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troph

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by troph

  1. 38 minutes ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

    We are in the design phases of building a new house on some semi-rural land. I'm now convinced to add solar panels, a whole home generator, and the biggest fucking underground propane tank they will sell me. 

    We already had this planned, we were just going to have a spot for the genny but we will add it now. Rainwater collection too.  

  2. 1 hour ago, MillerEP said:

    Just 1. Since it's tied to my solar panels, on normal days when I'm not conserving 100% of it in the event of an emergency I pull off the battery every night once the sun goes down, to stay off the grid for longer.  There is an app that comes with it that lets you do 3 things. 1) Just have it stay at 100% charge at all times in the event of an emergency, 2) pick what percent you want to save in the event of an emergency (I usually just have it at 50% each night), or 3) pick peak hours/times when you use the most energy and have your house only pull from the battery during those times.

    It also has a weather watching feature called "storm watch" which will automatically conserve 100% regardless of what you put if any storm watch is ever declared in your area. So each normal night when not in a storm warning, I pull from my battery until it hits 50%, then I start getting it from the grid. Each morning, my battery recharges back to full. This would allow me to essentially stay off the grid if I were to really play with it and find the magic number (20% held back maybe?) that lasts me throughout the night. I haven't fiddled with it much though because each day I feed more energy back to the city than I use in between when I hit 50% and the sun comes back up the next day, so I've always had a negative balance with my electricity company. I suppose when the weather normalizes I should play with it and see how to best maximize it but up until now I've been lazy because I haven't been a power hog. Maybe in the Summer when my A/C is running non-stop.

    hadn't thought of this that's really great actually, the night time draw.

  3. Just now, TwiceHorn said:

    Yeah, some cities have amended themselves out of that, at least until recently.

    There are a few drawbacks, like the rodent thing Ana mentioned.  Copper has problems too. Mostly being a semi-precious metal.

    with what Austin requires these days, I think rodents are less of an issue.  her problem is the house is too tight.  but she also uses foam insulation and so the pex is hard for a rodent to get to I'm guessing.  I don't know about fancy jurisdictions, I think it's common to have clauses in county/rural building codes that say something like "and if nothing is specified, per international building/plumbing/fire code whatever whatever)

    but point taken.

    and even with rats, the manifold would be super handy.

  4. 2 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

    Pex is vulnerable to rodents chewing through the lines.  I love the idea of a pex manifold, but something to consider based on site.  

    we are building with ICF (concrete blocks basically) and water lines will be on the inside of the concrete buried in the styrofoam.

    • Hook 'Em 2
  5. 16 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

    PEX is not approved in quite a few older, fancier building code jurisdictions.  Or just recently if at all.

    she uses it in Austin all the time.  It's now part of the international plumbing code she says. we are in the lakeway ETJ.

  6. 21 minutes ago, TexasEd said:

    Cost vs return.

    The reason you can do that with electrical is every circuit has a run all the way back to the switch panel.  For safety in adding ceiling fans or preventing fires with a short circuit each one can be tripped or shut off independently like if you drop the hair dryer in the tub. (Of course that is on a GFCI for added protection)

    To have the equivalent in a home you would have to do that twice for every faucet (hot and cold) water.  When we had copper pipes the expense was high and there was little benefit, no-one would die if you had to shut down the whole house.  It might make sense using Pex cost wise, I don't know but you could probably throw that cost into additional insulation and freeze proof outdoor bibs and get a better return.

    that manifold system is only a few hundred bucks on supply house.  I know everyone is price sensitive, but I think production builders just don't want to do it and homeowners don't know it's out there.  it actually looks like less than $500 in additional material and labor to hook it up.

     

    edit - you're right, she just said what you said.  you have to run every single line as a separate line instead of daisy-chains or loops.  she said though it's still a good thing to have.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  7. 3 minutes ago, SquishMitten said:

    Sounds like the ex husband is angling for a threesome. He's already had sex with her, so his current wife doesn't really have a reason to say no. 

