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My electric usage for November-December was 1570 kwH
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Jan 7, 2023 05:31
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| # ? May 9, 2024 17:39 |
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I used just under 10K KwH for all of 2022.
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Jan 7, 2023 05:47
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I live in a cave and cook via solar oven 
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Jan 7, 2023 05:52
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Tiny Timbs posted:What the gently caress is your house made of that it costs $450 a month for a heat pump to warm it to 66F in SoCal 2300 square foot house, really big living room with high ceilings, single-pane aluminum windows from the 60s. There's a lot of things working against us haha. On the plus side, the house is pretty cool in the summer, so I imagine our usage will be a lot lower then. It's still not fun to play $0.50 per kWh no matter what time of day I use electricity, and apparently our gas costs are doubling from $2.50 per therm to $5.00 per therm this month.
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Jan 7, 2023 05:54
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ROJO posted:HAHAHAHA not even close! Around 10 years ago maybe, but not even close now. Current PGE E-1 plan tiers: Yeah I had a hearty lol at the idea of .15/kWh here in California. Just turned on the solar and got grandfathered into NEM 2.0 here last week because it's so bad here. Uh...we have a 300-400 KwH per month usage...you'd have electricity bills in excess of $1,500 a month here at your usage.
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Jan 7, 2023 05:58
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illcendiary posted:2300 square foot house, really big living room with high ceilings, single-pane aluminum windows from the 60s. There's a lot of things working against us haha. On the plus side, the house is pretty cool in the summer, so I imagine our usage will be a lot lower then. It's still not fun to play $0.50 per kWh no matter what time of day I use electricity, and apparently our gas costs are doubling from $2.50 per therm to $5.00 per therm this month. You're on SoCal electric? Jesus christ.
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Jan 7, 2023 06:05
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BonerGhost posted:You're on SoCal electric? Jesus christ. SDGE, the San Diego mafia! Truly the most expensive utility in the nation, somehow exceeding electricity costs in Hawaii
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Jan 7, 2023 06:28
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illcendiary posted:SDGE, the San Diego mafia! Truly the most expensive utility in the nation, somehow exceeding electricity costs in Hawaii Howdy neighbor! How do you like the heat pump? I’ve got to do solar first but an HVAC heat pump is next on my list
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Jan 7, 2023 08:34
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So I hosed up and need a bit of advice. I put in a new attic access ladder a couple of months ago, and did a poor job insulating the thing, so the wood around it is moist and has a bit of mildew growing on it. How do I proceed? Can I just spray some foam insulation in there despite it being moist? Do I need to pull it out, scrape off the moist bits and can I then put it right back in with better insulation? Is it better to wait until summer where I expect it'll dry out?
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Jan 7, 2023 12:50
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Anza Borrego posted:Howdy neighbor! Well, they certainly work if that’s what you’re asking. We have a 4br/2.5.5ba home with a single 18k BTU unit in the living room and 9k BTU units in three of the bedrooms. These all tie into a five head condenser unit in our backyard that’s extremely quiet. We left the last bedroom and kitchen unserviced because of cost. We spent extra to get the fancy ceiling mounted units and not the ones that stick out of the wall. If we had opted for wall units we could’ve had an 18k in the living room, a 12k in the dining room/kitchen, and 4 9k units (one in each bedroom), all tying to two separate condensers, all for less money. But my wife wanted something less obtrusive and I agreed with her. The whole “service one room instead of the whole house” thing works like a charm. The problem is that our living room is huge (~500 square feet) and sort of bleeds over to the dining room and kitchen, so it’s a lot for even one 18k BTU unit to handle. For where we sit in the living room, it’s definitely warm, but between a large volume and the aforementioned single pane windows and gaps in our older doors, it struggles for the rest of the space. It works well for the bedrooms too, but we have three cats, two of whom sleep in bed with us but have their litter box and food in the laundry room, so we have to leave our bedroom door cracked a bit. This means our master bedroom unit has to work overtime, leading to the “high” energy bills I mentioned before. Again, I don’t think the usage is high for such a big house, it’s just taking getting used to. It’s just part of the cost of living in this dumb town. All in all I think a good purchase, though there are times I wish I had stuck it out with the old crappy furnace that the house came with for this winter, used the money for solar, and upgraded the HVAC at a later date. But alas. Gonna try to go the solar route soon if I can scrape the cash together before NEM 3.0 goes into effect in April.
