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H110Hawk posted:What is your inside temperature right now compared to outside? If you can stand adjusting that a degree or two by running your climate control system you are likely to notice a marked difference. Or heck crank it down and dry your place out. See how quickly it comes back after a few days of drying out. How well air sealed is your home? Pretty much the same. About 76/ 77. I turned on the AC for an hour or so and the RH dropped from 72% to 63%. Now it is back at 69%. It is well sealed to the outside, but it is a condo. 72% humidity outside right now, but for most of the last week it was between 80-100% (which translated to 65-80 indoors). Looking it up online tells me that the average relative humidity for this area is low 50%.
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Aug 28, 2020 23:32
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joepinetree posted:The small one? Doesn't seem to make much of a dent at all, but it's one of those really small single room ones. It pulls maybe a pint a day of water, and if there is a difference my hygrometer varies in the low single digits with it on (so from 80 to 78, for example). A dehumidifier that can only pull a pint of water a day out of your 65-80% humid air is just a waste of electricity. I have a 50pint Frigidaire in my basement set to 45% RH and I empty it about once a day. It doesn't run continuously, but likely 80% of the time. This particular model is discontinued but you can get the current version for about $200. I would recommend just buying one even if you're only using it a couple times a year, since obviously it is bothering you a bit. What I have: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidaire-50-Pint-Dehumidifier-FAD504DWD/203796607
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Aug 28, 2020 23:43
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joepinetree posted:Pretty much the same. About 76/ 77. I turned on the AC for an hour or so and the RH dropped from 72% to 63%. Now it is back at 69%. It is well sealed to the outside, but it is a condo. 72% humidity outside right now, but for most of the last week it was between 80-100% (which translated to 65-80 indoors). Looking it up online tells me that the average relative humidity for this area is low 50%. edit: when I was in South Florida, the apartment office had to send notices out because people were just opening the windows instead of leaving the AC running in the winter time. Temperature was fine but the dampness was causing apartments to grow mold. TheWevel fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Aug 29, 2020 |
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Aug 29, 2020 00:45
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joepinetree posted:Pretty much the same. About 76/ 77. I turned on the AC for an hour or so and the RH dropped from 72% to 63%. Now it is back at 69%. It is well sealed to the outside, but it is a condo. 72% humidity outside right now, but for most of the last week it was between 80-100% (which translated to 65-80 indoors). Looking it up online tells me that the average relative humidity for this area is low 50%. Set your AC to 73 or 74 for a few days and see if things improve? (Like, hit "hold" on your thermostat, don't let it turn off overnight or while away from the house.) Alternatively, you're going to burn electricity either way, I would drop the cash on worthwhile unit. Is your pint a day unit somehow getting stagnant air and you have a bone dry corner of a room? I assume you've moved it around and this is a dumb suggestion but I've definitely had forehead slapping moments of stupidity pointed out on these forums. 
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Aug 29, 2020 01:50
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Sirotan posted:A dehumidifier that can only pull a pint of water a day out of your 65-80% humid air is just a waste of electricity. I have a 50pint Frigidaire in my basement set to 45% RH and I empty it about once a day. It doesn't run continuously, but likely 80% of the time. This particular model is discontinued but you can get the current version for about $200. I would recommend just buying one even if you're only using it a couple times a year, since obviously it is bothering you a bit. Bought a homelabs one (top rated on consumer reports), hopefully that will do the trick. TheWevel posted:Yeah that's your problem. An AC is a whole house dehumidifier if it's actively cooling. I live in the swampy Southeast and I can't imagine leaving my thermostat that high in the summer but I know it's a regional thing. I didn't have AC when I lived in San Diego but humidity was rarely a problem there. I am originally from Brazil. We're breaking out the jackets and gloves when it gets to like 70. H110Hawk posted:Set your AC to 73 or 74 for a few days and see if things improve? (Like, hit "hold" on your thermostat, don't let it turn off overnight or while away from the house.) Alternatively, you're going to burn electricity either way, I would drop the cash on worthwhile unit. Is your pint a day unit somehow getting stagnant air and you have a bone dry corner of a room? I assume you've moved it around and this is a dumb suggestion but I've definitely had forehead slapping moments of stupidity pointed out on these forums. I left it by the beverage fridge that had the condensation problem. Hopefully the homelabs unit i bought will take care of it. Funny what being the owner does. I'd never worry about high external humidity maybe leading to mold when I was a renter.
