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<p>Also: its going to get to 39C here tomorrow, so we need to get the fuck out so I'm not burning my money in that fucking ducted system!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And the polyphase (multi-directional) meter is installed on Monday apparently so I can start getting money for all the exporting I'm doing.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="NTA" data-cid="558538" data-time="1455361367"><p>Also: its going to get to 39C here tomorrow, so we need to get the fuck out so I'm not burning my money in that fucking ducted system!<br>
<br>
And the polyphase (multi-directional) meter is installed on Monday apparently so I can start getting money for all the exporting I'm doing.</p></blockquote>
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But you'll spend money driving, buying lunch, drinks etc -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="taniwharugby" data-cid="558585" data-time="1455391578"><p>But you'll spend money driving, buying lunch, drinks etc ;)</p></blockquote>
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That was likely anyway - I have a wife. <br><br>
But at least THAT money is put to good use. -
<p>Do you know what the SEER rating (or Aussie equivalent) is for your AC unit? How many tons (or BTUs) is it? You can do the calculations to figure out how much it is costing you to have a less efficient unit. When I replaced my 20 yea old 10 SEER AC and furnace 2 years ago, to jump from the 13 SEER minimum to a 16 SEER unit involved a 15 year payoff before breaking even. Based on my usage, house size, current price of energy etc etc. It only got worse for the even more energy efficient units I looked at. I did spring for a wifi programmable thermostat though. Never touch it, it is programmed and has setbacks and schedules it follows to minimize AC and furnace usage. And I can access it remotely, say if I go out after work for a few hours. Why pay to heat or cool an empty house.</p>
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<p>Interesting - and the point about the ROI is well made. The unit in the house is only 4 years old. Unless the fluffybunny who built this joint bought it off eBay (like he did the pool) then I think any investment there is going to be too far a bridge for the ROI component, and the post-panels budget. So I just have to suck it up and offset it with as much power selling as I can manage.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not to mention the unit is mounted in the ceiling so you need to basically rip the roof apart to get it out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here's the thing that shits me the most: we walked into the house this afternoon, and its a 40C day in Sydney. The house had been opened this morning and was a decent temperature - maybe low to mid-20s except for the west-facing room which always heats up in the afternoon because sun.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Anyone sensible would just shut that room, let the rest of the house sit in dark coolness, and turn the ceiling fan on and sit in the east side of our house. But because the kids play in the west-facing room, she walks in there "Too hot!" and reaches for the air con, turned down to 24C - the thermostat is in the middle of the house so at least that will mitigate some damage.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But its still on because SHE feels hot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And THEN SHE GETS A FUCKING CUP OF TEA FOR FUCK'S FUCKING SAKE! </p> -
<p>this is gonna put a strain on your marriage NTA!! </p>
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<p>Blinds and closed curtains for that west room? Does Aussie construction have insulation in the attic/crawl space above the living space? Might be worth doing a check and seeing if it would make financial sense to blow in some more, and see if that helps lower the house temp. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Does anyone see NTA in the future ala Jack in the Shining, walking around mumbling about kW and air leakage.</p> -
I hate aircon. I guess it's necessary if it's 40 odd degrees and there's sauna like humidity, but overuse makes it almost impossible to go outside or even be able to tolerate relatively mild heat. I'll take a fan or a nice breeze any day. <br><br>
You have to be tougher Nick. I'm like farking Hitler with the aircon remote at my house. -
I hate aircon. I guess it's necessary if it's 40 odd degrees and there's sauna like humidity, but overuse makes it almost impossible to go outside or even be able to tolerate relatively mild heat. I'll take a fan or a nice breeze any day. <br><br>
You have to be tougher Nick. I'm like farking Hitler with the aircon remote at my house. -
<p>Rancid - exactly what I was saying to a mate: once you jam the aircon down to 23C, anything feels like its too fucking hot. Almost like drug addiction, and that is the wife's problem coming home from work - leaves an air conditioned office and hops in a hot car which she blasts the A/C into, then gets home into a hot garage. Walks in the door in work clothes, doesn't even take time to acclimatise or change into casual clothes, and she's setting things to "Arctic" while the rest of us are sitting there with a glass of cold water wondering what the fuck is going on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>40 degrees sucks, but today when we got home it was tolerable and FUCKING POOL IN THE BACK YARD! She napped on the couch, turned up the AC and then had a cup of tea to "wake up" - again, female logic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="rustycruiser" data-cid="558682" data-time="1455428282">
<div>
<p>Blinds and closed curtains for that west room? Does Aussie construction have insulation in the attic/crawl space above the living space? Might be worth doing a check and seeing if it would make financial sense to blow in some more, and see if that helps lower the house temp. </p>
