BrianW

On 4/14/2023 at 7:19 AM, Cold Miser said:

Do you generate your own power, for your own house, or did you get sucked into one of those fly-by-night solar companies that "rent your roof", where the power you make goes back into the grid, and you're responsible for all of the upkeep, with the benefits back to you dwindling every few years until you're stuck having to replace an outdated or weather worn beat up solar panel system.

I bought my system 8 years when prices were $1.50 watt. It paid for itself and I reached my ROI in 5 years using a home equity loan to pay for it.

Prices are like $3-4 watt now but I think it still works out to like an 8-10 year payback in most New England states. 

21 hours ago, tamarack said:

My preference is for smaller pickups.  If/when my 2011 Ranger dies (152k at present) I hope to find a reasonably priced Maverick, preferably the hybrid.  (Though that choice might be less "reasonable".)

Have you seen what your Ranger is worth? Those older 2009-2011 Rangers are getting big money. Their book value will be like 12k but they are selling for like 15-17k. 

My next truck will be hopefully an electric but the 4cyl turbo in this has some of the best mpg in its size.

Get some bear spray. My wife and I carry it when we walk the dog.  I stopped a charging pit bull with it instantly. Used it on a coyote getting to close once as well but I think he smelled it and bolted. 

I think the brand I use is Sabre and is their compact version. 

Or you can just get your pistol permit.

17 hours ago, Brewbeer said:

How well the house is insulated is a huge factor.  My house was originally built with electric heat, so it is extremely well insulated.  in the mid 80s, someone put in a badly designed gas fired forced air system with central air.  It heated the house, but would not cool the house upstairs due to inadequate ducting.  That system died about 10 years ago, and I ripped it out and installed low temp baseboard hot water system. 

My house can bake in the sun all day, but as long as temps drop back in the 60s at night and the DP is below 60, a fan in a downstairs window does the job.   

I also have solar panels, and haven't paid for electricity since 2016.  

Agree about insulation and there are huge state and federal rebates for them as well.

I have had solar for 8 years and my house is 100% electric from my net metered solar. 2 high efficiency heat pumps for heating cooling. I pay just the $9 monthly minimum service charge year round. 

Why wouldn't you at least put a heat pump in for shoulder season that also gets you the most efficient ac? You have solar that is likely paid off but would rather line the pockets of gas companies and speculators?

Here was the coldest day of the year here back on Feb 3rd when it hit -5. From 10am to 3 pm  my solar powered directly my entire house and heat pumps while exporting most of the power. 

Why would you not use a fuel that you can generate for free on your roof? 

Bought a 2020 CPO Ford Ranger Sport with 14k on it. Truck was just off a 3 year lease from North County Ford in New Hampshire.

Good luck to anyone buying a truck now. Used prices for in demand trucks is insane right now. A new ranger is a 6 month wait with many of the features my current model has deleted due to the continued chip shortage. So used prices are crazy close to new if you don't want to wait.

Pretty solid medium duty truck so far. The turbo 4cyl is actually really impressive. 270 hp 310 lb torque with a 7500 towing capacity. I got around 24-26 mpg on a few good highway cruises so far. 

The tech is really awesome. Especially the Fordpass app. From your phone you can lock/unlock, remote start, get into diagnostics, adjust hvac, etc. 

I honestly didnt think I would use the lane assist, collison warning crap, adaptive cruise, etc but found all of it to be pretty awesome.

39 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

An early summer is settling in this year. Minor mild downs between warmth/ heat 

I think we go right into deep summer in May just like last year. 

BDL 89

Wow. Like full leaf out overnight in New Haven.

16 minutes ago, Brewbeer said:

two 8K BTU window units:  $600, lifespan = 10 years, say 60 bucks per year

750 watts (times 2) = 1,500 watts for 16 hours per day = 24 KWH per day, $0.21 per KWH, that's about $5 per day for AC.  

A typical summer for me requires AC for 30 or 40 days, call it $200 in electricity per year.  

All-in cost on 2 window units is less than $300/year, don't see how mini splits are less expensive for me, esp. since they require maintenance.     

You also get a really efficient heat pump that will operate at 4x the efficency and 1/4 of the cost of $4 gallon of oil.

Maybe in far NNE ac is only needed 30 or 40 days. Down here in the banana belt in CT where it's in the mid 80s and ac are running right now.. ac is used for more like 180 days here. That adds up.

Also electricity rates are in the low 30's in a few New England states. 90% of people don't use 3rd party suppliers and are currently paying these rates. When rates are this high the savings are astronomical. 

According to the EIA outside of Hawaii we have the most expensive electricity in the US. 

On 4/11/2023 at 10:37 AM, powderfreak said:

Mini-splits have been a game changer.  A bit too cold, blast heat for an hour or two. A bit too warm, blast A/C briefly.  Not much to think about or consider.

Yeah and they are also absurdly efficient compared to window units. One of my mini splits is a crazy  38 seer where most home central acs are like 13-15 seer. Windows units are even less than that. So they can use like 5 times less electricity. 

