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Any idea what this thing is next to my outlet?
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Jun 26, 2022 00:39
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It’s a light sensor, wired to one or both receptacles.
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Jun 26, 2022 00:41
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It's a 5G antenna bud. I'm sorry but your house is too infected to cure at this point.
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Jun 26, 2022 00:59
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PainterofCrap posted:It’s a light sensor, wired to one or both receptacles. Hm. I tried plugging a chainsaw in during the daytime and it didn’t work. I only tried one plug though. Hopefully the outlet works and it was just the light sensor activating.
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Jun 26, 2022 01:12
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Put a piece of electrical or duct tape over the sensor. That should trigger it. Or plug a lamp in there & see if it’s on later tonight.
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Jun 26, 2022 01:44
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SpartanIvy posted:It's a 5G antenna bud. I'm sorry but your house is too infected to cure at this point. Burn it to the ground
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Jun 26, 2022 05:47
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Is there anything wrong with mounting a hose reel to the outside of my chimney? It’s brick and I’d rather drill into that if possible than mess with the wood siding. It looks like the included anchors would go in about 1.5”. I would think it’s fine since people mount tvs above their brick fireplaces but want to ask first.
nwin fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Jun 26, 2022 |
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Jun 26, 2022 16:27
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Drilling into the brick, or the mortar Maybe mount a 1/2" piece of plywood to the mortar, then mount to the plywood
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Jun 26, 2022 19:22
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In some positive news, my ac installers weren’t completely inept. It turns out they did link the condensate line for the central ac unit upstairs into the gutter so it goes into the big pvc pipe which drains far from my house. They’re coming out for an inspection tomorrow so maybe I can figure out why they didn’t do the same thing for the split unit downstairs. Laziness or do split units just not produce a lot of condensate?
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Jun 26, 2022 20:43
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nwin posted:Laziness or do split units just not produce a lot of condensate? The former. Possibly also ineptitude and poor supervision.
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Jun 26, 2022 21:37
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Split unit in my old place did pull a ton of moisture out the air and the installer just had the line run down the outside wall. Ended up putting a hose on it to run away from the house. It will would fill a 5 gallon bucket in a few days during the summer.
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Jun 26, 2022 22:37
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Motronic posted:The former. Possibly also ineptitude and poor supervision. Any recommendations on how to link up my 1/2” pvc pipe containing the dehumidifier hose to the 4” pvc downspout? Not sure how I can tap into the 4” pipe short of just drilling into it and putting some silicon caulk or something around the 1/2” pvc pipe.
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Jun 26, 2022 23:25
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Thanks thread for getting me to look where my (rarely used) split drains and of course it’s right against the wall
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Jun 26, 2022 23:52
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 Picked up a trifuel generator from Costco today. When I had my meter replaced a few months ago (sized for a standby generator and tankless heater) they also installed a tap that I am almost certain is what the valve in this picture is for. What connections/hoses do I need to get to connect to the generator? The generator takes a 3/8" Flare Male according to the manual but concerned with what I should attach to the tap. Another valve? Which hose/etc. Appreciate any insights offered! Having my electrician set up an interlock and external plug to simplify during an outage. If I need a plumber (doubtful with the tap) I'm happy to hire but not sure for what in this arrangement.