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Aug 29, 2020 02:58
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Recommendations for programmable thermostats? The tenants in the house I just bought took the one that was here when I saw the place, and it looked pretty nice.
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Aug 29, 2020 18:45
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Lawnie posted:Recommendations for programmable thermostats? The tenants in the house I just bought took the one that was here when I saw the place, and it looked pretty nice. What are you looking for? The regular rear end $45 Honewell at LowesDepot does just fine for basic scheduling. If you want/need something fancier you may be into IoT junk.
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Aug 29, 2020 21:21
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The wifi Honeywell ones aren't bad, you can even lock the screen but still control it from your phone easily enough. We have two at the beach house and I put my house on the same login for convenience, but I also trust my dad not to gently caress with me.
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Aug 29, 2020 21:38
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Alarbus posted:The wifi Honeywell ones aren't bad, you can even lock the screen but still control it from your phone easily enough. We have two at the beach house and I put my house on the same login for convenience, but I also trust my dad not to gently caress with me. Motronic posted:What are you looking for? The regular rear end $45 Honewell at LowesDepot does just fine for basic scheduling. If you want/need something fancier you may be into IoT junk. I don’t really want much IoT junk but it would be nice to be able to program from my phone because my fiancée is cold-blooded and also forgetful. The Honeywell T5 looked pretty nice and reasonably priced (especially at 11% off from Menards in the form of a rebate) but i was worried it was as you say IoT junk. Thanks for the advice. I’m sure I’ll be around here more. Moving in this week and it’s my first home ownership experience.
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Aug 29, 2020 21:44
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Lawnie posted:I don’t really want much IoT junk but it would be nice to be able to program from my phone because my fiancée is cold-blooded and also forgetful. The Honeywell T5 looked pretty nice and reasonably priced (especially at 11% off from Menards in the form of a rebate) but i was worried it was as you say IoT junk. Thanks for the advice. Whatever you decide to go with, make sure to check if your power company sells them at a discount or offers rebates for them. I was able to buy my Nest for like half the price by buying from my power company. Personally, I liked the Nest because while I am not too much into the whole IoT thing, Nest being able to detect when you are at home and when you are away and adjust accordingly has saved me a lot on energy bills. A simpler thermostat with scheduling might do for people with regular schedules, but Im a college professor with completely different teaching schedules every semester, so that helps me a lot. joepinetree fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Aug 30, 2020 |
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Aug 30, 2020 01:50
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joepinetree posted:Personally, I liked the Nest because while I am not too much into the whole IoT thing, Nest being able to detect when you are at home and when you are away and adjust accordingly has saved me a lot on energy bills. A simpler thermostat with scheduling might do for people with regular schedules, but Im a college professor with completely different teaching schedules every semester, so that helps me a lot. Non-IoT thermostats with occupancy sensors have existed even before the IoT ones.
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Aug 30, 2020 15:40
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After rebates my power company is selling a Honeywell T9 thermostat with one room sensor for $120 so I grabbed one of those. They also offer some of the Phillips Hue lights at a discount, which was another relatively minor IoT thing I have been considering for a few lights in the house. I have absolutely no interest in networking a bunch of systems together, though.
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Aug 30, 2020 17:15
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I use the nest one because it uses the same app as the cameras I use to talk to the cat from work.
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Aug 31, 2020 01:26
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Lawnie posted:After rebates my power company is selling a Honeywell T9 thermostat with one room sensor for $120 so I grabbed one of those. They also offer some of the Phillips Hue lights at a discount, which was another relatively minor IoT thing I have been considering for a few lights in the house. I have absolutely no interest in networking a bunch of systems together, though. I have a t9 and 2 extra sensors it's nice
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Aug 31, 2020 01:48
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So, I bought a home in April and got notice today my property taxes will be increasing by 33% or so next year, which I expected. How far ahead of time will my mortgage company be aware of this? Should I just started putting in additional escrow each month?
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Aug 31, 2020 06:22
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spinst posted:So, I bought a home in April and got notice today my property taxes will be increasing by 33% or so next year, which I expected. How far ahead of time will my mortgage company be aware of this? Should I just started putting in additional escrow each month? Taxes are paid in arrears so they have a year to figure it out. When this happened to me Wells Fargo just sent me a letter saying the escrow account would be short so I could either pay a lump sum or they would automatically increase my monthly payment by enough to make up the difference. You shouldn’t have to do anything on your own but pay attention so your house doesn’t accidentally end up getting auctioned off.
