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I'm looking into tankless hot water heaters but have zero idea of what I should be looking for. They seem to run anywhere from $200 to $1000 or so... what are the defining characteristics of a good heater I should be looking at? Please treat me like a complete idiot, because when it comes to this I totally am.
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Mar 26, 2014 00:36
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| # ? May 16, 2024 07:43 |
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I finally got a look at my power bill, and this month we averaged 48kWhrs/day. I still haven't been able to find the meter. The building's old and it's been rainy, so I haven't tried terribly hard, but it's not somewhere obvious, because I've looked before. How does that sound for a 2br apartment? No dining room, three people. We cook, but usually only once a day.
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Mar 26, 2014 01:59
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GabrielAisling posted:I finally got a look at my power bill, and this month we averaged 48kWhrs/day. I still haven't been able to find the meter. The building's old and it's been rainy, so I haven't tried terribly hard, but it's not somewhere obvious, because I've looked before. How does that sound for a 2br apartment? No dining room, three people. We cook, but usually only once a day. We use a little under that in our two bedroom when it's 110 out and the a/c is running constantly. I would go find that meter.
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Mar 26, 2014 02:38
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GabrielAisling posted:I finally got a look at my power bill, and this month we averaged 48kWhrs/day. I still haven't been able to find the meter. The building's old and it's been rainy, so I haven't tried terribly hard, but it's not somewhere obvious, because I've looked before. How does that sound for a 2br apartment? No dining room, three people. We cook, but usually only once a day. My wife and I used about 14kW/day on our last bill. This is for a 2br apartment as well. We cook pretty regularly, breakfast and dinner. Have computers that run 24/7, etc. Something is definitely up unless you are running your A/C all day.
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Mar 26, 2014 02:44
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Wiggly posted:My wife and I used about 14kW/day on our last bill. This is for a 2br apartment as well. We cook pretty regularly, breakfast and dinner. Have computers that run 24/7, etc. Something is definitely up unless you are running your A/C all day. That's usage for a month with almost no usage of the heating/cooling system.
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Mar 26, 2014 03:03
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1bd apartment here with tons of laptops plugged in but no AC usage other than the fan to move some air. 17kWh/day on average. Definitely time to find that meter.
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Mar 26, 2014 03:21
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Laundry room is a real good starting point for hunting up that meter.
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Mar 26, 2014 03:30
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Thanatosian posted:Laundry room is a real good starting point for hunting up that meter. We don't have one. There's a tiny laundry facility for the apartment complex (2 washers and 3 dryers), but no space in the units for machines. It's seriously the only thing I dislike about the place. When I get back home, I'll take my flashlight out and look pitiful if the redneck neighbor comes out to ask what's up. Maybe I can get back our chairs they borrowed. 
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Mar 26, 2014 04:29
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GabrielAisling posted:We don't have one. There's a tiny laundry facility for the apartment complex (2 washers and 3 dryers), but no space in the units for machines. It's seriously the only thing I dislike about the place. When I get back home, I'll take my flashlight out and look pitiful if the redneck neighbor comes out to ask what's up. Maybe I can get back our chairs they borrowed.
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Mar 26, 2014 05:14
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My fiancée and I have a medium to large 2 bed/LR/DR apartment and we only use 5-7 kWh/day. Gas heat, hot water, and stove, but we do have our own electric dryer and washer. Window A/C unit during summer. Heated blanket. Plasma TV and other electronics. Unplug everything and see if your meter still spins. Flip your breakers to see if any of the building's shared indoor or high powered outdoor lighting is on your meter. Check the dryers in the shared laundry. Does your bill say if its actual or estimated usage? Perhaps they're estimating based on the last tenant's usage and will adjust when they perform an actual reading.
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Mar 26, 2014 05:24
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It's been pretty consistently massively high the entire time we've lived here. Nine months? Seems right. I've never had a power bill before, so it took me a while to figure out that it was way too high.
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Mar 26, 2014 05:40
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GabrielAisling posted:It's been pretty consistently massively high the entire time we've lived here. Nine months? Seems right. I've never had a power bill before, so it took me a while to figure out that it was way too high.
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Mar 26, 2014 06:19
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Is the electric company doing actual reads, or just estimates? Your bill should give you an indication. If it is an estimate, compare the last read on your bill to the current read on your meter. Some utilities will give you estimates that are really high, to encourage you to give them a reading. Or, the last tenant was running a grow-op, and they are giving you an estimate based on previous usage.
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Mar 26, 2014 12:30
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    Moving into a literal gooncave this weekend. Need suggestions on:
Toshimo fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Mar 26, 2014 |
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Mar 26, 2014 16:27
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Toshimo posted:Where to get things to put on the feet of my bed/desk to protect the tile since I don't want to put rugs everywhere if I xan help it. (I'm not even sure what the proper name for them is to search. These are just called felt furniture pads. You can get 'em practically anywhere.
