Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

stickguy

so, follow-up on my journey into the world of solar. I let the nice girl at Lowes talk me into having the dude come out for a pitch session. Figured, got nothing to lose. And a very boring life. So, he shows up today.

Good presentation. Really nice people (the district manager came too). They are with Sungevity (partly owned by Lowes) - anyone ever deal with them? Already had a design and analysis done in advance (I had sent them a picture of my usage bargraph, and they had the shot of the house from google maps). So I was looking at an overhead shot of my house, with the panel design laid on top. Looked real and everything!

anyway, made a strong case by the #s. We apparently are a perfect candidate, because you couldn't orient the house any better if you tried, and perfect roof pitch, and no obstructions. explains why my attic fan runs so much in the summer. So they estimate an 89% replacement value (called something like that) which seems to be about as high as it can go on a residential install like this.

went through various options, basically buy or lease. for a number of reasons, we would only be looking at the lease. basically "sign and drive" on a 20 year deal, so no investment by us. We talked a lot about what if we want to move, and that doesn't cost anything but the new owner would just assume the lease.

given the $ savings calculated, wanting to assume it should not be an issue I don't think. They calculate that with our generating capacity, even with high usage, we would average less than $100 month in bills (to them and AC electric, AKA the Devil). So we would be saving, on average, $150/month OOP (and that is probably conservative).

still mulling it over, and need to talk to a few people (so Ty, feel free to weigh in again please!), but I'm having trouble seeing the downside. In effect, this is just like changing to a different energy provider, though we do get snazzy panels on the roof out of it!

I know the lease gives them all the credits, but they also get the privilege of maintaining and insuring them, and supposedly no change to our property taxes. Plus I don't want to have to finance 20K right now to likely save even more down the line (plus I can't see us being in the house for even 7 years at this point).

As long as I am comfortable that if we do sell, the solar will increase (or at least not decrease) what I can sell it for, and won't make it harder to sell, we might surprise ourselves and go for it!

explorerx4

@stickguy,
Your electric bill is around $250 a month?

ab348

isellhondas said:

I seem to recall that the Q-Jet had a couple of brass plugs underneath that looked like tiny freeze plugs. I believe these could fall out and get sucked into the engine doing huge damage. Am I dreaming about this?

Well plugs? I dunno about falling out, but they are notorious for leaking and causing problems, Rebuilders often epoxy them over to eliminate leaking.

jmonroe

isellhondas said:

I seem to recall that the Q-Jet had a couple of brass plugs underneath that looked like tiny freeze plugs. I believe these could fall out and get sucked into the engine doing huge damage. Am I dreaming about this?

I don't remember anything like that.

IIRC there were a couple of brass jets INSIDE the carb that had to be screwed in place tight enough not to come lose. Maybe this is what you are referring to. I can't remember if they were to fall out if they could get sucked into the intake manifold. I know one thing for sure, it never happened to one that I rebuilt.

Maybe the 'judge' or Shifty can help here.

jmonroe

stickguy

explorerx4 said:

@stickguy,
Your electric bill is around $250 a month?

ranges between ~150 and ~500.

Never move to NJ, for any reason.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

I was sitting in my recliner in my bedroom watching TV at noon time when I heard my doorbell ring. I got up and opened the door. It was one of my neighbors screaming and yelling and crying to come downstairs to her apartment to help out her husband. I told her to calm down and that I just need to put on a pair of shoes and I will go downstairs with her to help out. As I am tying my shoes, I asked her what the problem with her husband was. She responded that he is in the bathtub and can't get himself out of the tub!

So I began to think to myself, "...how am I going to get him out of the tub - and if I do get him out of the tub, I am afraid he will fall. What am I getting myself into here?"

When I was in the service we got a call about someone slipping in the tub. I happened to be the Corpsman assigned to the ambulance that night and the only thought that went through my mind was that I was going to have to pick up a naked guy out of the tub.

Anyway your story is a lot funnier than mine was, keep us up to date on any more good stories.

snakeweasel

ab348 said:

Had to post this because this is simply mind-boggling.