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Jun 27, 2022 01:21
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TraderStav posted:
In super general terms, you should take that plug on your closed gas port to the hardware store to figure out what size it is if you don't already know. Then you should find yourself a nice flexible 1/2" gas hose with quick connects on each side (like what you would use for a gas grill) and see what adapters you need on each side to make it work. This is the one I'm using: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CVTZZCL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 In your situation I'd want a quick connect on both sides probably. For a grill it's fine to leave it on the grill. For a generator it might be a pain to have a coil of hose on it when you're moving the thing around/using it on a different fuel. Up to you. E: also, for all those adapters you're going to be putting together you need yellow teflon tape, not the white stuff that's rated for water. Motronic fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Jun 27, 2022 |
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Jun 27, 2022 01:29
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Motronic posted:In super general terms, you should take that plug on your closed gas port to the hardware store to figure out what size it is if you don't already know. Then you should find yourself a nice flexible 1/2" gas hose with quick connects on each side (like what you would use for a gas grill) and see what adapters you need on each side to make it work. Thanks! Super clear on next steps. Really jazzed about the elegant solution of using NG. No need to spill Gas on myself in the middle of the night and worry about making sure the tank is empty when I'm done. 75% of rating but 5500 watts should be more than enough for my needs. In an outage I can compromise on AC and fancy televisions.
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Jun 27, 2022 04:13
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StarkingBarfish posted:Nearly free of delicious lead: Update:  This is a huge relief. The paving contractor I've got is interesting, he seems a bit green but massively enthusiastic to do a good job. The advantage is he checks everything with me as he goes along and will change stuff without question if it's not up to standard. The disadvantage is he has me out every five minutes to consult and isn't particularly fast. I prefer it that way to the alternative though.
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Jun 27, 2022 16:55
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That looks really fuckin' sharp
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Jun 27, 2022 18:06
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I think it looks terrible, terribly awesome that is
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Jun 27, 2022 18:24
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I recently got a quote for a solar system and the price quoted to me seemed a bit on the high side so I asked for an itemized breakdown of the costs. After some back and forth with the sales dude's manager he presented me with this:quote:I was able to get the information from the installer and this is what they gave me. I recently had central AC installed and prior to them starting work, they gave me a very detailed listing of all the costs in real dollar amounts: how much for the AC unit, how many feet of ducting, permitting, etc. so naturally I found the above a bit confusing. I let them know exactly what info I was looking for and after some more back and forth I got: quote:for the price break down in terms of the industry we calculate it in Price Per Watt, simply just have to multiply the Price to the wattage of the system, just like the final PPW and the total investment of the project example on the bottom. Please see the following example below. Does this help? This continued on over several more emails, but I won't bore you with those. They still haven't been able to give me real-world dollar amounts for these items, and the project is on hold while I get a couple more quotes. So, is this typical for this industry? Or am I being weird for wanting this information? The experience so far has left me somewhat soured on the whole thing. We live in an area with plenty of sun and switching to solar would save us money but if this is how it's gonna be I don't know if I want to deal with it. Also, if anyone has had a good experience with solar and can recommend a company I'd be happy to get that info.
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Jun 27, 2022 20:21
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I’ve been doing similar research and it seems like the solar space is full of crooks. I’ve had success getting some recommendations from peers who have installed systems, although I’m on a longer timeline (before fed tax credits expire next year, or the CPUC fucks everyone) and haven’t tried to quote anything. It’s also extremely regional. What market are you in? $10k finance cost, lol. Can you pay outright?
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Jun 27, 2022 20:28
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Anza Borrego posted:I’ve been doing similar research and it seems like the solar space is full of crooks. I’ve had success getting some recommendations from peers who have installed systems, although I’m on a longer timeline (before fed tax credits expire next year, or the CPUC fucks everyone) and haven’t tried to quote anything. Don't sleep on the $10k for dealer too. Those two items making up 2/3. I work on the Utility side and we see how many terrible solar companies are out there conducting predatory practices. Also, do your own due diligence on the longevity of the price the Utility will pay you back. They could be using a value that is highly likely to be reduced in the next rate case the Utility files. That could delay your pay back period for years.
