Energy Thread: Electricity Edition

Building Bag End? Did your front fall off? More leaks than a Chinese steamboat? Show us your pinterest projects!
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lagunasecaballs
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Quick note to everyone switching to LED: if you have a shitload of LED fixtures and LED retrofits in your home, look into installing a surge protector on your house panel. Get one with a decent-ish warranty and you can get a new one if a surge takes out the device. LEDs are wonderful, but they are delicate in comparison to their predecessors. Power surges will burn out LEDs with a quickness if your house isn't protected.

It's also just generally a good idea since we all have fancy gadgets and TVs.
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troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:55 am
Big Brain Bradley wrote:
yea but you have a ~30% efficiency on a carnot heat pump vs. 100% efficiency with electric heating.

Yes the higher delta does eat your lunch in many cases, but its not a fair 1:1 comparision.
The bills don't lie. In real world use, heating is 3x the cost of cooling unless you live in a place with no winter.
I'm not saying you are wrong, just pointing out that its not that simple.

In my old house down here in a much milder winter and much hotter summer My winter high was ~the summer high with electric heat.
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lagunasecaballs wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:57 am Quick note to everyone switching to LED: if you have a shitload of LED fixtures and LED retrofits in your home, look into installing a surge protector on your house panel. Get one with a decent-ish warranty and you can get a new one if a surge takes out the device. LEDs are wonderful, but they are delicate in comparison to their predecessors. Power surges will burn out LEDs with a quickness if your house isn't protected.

It's also just generally a good idea since we all have fancy gadgets and TVs.
:ohdang: Not a bad thought.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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troyguitar
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Detroit wrote:
lagunasecaballs wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 11:57 am Quick note to everyone switching to LED: if you have a shitload of LED fixtures and LED retrofits in your home, look into installing a surge protector on your house panel. Get one with a decent-ish warranty and you can get a new one if a surge takes out the device. LEDs are wonderful, but they are delicate in comparison to their predecessors. Power surges will burn out LEDs with a quickness if your house isn't protected.

It's also just generally a good idea since we all have fancy gadgets and TVs.
:ohdang: Not a bad thought.
I know that I need that but have been too lazy/cheap to figure it out.

Ideally I'd have a whole power conditioning system that included a massive UPS backup battery pack and a couple of small wind turbines and solar panels which charge them - with grid power only being drawn as necessary.
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troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:02 pm

Ideally I'd have a whole power conditioning system that included a massive UPS backup battery pack and a couple of small wind turbines and solar panels which charge them - with grid power only being drawn as necessary.
wouldn't we all?

:troywax:
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Big Brain Bradley wrote:
troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:02 pm

Ideally I'd have a whole power conditioning system that included a massive UPS backup battery pack and a couple of small wind turbines and solar panels which charge them - with grid power only being drawn as necessary.
wouldn't we all?

:troywax:
If we could know that we'd be able to have jobs here for 20 years it would be a net zero cost. Maybe even 10 years depending on the details.
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troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:08 pm
Big Brain Bradley wrote:
wouldn't we all?

:troywax:
If we could know that we'd be able to have jobs here for 20 years it would be a net zero cost. Maybe even 10 years depending on the details.
yea but without the cash to do it how do you pay for such a thing.

This is at the core of our energy 'problem'. People are willing to do it, no one is willing to loan them cash for it.
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Big Brain Bradley wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:53 pm
troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:08 pm
If we could know that we'd be able to have jobs here for 20 years it would be a net zero cost. Maybe even 10 years depending on the details.
yea but without the cash to do it how do you pay for such a thing.

This is at the core of our energy 'problem'. People are willing to do it, no one is willing to loan them cash for it.
You couldn't have rolled something like that into your house building loan?

In theory we could pay cash to do something like that but the chances of living in the same house for more than a few more years are near zero - and AFAIK those things add zero to property resale values. If anything it might reduce the property value, dat "complex eyesore" :rolleyes:
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troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:15 pm
Big Brain Bradley wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:53 pm

yea but without the cash to do it how do you pay for such a thing.

This is at the core of our energy 'problem'. People are willing to do it, no one is willing to loan them cash for it.
You couldn't have rolled something like that into your house building loan?

In theory we could pay cash to do something like that but the chances of living in the same house for more than a few more years are near zero - and AFAIK those things add zero to property resale values. If anything it might reduce the property value, dat "complex eyesore" :rolleyes:
nope. Non-standard shit had to come out of pocket in a way. It all boils down to what the bank thinks its worth off the plans, then the appraiser thinks its worth based on area/comps.
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Doh.

So the problem isn't the banks so much as that people in general do not value this stuff. If it contributed to property values then banks would loan money for it. :disappoint:
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troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:24 pm Doh.

So the problem isn't the banks so much as that people in general do not value this stuff. If it contributed to property values then banks would loan money for it. :disappoint:
its a chicken and egg problem really.
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Big Brain Bradley wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:53 pm
troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:08 pm
If we could know that we'd be able to have jobs here for 20 years it would be a net zero cost. Maybe even 10 years depending on the details.
yea but without the cash to do it how do you pay for such a thing.

This is at the core of our energy 'problem'. People are willing to do it, no one is willing to loan them cash for it.
We should start a company that will loan them the cash.
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SAWCE wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:41 pm
Big Brain Bradley wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:53 pm

yea but without the cash to do it how do you pay for such a thing.

This is at the core of our energy 'problem'. People are willing to do it, no one is willing to loan them cash for it.
We should start a company that will loan them the cash.
but i have no cash
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troyguitar
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SAWCE wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:41 pm
Big Brain Bradley wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 4:53 pm

yea but without the cash to do it how do you pay for such a thing.

This is at the core of our energy 'problem'. People are willing to do it, no one is willing to loan them cash for it.
We should start a company that will loan them the cash.
That's called a charity. Maybe call up the Clintons?
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troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:43 pm
SAWCE wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:41 pm

We should start a company that will loan them the cash.
That's called a charity. Maybe call up the Clintons?
It's only a charity if they don't repay the loan and interest. So I can finally put these massles to use by breaking the knee caps of people who don't repay their loans.
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SAWCE wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:54 pm
troyguitar wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:43 pm

That's called a charity. Maybe call up the Clintons?
It's only a charity if they don't repay the loan and interest. So I can finally put these massles to use by breaking the knee caps of people who don't repay their loans.
Dat :sawce: loan shark.
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:melon: Loan & Co.
Open for Business.
4zilch wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:46 am I'm a fucking failure.
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lagunasecaballs
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[user not found] wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:44 pm You could use a home equity line of credit for such a thing.
But will they break my kneecaps if I don't pay it back? Might be a deal breaker for me, honestly.
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[user not found] wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:44 pm You could use a home equity line of credit for such a thing.
yes, if you have the equity to spare.

I guess we do now, I should set up a heloc just to have while i can before house values shit the bed again.


In my specific situation:
fuck rooftop solar for now, and i made the house energy efficient so that even if energy bills triple i wont be in a bind. I'm prob looking at a 200 dollar utility bill for peak summer, max.
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