Last night there was a single-car accident in St. John's, Newfoundland. Take a look at the Mazda3 that was involved:

The amazing thing is that the driver WALKED AWAY. Literally. When first responders arrived there was no driver to be seen. They searched the area off the highway thinking that he or his remains would have been ejected. Later on he was discovered to be OK and uninjured. Sitting at home, or on a curb or in a bar, I do not know.

Trust me, if I were that driver and walked away from that I would be sitting in a bar.

Now my question is what mythical beast did that guy piss off?

abacomike

Every time our electricity "burps" from a lightning strike somewhere close, my cable TV box (Comcast Xfinity) loses all it's memory.  It takes 1-2 days for the all the channels to reload with channel info and explanation summaries of what is playing. 

This occurs about 4-6 times a year.  Well, it just happened again.  All the channels show "TO BE ANNOUNCED".  Some channels are already reloading, but only for the next hour or two with nothing showing for this evening.  I called Comcast and they said if I have a smartphone or laptop, I can download their channel App.  It shows what's playing by channel and time of course.  All I have to do is identify which TV I want to control on my phone, tap on the TV, and I can use the iPhone App to find out what's on each channel and can actually change channels using the App.

An amazing technical capability - I've created another remote right on my phone to use in emergencies like this.  Isn't the world of technology awesome? 

roadburner

jmonroe said:

I don't remember anything like that.

IIRC there were a couple of brass jets INSIDE the carb that had to be screwed in place tight enough not to come lose. Maybe this is what you are referring to. I can't remember if they were to fall out if they could get sucked into the intake manifold. I know one thing for sure, it never happened to one that I rebuilt.

Maybe the 'judge' or Shifty can help here.

jmonroe

ab348 nailed it; the primary and secondary fuel well plugs can leak. The solution is to clean them and coat them with epoxy.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

Every time our electricity "burps" from a lightning strike somewhere close, my cable TV box (Comcast Xfinity) loses all it's memory.  It takes 1-2 days for the all the channels to reload with channel info and explanation summaries of what is playing. 

This occurs about 4-6 times a year.  Well, it just happened again.  All the channels show "TO BE ANNOUNCED".  Some channels are already reloading, but only for the next hour or two with nothing showing for this evening.  I called Comcast and they said if I have a smartphone or laptop, I can download their channel App.  It shows what's playing by channel and time of course.  All I have to do is identify which TV I want to control on my phone, tap on the TV, and I can use the iPhone App to find out what's on each channel and can actually change channels using the App.

An amazing technical capability - I've created another remote right on my phone to use in emergencies like this.  Isn't the world of technology awesome? 

Yes it is, now if it was like the app when I had Comcast you should also be able to set it to record shows you want to record even when you are away from your home.

driver100

Today we saw a Lincoln MKT. It was black, but my wife said that looks just like a hearse. I thought so too, but it really reminded me of this:

tjc78

stickguy said:

@stickguy, Your electric bill is around $250 a month?

ranges between ~150 and ~500. Never move to NJ, for any reason.

Such an understatement.

In the summer my one story house I can tip toe near $300.  We keep the air on 72-74 depending how hot it is. Upper 90s with our humidity and the system won't shut off if we crank it down past 72.  

Since you are looking to sell in a short time I'd touch base with a realtor to see if the panels help or hurt you.  

abacomike

tjc78 said:

stickguy said:

@stickguy, Your electric bill is around $250 a month?

ranges between ~150 and ~500. Never move to NJ, for any reason.

Such an understatement.

In the summer my one story house I can tip toe near $300.  We keep the air on 72-74 depending how hot it is. Upper 90s with our humidity and the system won't shut off if we crank it down past 72.  

Since you are looking to sell in a short time I'd touch base with a realtor to see if the panels help or hurt you.  

As I mentioned last month, my electric bill was $28 for the month of February.  Just got my bill for March - $39.00.  It has been in the 80's every day the past few weeks.  But I sure am not complaining about FPL.  I set the AC at 77 degrees, which is fine for me.  My condo is 1400 sq.ft., not including the terrace.  