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Jan 7, 2023 15:40
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Just a thought about the insane energy usage I lived in a top-bottom duplex, was really close friends with the upstairs neighbor, they always bitched and moaned about their electric bill. I just assumed it was because they were on the upstairs unit. Anyways long story short someone crawled into the attic for some reason, two of the insulated vent duct pipes were not fully connected, and a third was just fully disconnected. They were shooting an enormous amount of AC into their attic
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Jan 7, 2023 16:27
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What are peoples’ thoughts on using Drano? I have a kiddo who loves to get toothpaste and god knows what else jammed into the sink drain. I’ve used Drano in the past and it worked great, but that was in a rental.
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Jan 8, 2023 21:14
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hattersmad posted:What are peoples’ thoughts on using Drano? I have a kiddo who loves to get toothpaste and god knows what else jammed into the sink drain. I’ve used Drano in the past and it worked great, but that was in a rental. Go for it, follow the directions on the bottle. I have found some old school plumbers tell you not to use it as a bold faced way to get their trip fee and spend 30 seconds rodding, acid liquid seems fine though.
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Jan 8, 2023 21:16
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Draino is great stuff. I used half a bottle of the stuff to clear a slow draining... Something, then went around the house pouring it down any other underperforming drains until I ran out. I don't like leaving bottles of it in the house, but it's super amazing stuff
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Jan 8, 2023 22:06
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Hadlock posted:Draino is great stuff. I used half a bottle of the stuff to clear a slow draining... Something, then went around the house pouring it down any other underperforming drains until I ran out. I don't like leaving bottles of it in the house, but it's super amazing stuff Plumbers always tell me not to use drano, but I think it's because I can fix a thing with  and they want to charge me hundreds of dollars.
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Jan 8, 2023 23:00
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Just be aware there are different versions of drano for different problems. (like hair, food stuffs, grease)
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Jan 8, 2023 23:10
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Poldarn posted:Plumbers always tell me not to use drano, but I think it's because I can fix a thing with It's because long term use of it incorrectly can cause expensive damage to your pipes. Just get a drain snake and learn to use it if you have regular clogs like this. They'll be close to the sink and easy to get out.
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Jan 8, 2023 23:45
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Motronic posted:It's because long term use of it incorrectly can cause expensive damage to your pipes. Just get a drain snake and learn to use it if you have regular clogs like this. They'll be close to the sink and easy to get out. I get a clog like once every three years, and it's usually when SOMEONE has been using coconut oil on their hair and not getting it out with enough shampoo.
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Jan 9, 2023 00:03
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Drano is fine for very occasional use with robust plumbing; it’s chronic use on metal drain lines that can corrode them to failure
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Jan 9, 2023 00:22
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PainterofCrap posted:Drano is fine for very occasional use with robust plumbing; it’s chronic use on metal drain lines that can corrode them to failure This is correct. Seconding getting a drain snake.
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Jan 9, 2023 00:41
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imo if it’s sink drains then just get used to cleaning the drain assembly and area above the trap The ones I have all have a push button stoppers that unscrew with all the innards for cleaning. Using drano would be more effort.
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Jan 9, 2023 00:59
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Step 1 for us is always this guy (or something similar, there's a dozen like it): https://www.lowes.com/pd/Cobra-Plastic-Drain-stick/1000757992 Keep meaning to get a proper snake, but really only because it would help clear our gutter downspouts when they get clogged in the spring. Have yet to encounter a clog that the above thing can't clear. Be forewarned: if hair is the culprit, you will NOT like what that thing brings back up.