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Mar 26, 2014 16:32
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You can do basically anything to that electrical conduit and still be safe. Outside of "paint it to match", there is not much you can do to hide it once it's installed. (They could have run it around the base of the room, instead of horizontally up the wall - but that's done now.) That is the ugliest room I've ever seen.
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Mar 26, 2014 16:42
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If you really wanted the electric installation to be invisible, you'd have to do some major reconstruction. E.g. you could tear up the tile floor, install cables below it, and have outlets below a few removable tiles.
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Mar 26, 2014 16:54
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nielsm posted:If you really wanted the electric installation to be invisible, you'd have to do some major reconstruction. E.g. you could tear up the tile floor, install cables below it, and have outlets below a few removable tiles. I'm renting so that isn't really an option
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Mar 26, 2014 16:55
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photomikey posted:You can do basically anything to that electrical conduit and still be safe. Outside of "paint it to match", there is not much you can do to hide it once it's installed. (They could have run it around the base of the room, instead of horizontally up the wall - but that's done now.) I think it's a totally cool room. He just needs to embrace the weirdness and decorate it with some neat industrial pieces. I would trade my boring white walls house for that weird cave any day.
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Mar 26, 2014 18:36
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You just need to go all in and decorate as if you are actually living in a fortress. Tapestries on the walls (that will cover those conduits!), throw down a fur rug, hang a coat of arms over the fireplace.
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Mar 26, 2014 19:02
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Ashcans posted:You just need to go all in and decorate as if you are actually living in a fortress. Tapestries on the walls (that will cover those conduits!), throw down a fur rug, hang a coat of arms over the fireplace. You have no idea how tempting this is.
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Mar 26, 2014 19:18
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Ashcans posted:You just need to go all in and decorate as if you are actually living in a fortress. Tapestries on the walls (that will cover those conduits!), throw down a fur rug, hang a coat of arms over the fireplace. I was thinking a Twin Peaks style Pacific Northwest lodge, myself.
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Mar 26, 2014 20:02
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Ashcans posted:You just need to go all in and decorate as if you are actually living in a fortress. Tapestries on the walls (that will cover those conduits!), throw down a fur rug, hang a coat of arms over the fireplace. That would be my immediate reaction to that room, too.
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Mar 26, 2014 20:16
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I've been living in a rental house that I've been sharing with 3 other people. I never signed a lease and I paid a security deposit to the guy who is running the house and handles most stuff, also a tenant. The house was is pretty crummy quality when I moved in, and the other guys had been there longer than I had. The owner of the house recently decided he wants to sell it, so we are all moving out. When doing a walk through, the house owner is claiming that there is excessive staining of the carpets, and water damage (95% certain this is from his HVAC unit due to condensate leakage). I'm assuming he will want to try and keep security deposits over this. Anywho, since I never signed a lease, am I legally obligated to pay for any damage to the house? I don't want to just bail and say it's not my problem to the other tenants, but from a legal standpoint can I be held responsible. Also, isn't there a normal wear and tear clause for tenants - what is the life of a carpet? This is in northern California by the way.
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Mar 26, 2014 21:19
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photomikey posted:If you take 3 minutes and do one full walkaround of the building, you will find the meter. If there are overhead powerlines, follow them to the point of entry to the house - the meters will be just below that. Found them. They seem to be doing actual reads every month, since it does vary, but it didn't vary nearly enough the two months that only one person lived here. Still need to coordinate with a roommate to shut off the main and do a meter reading. Oh, and figure out how to read the drat thing. It's a digital meter and currently says 21991.
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Mar 27, 2014 00:04
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GabrielAisling posted:Found them. They seem to be doing actual reads every month, since it does vary, but it didn't vary nearly enough the two months that only one person lived here. Still need to coordinate with a roommate to shut off the main and do a meter reading. Oh, and figure out how to read the drat thing. It's a digital meter and currently says 21991. Are you sure it's not a smart meter? If it is than your power company will have your usage (15 minute, hourly, daily, monthly) that you may have access to see. Hourly or 15 minute data could help you pin point the problem. *Edit* If you are still in GA it looks like Georgia Power has a program that switches meters to smart meters. See this for more information: http://www.georgiapower.com/residential/products-programs/my-power-usage/ John Kelly fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Mar 27, 2014 |
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Mar 27, 2014 02:08
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John Kelly posted:Are you sure it's not a smart meter? If it is than your power company will have your usage (15 minute, hourly, daily, monthly) that you may have access to see. Hourly or 15 minute data could help you pin point the problem. Yes, it's a smart meter. I can only view daily totals, but it looks like our apartment was using 35 kWh/day over the weekend when we were all out of town and everything was turned off and/or unplugged except the kitchen. That's still completely ridiculous, even if the appliances are older and less efficient?