As as I also mentioned before, ever since FPL installed the smart meters 6 months ago, my bills have been in the $30.00 - $50.00 a month range.  That compares to $45.00 - $80.00 a month prior to installation of the smart meters.

stickguy

T, my next move is to talk to the agent I use for advice, and will list with if I sell. I figure she can give me what I need to know from a real-world (not sales) perspective!

abacomike

@driver100:

I really don't see the resemblance between the Disney locomotive and the Lincoln SUV.  Additionally, I do not see the additional resemblance of the Lincoln SUV to a HEARSE!  

Now a PT Cruiser has an interesting shape and style to it vis-a-vie a mini-hearse.  Hey, oldfarmer, have you heard anyone compare the PT Cruiser to a hearse? 

stever

stickguy said:

We talked a lot about what if we want to move, and that doesn't cost anything but the new owner would just assume the lease.

What if the new owner doesn't want solar?

What if the new owner doesn't qualify to take over the lease? (That's the biggie that I've read about - they may qualify to buy your house but their credit score may not meet the minimum for taking over the lease).

If I was buying a house with panels, I'd want to own the panels myself. Of course, I don't lease cars either.

Couple of links: Bloomberg, Washington Post.

abacomike

@snakeweasel:

Yes, you are correct.  I can record and save using the App.  At least the converter box has loaded most of the data for the next couple of hours.  Like I said, it takes about 1-2 full days for the converter box to download and store the data for the 2-weeks it usually saves all the data.

stickguy

I asked about that steve. Odds are, the CS is a non-factor, because if they can qualify to buy this house, the solar will be a non factor. They were only requiring a 650 FICA. And yes, technically they can refuse. and if that happens, we either eat the cost (pay out the lease and have the panels taken off) or, more common, move on to another buyer.

the rep made a good point. They have to have electric anyway. They can just keep the solar plan, or switch back to the electric company and pay 2-3 times as much each month. Literally the only reason someone would do that is if they were a solarphobe!

But, that is what I plan to discuss with the agent. Given the crazy cost of power around here, it really should be a selling point (since it is all up and running, with cost savings documented, and they don't have to deal with installing).

suydam

You can't just reboot the cable? We live in a land of frequent power outages as well.

ab348

Speaking of home improvements, I finally made a decision on the heat pump. I ended up getting 5 quotes in total and learned a lot. 3 of the companies I got quotes from did both ducted whole-house heat pumps and ductless. Two of those had a clear preference to sell me the more expensive ducted type, while the third was shockingly honest and said that it was overkill for my situation and I really didn't need to spend that much money.

It would have been nice to reward their honesty with a sale, but unfortunately the ductless they offered was a no-name brand that had low efficiency and no online reviews or experiences from customers. Not going to take that chance for a couple of hundred dollar savings up front. The Lennox dealer was better and offered some good options but the winner was a local firm whose owner came in and spent some time sizing up the place and taking lots of measurements. He was the only one who identified a need for a more compact indoor unit in order to get the best airflow pattern on the main floor, and was competitive on price. So I am getting a 12000BTU Fujitsu unit, total cost installed just under $4K C$.

abacomike

@ab348:

I hope everything works out for you ab!  You sure did do your homework!

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

I was sitting in my recliner in my bedroom watching TV at noon time when I heard my doorbell ring. I got up and opened the door. It was one of my neighbors screaming and yelling and crying to come downstairs to her apartment to help out her husband. I told her to calm down and that I just need to put on a pair of shoes and I will go downstairs with her to help out. As I am tying my shoes, I asked her what the problem with her husband was. She responded that he is in the bathtub and can't get himself out of the tub!

So I began to think to myself, "...how am I going to get him out of the tub - and if I do get him out of the tub, I am afraid he will fall. What am I getting myself into here?" Unfortunately, I was not able to talk myself out of this mess, so I followed her downstairs. We go into the condo unit and as I approached the guest bathroom with the bathtub, I see the entire floor is completely flooded as was the living room and dining room, not to mention at least an inch of water on the floor near and in the bathroom. I hear splashing and laughter and I begin to wonder what the heck is going on here.