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Jun 27, 2022 20:32
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sporkstand posted:I recently got a quote for a solar system and the price quoted to me seemed a bit on the high side That's what you get, dealing with Ferengi
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Jun 27, 2022 20:35
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sporkstand posted:I recently got a quote for a solar system and the price quoted to me seemed a bit on the high side so I asked for an itemized breakdown of the costs. After some back and forth with the sales dude's manager he presented me with this: That's a stupidly high price to pay for solar. You can get a larger system from Tesla for half the cost. You can also get several quotes from Energysage.com. Tesla is almost always the far and away leader for kW/$, however. Right now, they offer a 7.2kW for $15k or 9.6kW for $20k. The bad thing about Tesla is their customer service sucks, but once the panels are up and running its not like you have to deal with them every day. If you like, I can send you over a referral link for their solar panels and we'd each get $300.
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Jun 27, 2022 20:40
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sporkstand posted:I recently got a quote for a solar system Really depends on how many habitable planets you get and how many are just useless rocks.
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Jun 27, 2022 20:49
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MrLogan posted:That's a stupidly high price to pay for solar. You can get a larger system from Tesla for half the cost. You can also get several quotes from Energysage.com. Thanks for all the info, yall. Send me that link I'll definitely take a look. I'm still trying to get answers on what some of the items are that were listed, "Dealer" is apparently the installation. The company that I'm referring to in my earlier post is "Powur" if anyone wants to know who to stay away from.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:04
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MrLogan posted:The bad thing about Tesla is their customer service sucks, but once the panels are up and running its not like you have to deal with them every day. This is one of the reasons they're so cheap, they literally don't have to give a poo poo and once the work has started you're not backing out even if you are hit with a year+ delay. And if you have any problems you might wind up waiting months or years for them to solve it through constant nagging while people just outright lie to you on the phone. $35k sounds like a mountain of money but at least you have someone to talk to if it goes wrong. Get Three Bids and none of them Tesla.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:05
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I had solar installed about a year ago now which was $21k all in for a 9.3kw system. This was 26 panels with individual modules with two sets of strings and the inverter. Installation was a complete dogs dinner where they sent a bunch of college kids without any supervision to do the work. They dropped panels and still installed them, incorrectly wired a bunch of stuff, ran conduit all around the front of the house damaging the stucco that faced the street and all this happened over two weeks rather than the one day it was supposed to be installed. Months go by where the city kept kicking it back because it wasn’t up to code while they hounded me for payment despite their contract saying they get paid when it is signed off by the city and turned on. Finally signed off and booked with the utility to turn it all in and due to the earlier discussed incorrect wiring and dropped panels it blew the inverter away as soon as it was turned on. Weeks more went by where the middle management idiots stated that since 3 months had not passed since signing the contract they were still on time and would fix it at some point. Eventually I went down to their office and got the ear of the owner who had someone come out the next day and use an inverter and panels from another job to finish mine while being very apologetic about the whole thing. Of the $21k I got $8k back in tax rebates and October to May this year didn’t pay any electric bills as the power being generated by the grid was more than I was using when it was dark. Sounds like it was resolved right? Well May 12th the second inverter died likely due to then installing it in direct sunlight. They warrantied it with the manufacture and got a new one installed in June 21st so it was out of commission for 40 days. If the company had disappeared between the install and the inverter dying I would have been out of luck I. The 25 year warranty but let’s be honest here they give those out because they know the company will be long gone usually by the time stuff is failing.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:08
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https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/powerhome-solar-shady-pitch Good video on the types of scum practices they are doing. This company changed its name after this story aired, just needs to get a little more out of this market and people won't notice!
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Jun 27, 2022 21:19
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MrLogan posted:That's a stupidly high price to pay for solar. You can get a larger system from Tesla for half the cost. You can also get several quotes from Energysage.com. This presumably doesn’t include battery storage, right?