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Jan 9, 2023 02:50
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DaveSauce posted:Step 1 for us is always this guy (or something similar, there's a dozen like it): One of the few times I've ever barfed as a sober adult was when I used one of these to pull the leavings of two teenage girl's hair and one teenage boy's god knows what out of the tub drain when we bought this house. Easily five or six feet of rotting hair semen rope. The smell was unbelievable. Edit would you call that a remnant or a leaving? Either way it smelled like Cthulus dick. BigHead fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Jan 9, 2023 |
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Jan 9, 2023 03:17
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I use lye because of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm2CE2e_3To Either end up using half a bottle of liquid stuff or just use a tablespoon of lye, $4 lasts you most of a year. Performance seems comparable but the price is way better.
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Jan 9, 2023 11:39
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Anyone have reccomendations for a roofing company in the east bay? Or bay? Found a slow seep in our attic during the heavy rains. Thankfully it never went past this, but we gotta get it fixed. Gonna be fun trying to schedule a roofer after all this rain, I'm sure they're all booked out.  
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Jan 9, 2023 17:19
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So it’s not leaking at that flue pipe; it’s the copper vent pipe behind it. You may need a new pipe jack (interface between the roof & pipe) OR There is insufficient coverage on the upslope-side of the jack - meaning that the gap between two tabs on a shingle is longer than the metal flange of the jack under the shingle, leaving a small spot where water can seep through. If you can get up there, take a good close look down at the gaps between the tabs. Using a paint scraper or flat-bar, pry up the tabs on the course on the high side & see if you can locate it. If the pipe jack is fine, you can lay part of a shingle or a piece of felt (tarpaper) under the shingles, or use good roofing silicone SPARINGLY to seal it. If you have yo get someone in, roofer or siding guy should be able to seal it for under $300 and replace the jack for under $500 (ridiculous pandemic pricing)
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Jan 9, 2023 18:45
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Hadlock posted:Just a thought about the insane energy usage Yeah, poo poo like that happens. My last house was built in '83, and the furnace was replaced in '94. I bought it in '06. When I bought it, my inspector found 7 ducts coming off the HVAC plenum when there were only 6 vents in the house. Turns out the idiot contractor accidentally hooked the fresh air duct to the conditioned air plenum, and was blowing 1/7 of the conditioned air straight outside. Probably more like 1/6 because that duct was one of the shortest runs in the house. For 12 years.
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Jan 12, 2023 20:22
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I have fully groverfied and will be stamping my own permit set drawings
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Jan 13, 2023 02:22
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Hey house thread, I got a notice today about a project to run power lines just down the block from my house. The pamphlet we were given says that there are a couple potential routes that have not been decided on yet, but looking at the map, one route goes south of my block and the other route goes north, so either way, we’re going be only a few houses down from transmission lines. The info packet says we have been notified of the project as we will be affected by it. What it doesn’t say is how we will be affected by it. From the quick googling I’ve done, it looks like the lines will lower our property value, cause a buzzing noise (lol, we already live next to train tracks) and potentially cause health risks from emf exposure. I’m not so sure of the veracity of that last one, but one of the links I found mentioned links to childhood leukaemia. As someone with a 2 year old, this is at the very least concerning. I’m also wondering if there will be issues regarding the actual construction of these lines. Would it mean scheduled power outages or something? Anyway, I’m just wondering if anyone has had experience with this kinda thing. We’re in a not super great neighbourhood, but we’re just down the block from a playground/spray park which my daughter loves and are quite close to several schools.
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Jan 13, 2023 03:04
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The EMF thing is BS, but people believe it so it will 100% lower the desirability of your house and therefore depress the value. They're also generally considered a bit of an eyesore and a bit of a nuisance, which means all things being equal people will be more eager to buy a house identical to yours that doesn't have the power lines nearby.