    Still, what good comes from following her over there? Signals whipped to her and the ex.  I like the move to stay home. Instead signals I’m not up for the bullshit drama, only sex. Strong. 

  8. 14 minutes ago, UnivTex34 said:

    Anyone in southwest Austin gotten water back? I shut mine off at the curb yesterday so can’t test and am curious.

    Not this morning when they said plants were back up. Haven’t tried again. No next door exclamations of water restored either.

  9. ERCOT and other leadership should be investigated, possibly for criminal negligence, corruption, any and all of it for this.  and we should all now know not to rely on them for utilities in these events.  shame on them this time, but like hell I'll be this vulnerable again.

    • Like 1
  10. 31 minutes ago, South Austin said:

    So winter crisis brings out necessity and awkwardness.

    The power at my girlfriend’s house is finally on, just as I lost mine. Her ex-husband and his wife (the younger woman whom he left her for) have a 4WD jeep and just picked her up with her two kids to bring them to my girlfriend’s house because the power and water in the ex’s house are now out. My girlfriend invited her ex and his wife to stay at her house, thinking/hoping they would decline, but they said yes. Needless to say, that whole relationship is not entirely pleasant, so I sent my girlfriend back with some tequila to help dull the tension in the house.

    smart man not to follow.  we should all take back our snarky comments on the divorce thread.

  11. 18 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

    Mine that was frozen busted a leak yesterday when it thawed out, so my recommendation is to burn down your house and use the insurance money to move to the Caribbean away from this wintery hellhole.

    y'all are welcome on the boat fanatic thread, we were actually musing on about yachts in warm climates the other day.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  12. fuck. 

    friends came over for warmth and respite after days without power.  they waited days because of their dogs and watching their home.  they didn't ask to bring their dogs to us (older boxers) instead left them with friends down the street with power. I don't get that part but ok.  anyway, after a great time, getting warmed up, drinking our shitty back up coffee and loving it, they went home to pick up the dogs to find one of them had passed away in the night.  old age, existing heart condition most likely.

    fuck, this, shit.

    I hate all of this.

    • Rage+1 3
  13. 36 minutes ago, XYZ said:

    You say that people wrap them up. What I don’t understand is: what is the point of wrapping them up? I mean, if it stays below freezing for days (or in your case for the whole winter), then the faucet itself and the water inside will get cold no matter what you wrap them with. So what’s the point?

    I think in cold weather locations they have different set ups, our pipes aren't protected, can't be heated, etc. ours froze and only the hairdryer and dripping the faucets worked.

  14. 2 minutes ago, drt said:

    We are on the other side of the neighborhood from y’all I think. We just lost water pressure this morning, so I just turned it off at the main. Not sure how often we should check it. 

    we need to have a TC bonfire after this bullshit.  on an 80 degree weather day no less. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
  15. 10 hours ago, Parliament said:

    Many of my friends are very upset right now with whatever political group they oppose. Saying lots of angry things to me, and presumably their family/friends of the opposite political bent. News flash; you don't bring folks to your side by being an ahole to them.

    Just be the best person you can. Follow your beliefs the best you can. If your beliefs are TRULY right, you'll change minds. At the very worst you just won't be mad.

    Also. I live in a State (North Dakota) that has very few Covid restrictions. And even with that, this particular winter is rough for us here. I simply cannot imagine what my mental health would be if I lived in a State with tight rules.

    Thoughts and prayers to all affected. Get the vaccine as soon as you can, and convince others to do so as well. 2021 is gonna be awesome. It'll be exactly as awesome as we can make it.

    the only living boy in New York... Simon & Garfunkel...

    Quote

    "I get the news I need on the weather report
    Oh, I can gather all the news I need on the weather report
    Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile
    De-doh-n-doh-de-doh
    And here I am
    The only living boy in New York"

    been my anthem since Jan 20.  I've opted out of the political news.  now if I could only opt out of the weather news now too.

    politics are rancid.  my existential threat is gone now, so I'm done with politics for a while.

    • Like 1
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