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Aug 31, 2020 06:30
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This weekend was a hard lesson that the time and efficiency difference between a 1 man homeowner and a 3 man painting crew is gargantuan.
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Aug 31, 2020 06:49
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Democratic Pirate posted:This weekend was a hard lesson that the time and efficiency difference between a 1 man homeowner and a 3 man painting crew is gargantuan. *opens up his marriage so he can paint the house*
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Aug 31, 2020 06:58
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Even though we, the bank, and the county all knew our taxes were going up by a huge amount (~$550 to ~$4500/yr), the bank has to wait until escrow review time (or after the first half payment was paid, I don't recall) before they adjusted our escrow balance requirement and the monthly payment. We just planned ahead, held roughly what we expected our monthly payment would be, and put the difference in savings until we had to make up the difference. Property taxes and escrow accounts are a pain, especially on new construction or any situation where the taxes are going up a lot for the ownership change. Best you can do is plan for it, even though it seems like the bank doesn't.
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Aug 31, 2020 15:48
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My understanding is that escrow charges/calculations are pretty tightly regulated, and also reactionary. They're initially set up based on estimates, but after that they are recalculated every year based on past amounts paid out. So big changes in insurance/tax amounts can screw them over, and you can't do much about it. So if you know a big change is coming, just set the money aside so that when your escrow sends a shortage notice, you're ready to pay it.
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Aug 31, 2020 16:01
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Outside of "people can't plan for a bill" is there any other reason for paying taxes and insurance via escrow? All of that seems to make planning expenses harder not easier.
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Aug 31, 2020 16:13
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El Mero Mero posted:Outside of "people can't plan for a bill" is there any other reason for paying taxes and insurance via escrow? All of that seems to make planning expenses harder not easier. It's in the lender's interest to make drat sure the insurance and taxes are paid on the thing securing the money they lent you.
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Aug 31, 2020 16:21
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Some lenders require it? I kind of hate it, though I recognize that I am very good about budgeting and I would guess the majority of people are not, so forcing people to prepay their taxes via escrow is going to save a bunch of people from becoming delinquent. Right now my escrow balance is "advanced" since my taxes went way up after the initial reassessment, so it will be interesting to see how much they increase my escrow payment next year. I may just call my lender and see if I can opt out of escrow altogether.
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Aug 31, 2020 16:22
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Because the lender says so. Escrow is usually a requirement. That gives them the ability to directly hold you responsible for paying your taxes and insurance, and failure to do either of those puts the property at risk (tax lien or being uninsured). Since the property is their collateral, they don't like that very much. Sure they can say, "hey if you let insurance lapse we'll foreclose" or something. But that's a process and more effort. It's easier to just force you to pay it as part of your monthly payment to them so they don't have to worry about it. It's proactive on their part.
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Aug 31, 2020 16:23
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Sirotan posted:forcing people to prepay their taxes via escrow is going to save a bunch of people from becoming delinquent. See also, automatic withholding of income taxes by your employer. Though, I suspect the real reason why this is required is because if everyone had to pay quarterly taxes, they'd really start to wonder why they are cutting a check for thousands of dollars to the Fed and state governments and receiving almost nothing in return.
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Aug 31, 2020 16:37
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B-Nasty posted:See also, automatic withholding of income taxes by your employer. Absolutely. The legend was that someone at the Treasury who ran department stores came up with automatic withholding.
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Aug 31, 2020 17:11
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El Mero Mero posted:Outside of "people can't plan for a bill" is there any other reason for paying taxes and insurance via escrow? All of that seems to make planning expenses harder not easier. I love it. Makes it way easier. One autopaid bill per month. Why worry about remembering to mail in those stubs twice a year when Wells Fargo can do it for me and pay me a statutory 2% interest?
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Aug 31, 2020 20:30
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H110Hawk posted:statutory 2% interest My state doesn't require this 
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Aug 31, 2020 20:41
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H110Hawk posted:I love it. Makes it way easier. One autopaid bill per month. Why worry about remembering to mail in those stubs twice a year when Wells Fargo can do it for me and pay me a statutory 2% interest? Yeah I don't see how having a flat monthly bill every month that doesn't change would make planning for expenses more difficult.