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Jan 13, 2023 03:12
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Cyrano4747 posted:The EMF thing is BS, but people believe it so it will 100% lower the desirability of your house and therefore depress the value. They're also generally considered a bit of an eyesore and a bit of a nuisance, which means all things being equal people will be more eager to buy a house identical to yours that doesn't have the power lines nearby. I figured as much. It read a bit like the “5G will give you cancer” stuff, but I’m also no medical or radiation expert. Our house was already on the cheap side from being in a blue collar, highish crime area next to the train tracks. Our property value has been lowering each year we’re been here anyway. I guess this will just sink it even more.
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Jan 13, 2023 03:27
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Nessa posted:Hey house thread, I got a notice today about a project to run power lines just down the block from my house. The pamphlet we were given says that there are a couple potential routes that have not been decided on yet, but looking at the map, one route goes south of my block and the other route goes north, so either way, we’re going be only a few houses down from transmission lines. The info packet says we have been notified of the project as we will be affected by it. What it doesn’t say is how we will be affected by it. Idk if it’s right for your situation but I’d imagine an eminent domain attorney would be knowledgeable about this. Most rep on contingency so a free consult is likely.
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Jan 13, 2023 03:44
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Nessa posted:I figured as much. It read a bit like the “5G will give you cancer” stuff, but I’m also no medical or radiation expert. I hope you just arrived at your home otherwise that is like a standard deviation away from what property value has done in most USA major metro areas for the last 5 years.
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Jan 13, 2023 04:09
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Inner Light posted:I hope you just arrived at your home otherwise that is like a standard deviation away from what property value has done in most USA major metro areas for the last 5 years. We’ve been here about 6 years I think. Also, in Canada, not the US. Houses everywhere else keep getting more expensive, but I guess our neighbourhood is tanking. CarForumPoster posted:Idk if it’s right for your situation but I’d imagine an eminent domain attorney would be knowledgeable about this. Most rep on contingency so a free consult is likely. I think I’ll probably just send an email for general questions. I don’t wanna go through the effort to register for their virtual info sessions. I doubt any property will need to be taken, since there is city owned land next to the train tracks, but who knows.
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Jan 13, 2023 04:21
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illcendiary posted:Well, they certainly work if that’s what you’re asking. We have a 4br/2.5.5ba home with a single 18k BTU unit in the living room and 9k BTU units in three of the bedrooms. These all tie into a five head condenser unit in our backyard that’s extremely quiet. We left the last bedroom and kitchen unserviced because of cost. That’s the kind of opining I was looking for, thanks! I’ve got my 2nd solar installer site walk tomorrow and would be happy to share info with you if you’re interested.
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Jan 13, 2023 04:36
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I realized earlier last week that I had not changed the top filter on the microwave exhaust. I'd done the bottom one (it's an above-stove unit) about every six months, but in the 2+ years I've owned the place, I hadn't done the top one since it has a combined vent to exterior for the stove. The discussion about gas stoves vs electric reminded me of this. I ordered the right filters, and then went o go complete the task. The previous resident hadn't done it either, and I question if the original owner/builder did it. This is years and years and years of grease. I don't know if it's 12 years of grease, but holy poo poo.  I'm digging and scraping and digging and it just keeps going and going and going. I've scrubbed cleaner food-service fry hoods than this thing. 
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Jan 13, 2023 05:09
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Wait why did my microwave just start playing boss music?
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Jan 13, 2023 05:13
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Sounds like your microwave was extra safe by having grease make the radiation safety holes in the door glass even harder to get through.
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Jan 13, 2023 05:20
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Inner Light posted:Sounds like your microwave was extra safe by having grease make the radiation safety holes in the door glass even harder to get through. The grease takes the radiation bullet for you
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Jan 13, 2023 15:19
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| # ? May 9, 2024 17:39 |
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Peanut butter has a high percentage of fat/oil in it, like grease. Lead is used for radiation shielding. The symbol for lead on the periodic table is Pb (peanut butter). Therefore, grease is effective radiation shielding.
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Jan 13, 2023 15:23
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