I open the door to the bathroom and low and behold, there's the husband splashing water against the walls and laughing out loud. He is also talking to himself, saying, "...I'll get you back for that; you can't get away with that; here, take this..." as he continues to splash water all over the place while the water faucet is filling the bathtub up as quickly as this guy is splashing the water out of the tub.

I turn to his wife and told her if he is going to keep splashing water all over the place, I am not going to get drenched - besides, with my luck he might pull me into the tub with him - and how am I going to get out of the tub? The wife tells me he has a touch of dementia and thinks he is at his summer camp when he was a boy in the middle of a water fight with the other boys. She yells at him to stop and I started yelling too. He stops his splashing, looks up to me and says, "...is it time to get out of the pool already?" I said yes, most definitely way past that time.

His wife turns off the water faucet and pulls up the drain plug to the bathtub can drain. I asked him to give me both his hands and I pull him up and he finally stands up. I asked his wife for a robe and towel, which she brings me and I escort him into his bedroom and lay him down on the bed. All this time, he is mumbling about how much fun the water fight was with the campers from the next bunk. Good Grief!

Of course, I am soaking wet from this activity and request a towel from the wife so I can dry myself off. She says all the towels are on the floor in the bathroom and she has no more dry towels. Holy mackeral! So I just walk to the front door, open it and walked over to the elevator and got back to my condo unit. I was soaking wet. I took a shower and as I am about to sit down in my recliner, the phone rings. I answer it and it's the wife asking me if I can come downstairs again - her husband had sneaked into the bathroom again and was in the tub splashing water all over the place. I just told her to wait until the swimming activity was over and the counselors blew their whistles to clear everyone out of the pool. I had done what I could but that I was not going to go through another lifesaving attempt this afternoon. She asked me what she should do? I told her to call the paramedics and have them help him out of the tub.

Like I always say, life is just precious down here in God's Little Waiting Room!

Sounds like going senile is the only way to have fun in Florida. Are you sure he was demented or did he just have too much of the bubbly?

jmonroe

stickguy said:

As long as I am comfortable that if we do sell, the solar will increase (or at least not decrease) what I can sell it for, and won't make it harder to sell, we might surprise ourselves and go for it!

Stick,

One of the things I'd be leery of is to put solar panels on a roof that was at it's half life or less. I would want a near new roof if I was to go with solar panels. Getting a new roof after panels are installed has got to be a nightmare.

jmonroe

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

I was sitting in my recliner in my bedroom watching TV at noon time when I heard my doorbell ring. I got up and opened the door. It was one of my neighbors screaming and yelling and crying to come downstairs to her apartment to help out her husband. I told her to calm down and that I just need to put on a pair of shoes and I will go downstairs with her to help out. As I am tying my shoes, I asked her what the problem with her husband was. She responded that he is in the bathtub and can't get himself out of the tub! So I began to think to myself, "...how am I going to get him out of the tub - and if I do get him out of the tub, I am afraid he will fall. What am I getting myself into here?" Unfortunately, I was not able to talk myself out of this mess, so I followed her downstairs. We go into the condo unit and as I approached the guest bathroom with the bathtub, I see the entire floor is completely flooded as was the living room and dining room, not to mention at least an inch of water on the floor near and in the bathroom. I hear splashing and laughter and I begin to wonder what the heck is going on here. I open the door to the bathroom and low and behold, there's the husband splashing water against the walls and laughing out loud. He is also talking to himself, saying, "...I'll get you back for that; you can't get away with that; here, take this..." as he continues to splash water all over the place while the water faucet is filling the bathtub up as quickly as this guy is splashing the water out of the tub. I turn to his wife and told her if he is going to keep splashing water all over the place, I am not going to get drenched - besides, with my luck he might pull me into the tub with him - and how am I going to get out of the tub? The wife tells me he has a touch of dementia and thinks he is at his summer camp when he was a boy in the middle of a water fight with the other boys. She yells at him to stop and I started yelling too. He stops his splashing, looks up to me and says, "...is it time to get out of the pool already?" I said yes, most definitely way past that time. His wife turns off the water faucet and pulls up the drain plug to the bathtub can drain. I asked him to give me both his hands and I pull him up and he finally stands up. I asked his wife for a robe and towel, which she brings me and I escort him into his bedroom and lay him down on the bed. All this time, he is mumbling about how much fun the water fight was with the campers from the next bunk. Good Grief! Of course, I am soaking wet from this activity and request a towel from the wife so I can dry myself off. She says all the towels are on the floor in the bathroom and she has no more dry towels. Holy mackeral! So I just walk to the front door, open it and walked over to the elevator and got back to my condo unit. I was soaking wet. I took a shower and as I am about to sit down in my recliner, the phone rings. I answer it and it's the wife asking me if I can come downstairs again - her husband had sneaked into the bathroom again and was in the tub splashing water all over the place. I just told her to wait until the swimming activity was over and the counselors blew their whistles to clear everyone out of the pool. I had done what I could but that I was not going to go through another lifesaving attempt this afternoon. She asked me what she should do? I told her to call the paramedics and have them help him out of the tub. Like I always say, life is just precious down here in God's Little Waiting Room!

