Unguarded volume shooter
Steve Kerr?
I doubt my %age is that high.
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Our smart locks have keypads as well as keyed locks.
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I can punch in a code.
Weâre having solar installed, and are past the planning process and into permitting. We were trying to get everything done by the end of the year when the previous tax credit reduced from 26% to something less, but the new credit is 30% and I think it lasts for 10 years or some such.
Our total cost is $64,520, which means with the tax credit weâll pay $45,164 for the 15.2 kw system We are having both batteries and panels installed. Weâre getting the batteries instead of a generator to even out the Greg Abbott Annual Electric Failures, and they represent about $25,000 of the cost. I donât really count them as part of the solar cost.
As I recall there will be about 36 panels. Thatâs about 80% of our current usage, but it doesnât really work the way you think it would. During our high usage period in summer, our electric usage will be covered with the panels and batteries because thatâs the period of longest sunlight. Our highest purchased energy cost will be during long winter nights.
The batteries are sufficient to store about 8 hours of power at full usage.
The system also includes a type 2 charging station for an electric car.
Weâre buying from Icon Power, which is one of the larger installers, but we got our bids through Solar United Neighbors. https://www.solarunitedneighbors.org/?fbclid=IwAR3JSNThkPy5qGa5vcNzghNApiRuNfOEpOdLV4BHaIPUjuz6nM8KQr1jk9E. Itâs basically a nonprofit coop that puts together packaged bids for a large group of interested homeowners. I was on the selection committee for our group, and we received 5 good bids. They were very close. I figure we saved about 15% over what installation would have cost had we done it on our own.
The bids were in a cafeteria plan, so you basically had prices for a range of possibilities, and then each homeowner negotiated what they wanted direct with the winning bidder. I was very pleased with the whole process.
The batteries have a lifespan of something like 10 years, the panels about 20. We will recover the cost of the panels in 10-15 years, depending on the cost of electricity, but if we sell the house we would also get some of the recovery through increased value. The value of the system is not supposed to increase our ad valorem tax valuation, and our insurer (Texas Farm Bureau) told me to call them with the cost when it was installed.
I canât think of anything else.
Oh yeah, we arenât financing our system. financing is available, but it increases the cost of the system substantially. Itâs incredibly expensive.
Can I come over and hang out next time thereâs a state wide power grid failure?
Youâre all invited. Bring beer.
Since I missed the talk about Limeyâs desk, figured Iâd post mine. It lifts 355 lbs, but myâŚuhâŚâcatâ is bigger than his.
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Iâve got a lot of desk envy now. Of course, Iâd have to clear my desk before I could replace it.
For some reason I wouldnât have thought you were a modeling amp person.
I have caught more shit for the amp. Itâs good to noodle around on, but next time Iâll have to position a photo in front of a Marshall JCM 800 full stack.
Itâs full of shit now, so itâs not that clean.
And if anyone is interestedâŚthis is the desk. I just bought the frame, and then installed a countertop from Home Depot:
UPLIFT V2 Standing Desk Frame - #1 Standing Desk | UPLIFT Desk
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Iâm not opposed to them. I donât even have an amp, I have a Headrush FRFR speaker, a Boss GT100 multi effects unit and a GR55 guitar synth, both of which do amp modeling (hell, guitar modeling too) so I would have no room to talk. Just seemed youâd be more of a purist.
Smart Home update.
I managed to get my Meross smart bulbs reset, so those are now set up in my bedroom. I am thinking of making a shortcut for âPissâ, which will turn on the lights to a low level if I need to take a gypsyâs in the middle of the night.
My SimpliSafe alarm was not updating in the Home app, so I uninstalled and reinstalled the HomeBridge umm bridge, and now all is good.
I got some of Lutronâs updated smart light switches, and I can say I am very impressed. The old ones were a little OTT, but the new ones look like a regular rocker switch. They can be used in 3-way situations, only requiring a little rewiring of the dumb switch at the other end, which saves you have to get the weird little remote fake switch to make 3-ways work.
I really want to get some of the updated dimmer switches too. Instead of the confusing multi-button layout of the old one, these, too, have the plain rocker switch look with a slide for the dimmer. The nice thing is that the physical location of the slide becomes the default setting, but you can turn up or down the lights regardless of its setting. This also work in 3-way installations like the new plain switch.
I splurged (using CC points) and got a robot vacuum. Itâs one that mops as well as sucks, and I am very impressed. It uses LIDAR to scan the entire space so that, when itâs cleaning, it can use an efficient route rather than just criss-cross randomly. The app letâs you set up the map into rooms, so you can schedule cleaning of some/all the rooms as you see fit, or just order it to clean on the fly.
Hereâs the map of its first full cleaning. The cone icons are where it encountered an obstruction which, in my case, was a curious cat.
That is damn cool.
Let us know how it does with pet hair.
Also I saw a video this week comparing Lutron switches to less expensive ones.
The YTer came down on the side of Lutron/ you get what you pay for.
Did you ever find automated blind hardware?
I can confirm the Roborock did a fantastic job on pet hair and tracked cat litter. The mop is the icing because that makes sure it cleans everything in its path.
Yeah, the Lutron stuff is pricey, but itâs incremental. You also have to buy a hub, but that runs at a low frequency so it has fantastic range. Itâs very responsive too, which might not be the case if you were putting all those switches directly onto your WiFi.
The smart blinds have been up and working for a while now. I got the Soma Tilt 2. It is a tad unsightly and, without a bridge (which is currently a DIY Raspberry Pi option only), you have to connect to each one individually through the app if you want to make on the fly changes. The scheduling works well though.
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Meross smart bulbs crapped out again. It might be that theyâre too far from the wifi router, but itâs a hint that smart bulbs with a dedicated hub may be a better option.
Youâll get all of this workingâblinds, light bulbs, everythingâand then youâll sit down and say to yourself âwell now what the hell do I do all day?â
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