opinion, but it's just not how things work anymore other than at the bottom end of the market. I will never install or spec a can again.
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Jul 31, 2023 14:17
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All that “what if they don’t match later”stuff goes with any LEDs. Buy spares, shuffle around closet fixtures. I don’t see myself ever going back to bulbs screwed directly into cans with separate trim rings. Sealed units with integrated trim are so much cleaner looking, and you can do that without paying for an unneeded can. If you really want a can years down the road, just shove a remodel can up the same hole. They insert from the outside and don’t need to be nailed to a joist.
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Jul 31, 2023 14:31
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It's still an unfortunate situation where if a fixture dies some years later, you need to hope they still make a matching one (unless those higher end ones are designed with a doumented electronics package that is repairable/replaceable)
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Jul 31, 2023 14:35
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Shifty Pony posted:If you are already opening up the ceiling or paying someone to do it I would definitely opt for the proper can lights. The canless remodel lights are decent, but you lose massive amounts of long term flexibility which IMO isn't worth the one time frustration savings at installation. https://www.acuitybrands.com/produc...essed-downlight These are the ones I use because I feel like it's a good quality brand and the lights will last and the product will be around for a while. Spares are a good idea with this or any light I feel, since manufacturing will have some variation and a new LED replacement, even a spare, may be brighter than one that's been in service for years. It's also switchable color temp, so that eliminates the argument that you may want to change the color. At the end of the day, you have a hole in the ceiling. Replacing the driver and light is going to be a simple job, although not as easy as a lamp replacement. I think I'd be a little more swayed for the benefit of puck lights mounted to ceiling boxes, since those are very easy to install. I think they look cheap since they stick out a little. But I so do the canless that I like since they don't provide the same depth as a can light. I am a little partial to good deep cans where the light source isn't visible from a distance so you get the effect of your room being lit without seeing the source. Not enough to actually use them.
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Jul 31, 2023 14:52
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StormDrain posted:I am a little partial to good deep cans where the light source isn't visible from a distance so you get the effect of your room being lit without seeing the source. Not enough to actually use them. The section of the Lotus Lighting site I linked above is specifically their recessed stuff, which is all I use for the same reasons. They even have gimbal not-cans in recessed.
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Jul 31, 2023 14:56
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Piggybacking on Solar Chat, I have the choice of trenching 200' to power my shed or go solar. My intent is to be able to use a 4-5 of LED lights insides and out, duration depending on what's going on outside (at most a few hours after dark less than weekly), with the occasional 5 minute compressor run to my tractor's tires or 10 minutes on a battery charger for the tractor when the battery flakes out once a week. Definitely plan on Christmas lights in the winter, but those are also LED. I've been looking through the same systems folks seem to use on RVs, including panel, batteries, and an inverter. The shed's roof faces directly south and has 120 sq ft. I live in Wisconsin so summer sun is good but winter is probably 3-5 hours a day in the deep months. Here's my question: Is going solar here a bad idea or should I just suck it up and run the wire? I have zero intention of feeding back to the grid or backing up my house appliances, so that isn't a concern. I just don't want to have a half dozen batteries taking up space if I'm going to be stuck running a wire eventually anyway.
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Aug 1, 2023 02:20
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Rent a trencher IMO. Solar and batteries barely make financial sense if you actually use them.
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Aug 1, 2023 02:32
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Rent a ditch witch for like 10-20% the cost of your setup. You're well within the realm of like 2 panels and a single car battery, but unless you have a burning desire to fiddle with it just do the trench. Also get a trickle charger for your tractor and a hardwire kit (mine came with one.) then just plug it in every time.
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Aug 1, 2023 02:50
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Vim Fuego posted:At my wife's request I bought a new, more attractive, doorbell button to replace the gross old plastic one. I was going to install it but I realized that the doorbell doesn't work. I don't know where the bell unit is, I don't recall when it last worked. And I'm not sure the wires are still connected.  Every workout ought to have a sword We have had these battery-powered Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Aug 1, 2023 |
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Aug 1, 2023 03:17
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My wife got a circa-1940s floor lamp from her grandparents. It's this one and we'd like to get an appropriate lampshade. Is there a place online to get things like this lampshade? I kind of remember people on here talking about lamps or light fixtures and someone who had a brass bits and bobs. Maybe they have everything else. Here's the kind of lampshade we're going for (from the link above): 
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Aug 1, 2023 03:25
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Hed posted:My wife got a circa-1940s floor lamp from her grandparents. It's this one and we'd like to get an appropriate lampshade. I don't have any recs but that lamp is fuckin FRESH
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Aug 1, 2023 03:35
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I feel like it's going go lead to to the well of souls
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Aug 1, 2023 03:40
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Arsenic Lupin posted:
Cool. I am required to use the new decorativd doorbell that we bought so I'm gonna pick up one of the wireless sets and fit the mechanism into it. Hopefully it's a small circuitboard.
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Aug 1, 2023 03:58
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Hed posted:My wife got a circa-1940s floor lamp from her grandparents. It's this one and we'd like to get an appropriate lampshade. I can't recommend anywhere online but lamp repair shops and thriftstores are where I've bought them in person.
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Aug 1, 2023 03:59
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Did you look at Amazon? You might have to do some digging to get something appropriate for the vintage look.
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Aug 1, 2023 14:30
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I noticed some wasps or hornets that are hanging out in one spot in my house, and a lot of them are going behind the siding, so I think they're building some kind of nest in there. What can I do to get rid of them? I'm used to wasp & hornet spray against the nests in my eaves where I can see the nest, but I can't see it here, so I guess I would need some kind of poison? Or just keep going out there and spray every wasp I see with the spray until they're all dead or they give up and leave?
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Aug 2, 2023 16:26
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You spray the area with the same stuff. Especially the edges where they are getting behind your siding. Depending on what you're using you may need to do this several times. Stryker 54 is the go-to for this type of thing: https://www.domyown.com/stryker-54-p-19246.html?pdpv=2 Temprid would also be a good choice: https://www.domyown.com/temprid-ready-to-spray-p-2657.html?pdpv=2
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Aug 2, 2023 16:42
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Do it in the evenings when they're all back home and much less active.
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Aug 2, 2023 16:54
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Hed posted:My wife got a circa-1940s floor lamp from her grandparents. It's this one and we'd like to get an appropriate lampshade. NVM, thinking of a different company (B&P is wholesale-only). Watch this space for updates. e: I got my mica shade from Historic Houseparts, which is a fun browse for anybody else with an old house or old house fixtures like lamps. Their selection of fabric shades sucks. Assuming you don't want a custom lampshade, and I can't see why you would for this lamp, Just Shades looks solid, as does Replacement Lampshades. By "solid" I mean the lampshades look professional and when I google [nameofbusiness] scam I don't get any results. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Aug 2, 2023 |
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Aug 2, 2023 17:42
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I would get on Etsy or Ebay, personally.
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Aug 3, 2023 02:56
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I need to buy a power washer I think. Nothing professional, just enough to clean off a wood fence for painting, get the dirt off a patio, etc. Any suggestions I should take into consideration before I start looking at what's well rated/on sale?
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Aug 6, 2023 23:13
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