Sounds like going senile is the only way to have fun in Florida. Are you sure he was demented or did he just have too much of the bubbly?

I didn't see any soap bubbles if that's what you are referring to! 

stickguy

one of the requirements is that your roof can't be too old, and has to pass an inspection. Less than 10 years I think (which ours is). He said it was in great shape, so not anticipating any issues with it.

but yeah, gonna be costly to pull everything down to put a new roof on.

jmonroe

the 'judge' said:

ab348 nailed it; the primary and secondary fuel well plugs can leak. The solution is to clean them and coat them with epoxy.

I guess you can say I was lucky. I never had to do that.

The problems I encountered in addition to needing a general cleaning were:

(1) bad gaskets causing leaks between the different carb sections
(2) choke lever needing adjustment
(3) fuel bowl float level needing adjustment and the needle valve and seat being bad that caused gas to spew from the top of the carb
(4) and most of the time a bad accelerator pump that caused a delay when trying to accelerate from a full stop

jmonroe

jmonroe

stickguy said:

one of the requirements is that your roof can't be too old, and has to pass an inspection. Less than 10 years I think (which ours is). He said it was in great shape, so not anticipating any issues with it.

but yeah, gonna be costly to pull everything down to put a new roof on.

I figured that would be a requirement but I had to get my 2 cents in.

jmonroe

tjc78

Here is a story in the nothing is ever easy category. To start off we had a nice day taking the kids on an Easter Bunny Train ride and took a little ride out of the way to Harold's Deli for some food in Edison (do it if you can!). On the way home down the Turnpike the wife suggests it time to convert little TJC's crib to a toddler bed. I go downstairs and dig out the brand new in the box piece, disassemble the whole front of the crib/changing table only to find the rail is the wrong one! Markings on the box correct, but the part inside is wrong. It's apparently discontinued so not sure what the heck I'm going to do. Not happy! I'm hoping the manufacturer can help me out. Problem is we bought it late 2013.

On a car note, the Enclave is a royal PITA to fill up. The pump has to be restarted a few times to get a full tank. Oil monitor is down to 20% so hopefully next oil change they can do something about it.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

so, follow-up on my journey into the world of solar. I let the nice girl at Lowes talk me into having the dude come out for a pitch session. Figured, got nothing to lose. And a very boring life. So, he shows up today.