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Jun 27, 2022 21:21
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Anza Borrego posted:This presumably doesn’t include battery storage, right? Lol of course not. And even when you add battery storage you still have to pay more if you want it to be able to run off of your own batteries when the grid is down because their default inverters/equipment setup isn't able to isolate properly to do this and the setup that does (which is what absolutely 100% of everyone actually wants and thinks they're getting) costs more.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:22
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Battery backup is going to run another $10k or so. I was looking into it since my utility company in AZ is subsidizing battery installs right now but even then it is still a decent chunk of money.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:25
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Anza Borrego posted:This presumably doesn’t include battery storage, right? Correct. Battery storage pretty much doubles the price.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:42
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Motronic posted:Lol of course not. Thankfully automatic grid isolating inverter setups are becoming standard availability with batteries, even if they cost more to setup that feature . (Beyond the raw labor and materials cost to put the battery wiring between the meter and the panel plus sizing the inverter to peak demand since you can't go over even a little bit without comical voltage sag or cutout. I know you know all this, but it turns out that adds up quick.) Also for folks with grid isolated HVAC systems that support utilty "demand notifications" I wonder how easy it is to wire that to your battery banks to crank the thermostat in the event you wind up on batteries? H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Jun 27, 2022 |
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Jun 27, 2022 21:44
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sporkstand posted:I recently got a quote for a solar system and the price quoted to me seemed a bit on the high side so I asked for an itemized breakdown of the costs. After some back and forth with the sales dude's manager he presented me with this: Your instinct to be nervous when you're getting snowed is a good one. As an adjuster I've gone through similar hijinks with solar companies after, say, a tree falls on the house, damaging the roof. Now we have to get the solar panels off to get to the roof, and guess what, the installer is based in California or Arizona, not New Jersey, and they farm out the franchises & installs to anyone with a pulse, no fear of heights, a screwdriver, and a pickup truck. I gather that there's some bizarre profit-sharing deal where the company ships the hardware to the local 'experts' (the aforementioned college kids) with some kind of fee to them, and what they can soak the homeowner for is all cheddar above that. Which explains why no one at these companies (when you can reach an actual human being) will tell you what the individual components cost them, what they are actually charging you for them, and how much labor is required to install them properly, etc. I got a price from a local roofer to remove & reset solar panels at $100 each. The solar folks warned that anyone else touching the panels would void the warranty. Out of the other side of their mouth, they no longer had any local franchisees, nor would they quote a per-panel rate. This reminds me of when, pre-internet, my wife called in a Colorado Prime salesman to persuade us to buy their delicious meat/poultry/seafood items by mail order. I gotta give him credit, the guy was good & he was smooth: I asked in about ten different ways what their pound price was for the various cuts of meat they were offering and, over 90-minutes, he managed to not only not answer directly, but also not look like a mendacious rear end in a top hat while doing it. It was fascinating, like watching Fox give the 50-solutions to mass shooting that don't involve addressing the issue directly. tl/dr: the good news is: you're smart enough to see BS. The bad news: almost all solar companies work this way, so good luck getting a direct, sane, time & material estimate. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 01:04 on Jun 28, 2022 |
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Jun 27, 2022 22:41
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The last time I talked to a solar salesman in Colorado he tried to factor my gas utilities into the projected bill savings
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Jun 28, 2022 00:00
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Think of the environmental benefits!! Actual thing from the app for my solar inverter.
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Jun 28, 2022 00:02
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BigPaddy posted:Think of the environmental benefits!! it's A Thing 
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Jun 28, 2022 00:14
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I mentioned when the solar OP asked in another thread that solar is largely a lifestyle choice outside of very specific areas for very specific houses/properties. The above is just more supporting evidence as to how it's sold. Because if solar companies provided real cost/benefit due diligence for their prospective customers there wouldn't be enough work to stay in business.
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Jun 28, 2022 00:20
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poo poo, it's not even the cost/benefit; they're duplicitious assholes straight out of the gate. Look, were I 30 or under right now, I would give serious thought to doing it even if my power bill didn't drop all that much. Every little bit helps. First thing I'd do is price it for to get all of the components myself & homebrew it. At least I'd have a solid number... PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Jun 28, 2022 |
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Jun 28, 2022 01:23
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