They also are crazy quiet compared to window units. 

I always find it amazing people live in like $500k+ houses and will still put noisy inefficient window units in. 

Makes even more sense with New England electricity rates the highest in the nation. Window acs are going to cost a fortune to run this summer. 

87 EWR

Congrats to GON, DXR, HVN and BDR for their first 80s. Hoping we jump right into some 90s tomorrow. 

What a special one. Low 80's even down here on the coast. The kids have a pretty epic week to have off. A bunch were actually in the water. 

Maples will be leafed out by the weekend here. 

18 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

We Stein with a week of heat 

 

Beautiful afternoon out on Pt Judith watching some surfers. Car said it was 57 on the way in. 

1 hour ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

I drained the whole area off Friday with a pump and it filled right back in.

Where is the closest water? Is there a pond nearby? There is a pond uphill across the street from me and the level of that has a direct correlation with my groundwater level.

Use a post hole digger and dig down like a foot and look and see it's actively flowing.  You will be able to tell right away. 

I have looked up some ways online to potentially tap into the one in my yard for watering my lawn. 

On 3/30/2023 at 8:56 AM, 512high said:

Yes, I don't know that last year they made the 2-door model, I will say this....they do hold their value. Again, to the OP, I have nothing against other brands etc. I am just saying what works for our company and has been working well for us. Also, I know zero about reliability of their 6-cylinder models for the record.

I know Tacoma's are reliable but they are outdated and the 4cyl is way underpowered.  The current 3rd generation Tacoma is the same design from 2015. The ranger has way more technology and gets way better gas mileage. Seems a lot of these mid size trucks are going to turbo 4 cylinders.  The new 2023 Chevy Colorado has a 2.7 turbo. A lot of people are reporting getting close to 30 mpg if your easy on the gas. The ranger has a 7k towing capacity as well and the torque on these turbo motors is  supposedly amazing. 

I live turbo charged cars and my last 2 regular cars have been turbos.

8 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

I wonder if it’s that. The are is soft even in the summer, but it still grows grass. Grass is ready to Be cut right now in that area lol

Sounds like an underground spring. I have one that runs through my yard and can actually hear the water flowing underground.

If you look at your yard with a drone you can usually actually see a huge difference in green. During the drought last year I could see the green strip from the spring  with my drone as clear as day. 

The water table has been really high here lately as well. Most ponds and lakes are completely full with a few over their banks here. 

Looking at buying a used newer generation 19-22 Ford Ranger. Anyone have one? I like the turbo and better gas mileage.  Need a small fuel efficient truck and am looking at a 2 door model. I hate the 4 door car style. I also looked at Chevy Colorado's as they have a small 2 door truck as well. 

I stopped at my Ford dealer just to see what a new one would cost and a base ranger with 4x4 is like 40k and 6 month wait. 

If anyone wants to go an organic route on their lawn I have been having amazing success with the following products. I'm using this in my 5000 sqft fenced in area for my small dog.

Purely Organics for lawn fertilizer. Available at Home Depot. I believe its made from recycled grain from a brewery. Works similar to Milorganite with the soil and you can't burn your lawn with it. I use 3 bags a year.

$31.97 for 25lb bag that does 5000 sqft.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Purely-Organic-Products-25-lb-Dry-Lawn-Food-Fertilizer-LFJRDK1/204279747#ratings-and-reviews

I don't use much of any herbicides. A healthy established lawn doesn't really need any. I will walk around and spot treat with a sprayer using some Tenacity which is semi organic made from Mesotrione derived from the bottle brush plant. 

https://www.greencastonline.com/labels/tenacity

I also use this organic one that is just Iron HEDTA.

https://www.arbico-organics.com/product/bonide-captain-jacks-lawnweed-brew/natural-organic-weed-control

For ticks and insects I spray wondercide every 30 days. Its just cedarwood oil. I also have had amazing success putting their cedarwood oil on my dog for ticks. 

https://www.wondercide.com/

For grubs I drop a bag of Grub Gone. Its active ingredient is Bt, a naturally-occurring soil bacterium

https://beetlegone.com/products/grub-gone

Here is Woody enjoying the organic lawn. 

Looks like a perfect weekend with the rain to drop some fertilizer or pre emergant on the lawn. 

Soil temperatures in a good portion of southern areas have been averaging above 50 for 5 days. 

Check yours here.

https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature

13 hours ago, Sey-Mour Snow said:

Anyone noticing the grass looking greener on the south coast? Can’t tell if it’s real or my imagination. Just got a quote for a sprinkler system not letting stein win again this year. 

I already mowed twice here in Branford. I put down my organic fertilizer when the forsythia were blooming like 3 weeks ago.

Who do you have for water there? I have the regional water authority which is a non profit so water is cheap. Water bill is about $25 month and will spike to $60-75 in the summer watering the lawn and plants. Some water companies like Eversource are for profit and charge huge money for water. A friend in Fairfield County pays like 5 times what I do for water. 

Lots of mowers running today and yesterday down on the shoreline.