Good presentation. Really nice people (the district manager came too). They are with Sungevity (partly owned by Lowes) - anyone ever deal with them? Already had a design and analysis done in advance (I had sent them a picture of my usage bargraph, and they had the shot of the house from google maps). So I was looking at an overhead shot of my house, with the panel design laid on top. Looked real and everything!

anyway, made a strong case by the #s. We apparently are a perfect candidate, because you couldn't orient the house any better if you tried, and perfect roof pitch, and no obstructions. explains why my attic fan runs so much in the summer. So they estimate an 89% replacement value (called something like that) which seems to be about as high as it can go on a residential install like this.

went through various options, basically buy or lease. for a number of reasons, we would only be looking at the lease. basically "sign and drive" on a 20 year deal, so no investment by us. We talked a lot about what if we want to move, and that doesn't cost anything but the new owner would just assume the lease.

given the $ savings calculated, wanting to assume it should not be an issue I don't think. They calculate that with our generating capacity, even with high usage, we would average less than $100 month in bills (to them and AC electric, AKA the Devil). So we would be saving, on average, $150/month OOP (and that is probably conservative).

still mulling it over, and need to talk to a few people (so Ty, feel free to weigh in again please!), but I'm having trouble seeing the downside. In effect, this is just like changing to a different energy provider, though we do get snazzy panels on the roof out of it!

I know the lease gives them all the credits, but they also get the privilege of maintaining and insuring them, and supposedly no change to our property taxes. Plus I don't want to have to finance 20K right now to likely save even more down the line (plus I can't see us being in the house for even 7 years at this point).

As long as I am comfortable that if we do sell, the solar will increase (or at least not decrease) what I can sell it for, and won't make it harder to sell, we might surprise ourselves and go for it!

OK help me get my head around this. Say your electric bill is $100/mo and the lease on your solar is $100/mo. You have to generate that first $100 before you start paying down your electric bill. Can they promise your system will at least pay off the lease year round even in the cloudy months like November?

driver100

abacomike said:

@driver100:

I really don't see the resemblance between the Disney locomotive and the Lincoln SUV.  Additionally, I do not see the additional resemblance of the Lincoln SUV to a HEARSE!  

Now a PT Cruiser has an interesting shape and style to it vis-a-vie a mini-hearse.  Hey, oldfarmer, have you heard anyone compare the PT Cruiser to a hearse? 

That would be for the econo-hearse package:

This is the deluxe way to go:

jmonroe

ab348 said:

Speaking of home improvements, I finally made a decision on the heat pump. I ended up getting 5 quotes in total and learned a lot. 3 of the companies I got quotes from did both ducted whole-house heat pumps and ductless. Two of those had a clear preference to sell me the more expensive ducted type, while the third was shockingly honest and said that it was overkill for my situation and I really didn't need to spend that much money.

It would have been nice to reward their honesty with a sale, but unfortunately the ductless they offered was a no-name brand that had low efficiency and no online reviews or experiences from customers. Not going to take that chance for a couple of hundred dollar savings up front. The Lennox dealer was better and offered some good options but the winner was a local firm whose owner came in and spent some time sizing up the place and taking lots of measurements. He was the only one who identified a need for a more compact indoor unit in order to get the best airflow pattern on the main floor, and was competitive on price. So I am getting a 12000BTU Fujitsu unit, total cost installed just under $4K C$.

For your sake I hope the heat pumps today are more reliable than the ones built years ago.

When I lived SC I had a heat pump for the second floor and it required service twice in the 5 years I was there. Fortunately for me both were covered under warranty.

When I moved back to the Burgh and bought a house (1998) one of my next door neighbors had a heat pump, a Lenox that was about 5 years old at the time I moved in. That one died a year later. He then got a Carrier and that one lasted about 8 years. He is now on a Trane and is holding his breath although he has said it seems to be better in every way, heating /cooling and efficiency.

jmonroe

berri

Stick, I'd have the same concerns as Stever regarding transferring the lease. You also stated the lessor insures the units, but you still may want to talk to your insurance company. NJ tends to be heavily wooded. So a nor'easter knocks a neighbors tree onto your house roof and panels, then their insurance (if they even have it) claims it must be depreciated - who makes up the difference? Another scenario; Your roof develops a leak and the panels must be removed to repair it and then the panels have to be re-installed - who pays? Plus, if your roof is 10 years old, it is highly probable it will require a new roof or at least new shingles before that 20 year lease is up. I guess I'm just conservative, but as a prospective buyer I would have a lot of concerns with that arrangement and it might well lead me to buying a different house instead. I think you said something about wanting to move to a warmer climate in a few years. If that's the case, the delta may not really be a big enough cumulative savings to offset the potential risks and complications selling the place? Just some things you may want to consider.