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Mar 27, 2014 04:15
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GabrielAisling posted:Found them. They seem to be doing actual reads every month, since it does vary, but it didn't vary nearly enough the two months that only one person lived here. Still need to coordinate with a roommate to shut off the main and do a meter reading. Oh, and figure out how to read the drat thing. It's a digital meter and currently says 21991.
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Mar 27, 2014 04:21
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GabrielAisling posted:Yes, it's a smart meter. I can only view daily totals, but it looks like our apartment was using 35 kWh/day over the weekend when we were all out of town and everything was turned off and/or unplugged except the kitchen. That's still completely ridiculous, even if the appliances are older and less efficient? Yes, that is really high for the time of year where heating or cooling isn't required. For example, my consumption is around 7 kWh/day during the weekdays when I'm at work and 12 kWh/day during the weekends for a 930 sq ft apartment with single pane windows and older appliances. I would recommend turning off the breakers, like everyone is saying. It's a shame (and confusing for me) that you can't get 15 minute or hourly data from the meter. With that you could figure out if something communal is attached to your meter like the washer/dryer or outdoor lights. See how much past data from the meter you can get. With mine, I get 2 years worth of data so I can compare my usage to the person before me. At the very least you can rule your behavior out if the consumption didn't increase by much. John Kelly fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Mar 27, 2014 |
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Mar 27, 2014 13:01
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GabrielAisling posted:Yes, it's a smart meter. I can only view daily totals, but it looks like our apartment was using 35 kWh/day over the weekend when we were all out of town and everything was turned off and/or unplugged except the kitchen. That's still completely ridiculous, even if the appliances are older and less efficient? Someones leeching electricity off you to grow weed.
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Mar 27, 2014 14:00
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35kWh is nuts. During the middle of last summer in my large and old two bedroom apartment, I used 24kWh per day. I worked from home, running multiple computers and 2 window AC units pretty much 24/7.
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Mar 27, 2014 15:28
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Toshimo posted:
photomikey posted:That is the ugliest room I've ever seen. Put up some blackout curtains, and paint your door grey. Hiss when you see sunlight because you're about to become one of the mole people. Slightly more seriously though - rethink your stance on carpet, add some floor lamps, put some furniture in front of the power conduit, and figure out some way to secure some decoration to the walls. And stay over at a friends house as much as possible. Or just embrace it Ashcans posted:Tapestries on the walls (that will cover those conduits!), throw down a fur rug, hang a coat of arms over the fireplace.
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Mar 27, 2014 15:43
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I'm telling you, just go all in with it. Throw a Game of Thrones-themed house-warming party. You might as well have fun with it!vonnegutt posted:I was thinking a Twin Peaks style Pacific Northwest lodge, myself.
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Mar 27, 2014 16:24
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Now I feel like I have to have my meter checked again because I got down to like 15KWH by not being home very often this month. I average 28kwh on normal months & I do not use excessive electricity at all. My house is electric only though.
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Mar 27, 2014 18:01
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Ashcans posted:I'm telling you, just go all in with it. Throw a Game of Thrones-themed house-warming party. This would be my suggestion too. We have game of thrones wall hangings in our house cause we're nerdy uni students.
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Mar 28, 2014 03:42
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What can I do about a management company not sending a notice of rent increase? Our rent was increased around this time last year, right as a new management company took over. It was just increased again without a notice of any kind, I logged into the web portal to pay for April and saw the increase. They are required to give 30 days notice for this amount of increase. What should I do besides sending them an email asking what the gently caress? Can/should I report them before contacting them? This is in Los Angeles. I guess the main thing that annoys me about it is the fact that I think any kind of complaint will result in - at best - a waste of time for me, a letter being sent now, and the increase just happening next month anyway.
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Apr 1, 2014 15:03
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sirbeefalot posted:I guess the main thing that annoys me about it is the fact that I think any kind of complaint will result in - at best - a waste of time for me, a letter being sent now, and the increase just happening next month anyway.
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Apr 2, 2014 01:10
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photomikey posted:That is probably a correct summary. But you will avoid a month's worth of increase.
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Apr 2, 2014 01:53
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Read your lease. Are you on a month-to-month after the original term, or does your lease have an automatic rollover into another term after the end of the original term (after original 1 year, automatically renews for another 1 year if you don't give sufficient notice to leave)? If it's an auto-renewal, does it specify how long before the end of the term they have to provide notice of rent increase? Your only hope is that you rolled into a new term before they notified you of any increase for the new term. If you're month to month, they can just raise your rent before the next 1 month term and so it probably isn't worth upsetting the management over the small difference for 1 month.
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Apr 2, 2014 02:25
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Thanatosian posted:You will also piss off your landlord. If you're planning to continue living there, probably best off just paying it, though it is loving bullshit.
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Apr 2, 2014 04:35
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