<p> </p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<p>We have batts (glasswool or fibreglass if you like) across the whole ceiling space. The only weak points are where the light mountings are around the kitchen, which have internal transformers. I had the blow-in recycled paper stuff in the last house, and while it was spectacular the first couple of years, long-term it was poo - air pressure or drafts and it all blows away or settles. The ceiling space is quite high, has a solar-power extractor fan to keep it below Ninth Level of Hell hot, and the sarking (against the corrugated steel roof) is top notch according to every tradie who has been up there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The problem with the west room is it only has venetian timber blinds on the inside. I'd get external blinds but that is another fight. Maybe heavy curtains in winter to help keep a better buffer zone, but here in Oz, the best idea is always to keep the heat as far from the house as you can manage.</p> -
<p>Look, to be fair, I have already made her change a couple of habits like running the dishwasher and washing machine during the day, and understanding that delaying one by 3 hours and one by 5 hours just works. Baby steps. She's a city girl, never really been disconnected like sometimes happened out on the farm I suppose. I think she has some complex from when she grew up in a small house, and how she went without things, and doesn't feel like she should now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When that first electricity bill comes in, it won't be full solar, because we've only had it three weeks and will be halfway through a billing cycle - plus the meters don't change over until next week (lazy fucking wholesaler) so the full effect won't hit this summer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But when that first bill for the March-June period hits, and we're using fuck all because we don't need the air con, or run the pool pump as much, she might begin to understand the extra changes we need to take the power bill reduction from 90% to 100%, or even 110% when we start selling power back to the grid.</p> -
If you're going to just use aircon all the time then a pool is pretty much pointless. I never had aircon when living in Brisbane, but always had a pool. That was the essential way of keeping cool back then. I remember a mate had aircon in one room and that was amazing. Everyone has it now.
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<p>You can add me to the hating air con list. The only times I like are when I first get into the office because I've been walking and when I get back from lunch - other than that I hate it. Thankfully I live in a place with no air con, the last place we had air con all over the place and one of the flatmates would blast it and then lie under a blanket on the couch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wind down a window or get a fan I say.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>TBF I like heat, aside from when I'm walking because I sweat too much I'll happily be hot while others are complaining around me.</p>
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<p>The worst thing about air con when you have contacts is that it dries your eyes out.</p>
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<p>Funny how in NZ the aircon machine is a heat pump.</p> -
Totally agree with the eyes thing. Whenever I went into a shopping centre as a kid my eyes got farked up. <br><br>
I also dig the heat but probably more so because I experienced extreme cold for a very long time. In a past life I once pushed a pram for 2 km (mostly uphill), while dragging my other son behind me in a sled in minus 20 with the snow pelting in farking sideways. <br><br>
I'll take extreme heat any day. -
<p>OK, so this week is where I start to set up the website. I've decided to go with my own domain name, as it is pretty cheap - up to $100 per annum to get a named site hosted with my ISP (200MB of space or so) and then I own all the content. Plus I get a database, which is my jam.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But the thing is, I'm not 100% sure what the best name should be. Obviously using powerwall.com will just get my arse sued by Tesla (and it isn't available, even though the website doesn't exist).</p> -
Probably doesn't help, but I'm pretty sure that theexpresidents.com is available.
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<p>Check this shit out - the engineer from the installation company said that they'd once had a customer detect very faint PV from moonlight. I thought that maybe it happened to panels with a higher pitch, facing the rising moon or something when its big and fat and orange.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But lo and behold, its pretty clear here tonight, with a bit over half a moon about 60 degrees above the horizon, and this is what I see on the graph - note the gradual decrease in generation from 1830-1915, then a couple of little bumps as the sky gets darker and the moon gains in brightness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>[attachment=1977:moonlight.png]</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>My first thought was "bullshit - this is some kind of circuit feedback that the inverter is picking up". But I'll keep an eye on it as the moon gets fuller.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It isn't a lot of course (like 60 watts) but maybe the light-sensitivity of modern solar panels is just good enough to convert some of this shit into energy. You'd think with the base current required to generate power, it wouldn't actually contribute.</p>
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<p>More news as it comes to hand.</p>
Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view