berri

Aba, years back while based in Orlando lightening hit outside the house and came in through the cable. Then it apparently jumped over to the house electrical. Basically fried everything plugged into outer wall outlets. Utilities aren't responsible, but although I was renting the house, the renter's insurance covered it - but the TV and VCR were never really the same even after they were repaired. I wonder why it takes your cable box so long to reset? The ones I've had from several different companies over the years usually recalibrate within an hour or two, tops.

stickguy

We would need the mother of all tornadoes for a tree to hit the front of my house! But all good points.

Farmer, it basically works on credits. in the lower use months, we would be generating more than we use, so doing a net sale to the electric company (putting power into the grid). Those months, we accumulate KWH credits. When we get to mid summer and are generating more than we produce, first we cash in those credits, and when we run out, we pull power off the grid. everything ends up averaging out over the year.

we would not exactly be leasing like you would a car. It is more of prepurchasing electricity from the solar company at a fixed rate.

in a sense, we become a micro powerplant for the solar company, and get to buy back from them at a discounted rate. But month to month, our bills will still vary depending on usage.

berri

Can that rate change over time? What if the solar company goes BK? Solar's financial track record isn't really all that strong even in the sunny west. There is a big solar complex in the Mojave and it is bleeding red ink right now despite California mandates on the electric companies. Even Uncle Sam lost a bundle with solar investments under the current administration. But I understand your frustration with prices of everything in NJ, including all the taxes and fees. It may turn out to be a great deal for you, but just be real careful and give it plenty of due diligence, including maintenance and repair liability, as well has fine print min's and max's, before signing on the dotted line. There's some flim flam out there in this arena. Also make sure you are strictly a customer and not roped into some co-op type deal where if they fail you may be on the hook.

roadburner

jmonroe said:

For your sake I hope the heat pumps today are more reliable than the ones built years ago.

When I lived SC I had a heat pump for the second floor and it required service twice in the 5 years I was there. Fortunately for me both were covered under warranty.

When I moved back to the Burgh and bought a house (1998) one of my next door neighbors had a heat pump, a Lenox that was about 5 years old at the time I moved in. That one died a year later. He then got a Carrier and that one lasted about 8 years. He is now on a Trane and is holding his breath although he has said it seems to be better in every way, heating /cooling and efficiency.

jmonroe

In 1986 my parents installed a Trane heat pump in the house we now live in. The only repair it needed was a new blower motor in 2000. We replaced it when the main evaporator coil died in 2011. No issues with the new unit- a Rheem.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

@driver100:

I really don't see the resemblance between the Disney locomotive and the Lincoln SUV.  Additionally, I do not see the additional resemblance of the Lincoln SUV to a HEARSE!  

Now a PT Cruiser has an interesting shape and style to it vis-a-vie a mini-hearse.  Hey, oldfarmer, have you heard anyone compare the PT Cruiser to a hearse? 

Nope. The concept was supose to resemble a 1930s delivery van but I can see a little bit of hearse in it.

Maybe I have an attraction for funeral vehicles as I was intrigued by this Lincoln a few months back:



As I recall it only had 30 something thousand miles on it.

tjc78

A Continental flower car, odd duck for sure.  

driver100

Berri said It may turn out to be a great deal for you, but just be real careful and give it plenty of due diligence, including maintenance and repair liability, as well has fine print min's and max's, before signing on the dotted line. There's some flim flam out there in this arena.

A guy back home has a farm and he put $20000 down to have windmills on his property. He signed the contract, but the government said his area was not designated for windmills....and he is still trying to get his $20k back.

driver100

I had a strange dream last night. My wife, loves European cars, she has had Volvos, MG, bmw, Mercedes, Audi, and currently has a GLK. She has never even considered or looked at a D3 car. In my dream she said she wants a car with a lot of horsepower, something like a Buick! I tried to talk her into getting a Mustang or a Hellcat so I could have some fun.