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Aug 31, 2020 20:59
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FCKGW posted:Yeah I don't see how having a flat monthly bill every month that doesn't change would make planning for expenses more difficult. Because it's not really flat. When taxes/insurance change, which they do pretty much every year for most people, the escrow will be short, so you'll owe an "unpredictable" lump sum at some point. But that's the "well actually" part. Honestly it's a nuisance but still easier to deal with than cutting 2 additional checks at some point in they ear.
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Aug 31, 2020 21:12
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If you ignore it and use your mortgage autopay they will adjust it for you, and I would rather have the small adjustments over 12 months rather than all at once. Though now I want to dump the excess into my escrow for that 2% CA mandated interest rate.
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Aug 31, 2020 22:46
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DaveSauce posted:Because it's not really flat. When taxes/insurance change, which they do pretty much every year for most people, the escrow will be short, so you'll owe an "unpredictable" lump sum at some point.
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Aug 31, 2020 22:59
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What is everybody using for water/leak sensors? I'm terms of brand name it looks like Samsung and Honeywell sell them, and then a bunch of fly by night brands Putting in (two!) washers and a dryer this week, would like to find out about the leak before my hardwood floors or neighbors do
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Sep 1, 2020 03:42
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DaveSauce posted:Because the lender says so. Oh, strange - my lender didn't seem to care if I opted in or not. H110Hawk posted:I love it. Makes it way easier. One autopaid bill per month. Why worry about remembering to mail in those stubs twice a year when Wells Fargo can do it for me and pay me a statutory 2% interest? Also, this makes sense as well and I'll probably opt back into escrow when I refi for that. I must have missed that first when I too out our mortgage.
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Sep 1, 2020 03:56
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El Mero Mero posted:Oh, strange - my lender didn't seem to care if I opted in or not. Loan products for well qualified buyers putting down 20% seemed to have this as an optional thing when I was last mortgage shopping a couple years ago.
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Sep 1, 2020 03:58
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Motronic posted:Loan products for well qualified buyers putting down 20% seemed to have this as an optional thing when I was last mortgage shopping a couple years ago. That must be a major factor as when I was buying my first home when I was in my early 20s they were very firm about the escrow. A few years back at a different house I called Chase (they bought it, I'd never originate with them and pay sticker) and they cancelled it no question. I recently refinance to a regional bank and I picked the no escrow option. Was great. In YNAB I have my mortgage on one category and taxes and insurance on another that has 1/12 each month of previous years amount. Life is good. I occasionally got a request to show an insurance declaration or proof of payment of taxes but I cannot remember actually submitting them. Must've since my house is still mine.
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Sep 1, 2020 04:45
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Typically after the first 12 months of on-time payments you can drop escrow if you want to. I'm lazy as gently caress and hate having to keep track of extra things so I kept it.
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Sep 1, 2020 05:15
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kw0134 posted:For fiscally responsible people it's a nuisance. For people who'd as likely spend the money instead of budgeting it properly then it's better to have a smaller lump sum that is a surprise than the huge lump sum of the whole tax bill they haven't been actively socking away for and "surprising" them. If every month I have 1/12 of my tax bill going into escrow or 1/12 budgeted into my savings what difference does it make? Why does having an escrow make someone fiscally responsible or not?
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Sep 1, 2020 05:34
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First quote for a second floor deck demo and full rebuild, 8x12 feet, and putting in a 8.5x13 foot patio was about 15.6k plus tax. I’ll be getting more than one quote but who boy, was hoping for at/under 12. If I want the city to have them inspect/pull permits they will do the work, just forward along the bill from the city (1-2k they said). Apparently for most like-for-like they said most people don’t bother?
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Sep 1, 2020 05:48
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Hadlock posted:What is everybody using for water/leak sensors? I'm terms of brand name it looks like Samsung and Honeywell sell them, and then a bunch of fly by night brands I ordered one for my washer that will shut the valves off, but I should have got one that kills the power to the washer in case the drain backs up and floods. It hasn't happened yet which you may have been led to believe, but when I realized it I was a little disappointed that I failed to protect myself in the one way I've ever had it fail. I saw ones that will connect to the water main valve and shut the valve automatically, I'm interested in that one and curious if anyone has tried it. The configuration of my valves seems perfect for it though. I would hope but do not expect there is an insurance savings to have one. Seems better to have one that takes action when there's a problem more than one that just alerts you. Doesn't do a lot of good if it's going off while you're gone.
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Sep 1, 2020 06:05
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