Any ideas what this dream means?

driver100

tjc78 said:

A Continental flower car, odd duck for sure.  

Looks like a Lincoln Ranchero!

stickguy

Well, if you were Breld, it would mean you were coming home with a big V8 today.

in your case, I think you want a fun car.

driver100

tjc78 said:

On a car note, the Enclave is a royal PITA to fill up. The pump has to be restarted a few times to get a full tank. Oil monitor is down to 20% so hopefully next oil change they can do something about it.

Other than that how do you like the Enclave? I thought you were completely satisfied. Will you be considering another one?

ab348

driver100 said:

I had a strange dream last night. My wife, loves European cars, she has had Volvos, MG, bmw, Mercedes, Audi, and currently has a GLK. She has never even considered or looked at a D3 car. In my dream she said she wants a car with a lot of horsepower, something like a Buick! I tried to talk her into getting a Mustang or a Hellcat so I could have some fun.

Any ideas what this dream means?

It means her next car should be a Cadillac V-series.

ab348

roadburner said:

In 1986 my parents installed a Trane heat pump in the house we now live in. The only repair it needed was a new blower motor in 2000. We replaced it when the main evaporator coil died in 2011. No issues with the new unit- a Rheem.

Odd useless factoid I learned in my search: up here in my part of the world at least, Trane does not sell residential equipment any longer, only commercial, and while there is a listing for Carrier it seems they have no dealers locally for residential gear either. Lots of Lennox gear and lots of independents selling whatever.

The Fujitsu unit comes with a 10 year warranty and all reports are that if you buy from one of their authorized dealers (as I am) you will be fine.

driver100

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

I had a strange dream last night. My wife, loves European cars, she has had Volvos, MG, bmw, Mercedes, Audi, and currently has a GLK. She has never even considered or looked at a D3 car. In my dream she said she wants a car with a lot of horsepower, something like a Buick! I tried to talk her into getting a Mustang or a Hellcat so I could have some fun.

Any ideas what this dream means?

It means her next car should be a Cadillac V-series.

That would be alright, good thinking ab.
OR
Maybe it means we have a Corvette in our future.......where can we see that $10k one oldfarmer?

houdini1

roadburner said:

jmonroe said:

For your sake I hope the heat pumps today are more reliable than the ones built years ago.

When I lived SC I had a heat pump for the second floor and it required service twice in the 5 years I was there. Fortunately for me both were covered under warranty.

When I moved back to the Burgh and bought a house (1998) one of my next door neighbors had a heat pump, a Lenox that was about 5 years old at the time I moved in. That one died a year later. He then got a Carrier and that one lasted about 8 years. He is now on a Trane and is holding his breath although he has said it seems to be better in every way, heating /cooling and efficiency.

jmonroe

In 1986 my parents installed a Trane heat pump in the house we now live in. The only repair it needed was a new blower motor in 2000. We replaced it when the main evaporator coil died in 2011. No issues with the new unit- a Rheem.

Our Lennox is 10 years old with no issues and still going strong. It heats and cools, but in heating mode it only supplements our gas furnace. It cools 100% of the time when needed. If it stops working tomorrow, I figure it has done a good job already.

cdnpinhead

ab348 said:

. . . Trane does not sell residential equipment any longer, only commercial, and while there is a listing for Carrier it seems they have no dealers locally for residential gear either.

One of our 24-year-old units still has the original blower assembly, but just about everything else has been replaced. The downstairs unit was replaced about five years ago with a Rheem that's been great.

Given the snow in your part of the world this weekend, A/C is about the last thing you need. I'm going to be up near Ottawa for the next few days and there's likely to be a few inches, but that's it.

qbrozen

Stick, are they charging a flat monthly lease payment? or does it vary based on generation?

stickguy

the unit rate is fixed, so we pay for the net amount we use over what we generate.