Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

We need a lot more electricians

canarymedia.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 533 posts

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#241

Post by lotsofpulp »

frankus wrote: post #148
frankus wrote: post #109

I'm curious if there is some productivity-improving tech for electricians waiting to be invented. The following will be super North-America-centric, but: Right now you have to fasten a box to the wall structure, cut the wire so that about 8" can make its way into the box, strip the outer insulation and insert it into the box, strip at least some of the individual conductors, and then splice (by twisting and using wir…

Or even something as simple as studs that come pre-drilled at outlet and switch height (they already come pre-cut to slightly less than 8 feet to be the right height when installed between top and bottom plates).

What purpose would this serve? A drill and drill bit is a very common, quick, and easy to use tool. If you were screwing a box to a stud, I do not think you even need a pre drilled hole. You can just use any wood screw.

Also, outlet/switch boxes get nailed to the studs during construction, and modifications to those boxes are fastened to the drywall, in my experience.

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#242

Post by 5544ffee »

I considered beginning an electrician apprenticeship because I just can't sit in a cubicle 40 hours a week anymore. I'm still young enough that the physical aspects aren't an issue, but the overall working conditions, pay and benefits sound terrible.

I think I'd rather just learn to repair electronics.

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#243

Post by saluki »

sokoloff wrote: post #161
londons_explore wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They only need to be installed in specific places... But they ought to be installed for the whole house. You do want your refrigerator on one. What when your mom is putting a metal saucepan into the fridge of leftovers, knocks and smashes the lamp inside, and the AC lamp power supply kills her though the metal saucepan? What when a baby puts a fork into an electrical outlet in the living room? What when floodwater co…

I have twice lost a fridge full of food due to spurious GFCI trips, once when I was a recent graduate and it was a painful experience financially. I now make sure my fridge/freezer is NOT on a GFCI. I'll take my chances of getting a 120VAC shock from my fridge [which is attention-getting, but very unlikely to be injurious].

Check out the YoLink temperature sensors on Amazon. They are amazing for monitoring our secondary freezer. All their sensors have been great. Temp for fridge/freezers, leak detectors, temp+humidity for basement, they have a motion sensor that is a magnet you can place in the back of your mailbox if you want to know when mail is delivered. Their door sensor can be installed on overhead garage doors by a magnet and a velcro strip for the part that goes on the wall. They also have a 1/4 mile range and the sensor can be inside your fridge/freezer and still connect. App is great, no monthly fee, you get notifications on your phone you can also get a small number of SMS messages for free. All notifications/limits are configurable.

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#244

Post by vel0city »

cinntaile wrote: post #162
mfer wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a push to move to electric heat generation in homes in some areas. If electricity goes out you loose heat. In many areas you can have weeks (even months) where the temperature is below freezing. Loose heat to your home and your pipes can freeze. When this happens they burst causing damage to the home.

Are you trying to say that the risk to lose electricity is bigger than the risk to lose the other heat sources? Wouldn't houses at risk have some sort of contingency measures in place such as insulated pipes, alternative heat sources,..?

> Are you trying to say that the risk to lose electricity is bigger than the risk to lose the other heat sources?

From my personal experiences, yes. Gas pipelines are practically always buried, electricity lines are often overhead and subject to storm damage. There have been dozens of times in my life where electricity is out but natural gas infrastructure is still available.

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#245

Post by Whinner »

carcostthrow wrote: post #198
BitwiseFool wrote: post #11

Something to keep in mind is that most homes, if they haven't been constructed within the last 10 years, likely have some non-compliance with the current electrical code. For instance, I needed to install an exterior disconnect which wound up costing me more than a thousand dollars on top of the existing electrical work I needed done. The electrician also needed to replace my existing ground wires because they are su…

Oh it gets even funnier then that. So I took quick look into what it would actually take to upgrade the main circuit breaker in the house assuming a 100A to 200A upgrade is needed to accommodate both an EV and a heat pump. I thought it was $5000 or so. As it turns out, $5000 is for pole mounted service. It's range is actually around $15,000 to $25,000 for underground service, as it requires digging the line from the…

As a counter point, I paid about $1600 in 2019 in northern NJ to have my circuit breaker panel replaced and my service upgraded from 100 to 200.

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#246

Post by fnordpiglet »

boringg wrote: post #49
epistasis wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is mooooore than enough spare grid capacity to deliver the electricity to electrify homes. We size the grid for peak capacity, not for average capacity, which means that there's a very low overall usage amount. And the big drivers of additional electricity, heating and transportation, are easily shiftable to non-peak times. And as we have smarter devices, and more time of use billing, load shifting will be easy…

Not at all. Grid is not ready for this it need significant capital upgrades. Yes its designed for peak load but the load profile is changing significantly. And no you absolutely cant just load shift away heating and transportation of residential homes. That isn't cost free and we don't even have the projects in place to manage that yet.

My understanding is the grid in general is capable but the last mile transformer networks are not.

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#247

Post by chaosite »

londons_explore wrote: post #131
tibbon wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need a AFCI in most places now. In the 2020 edition of the NEC®, Section 210.12 requires that for dwelling units, all 120-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere branch circuits supplying outlets or devices installed in dwelling unit kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors, libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreation rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas, or similar rooms or areas shall be…

Some countries you have a single one for the whole building, rather than one per circuit. That dramatically lowers the cost. The only real downside is that if you accidentally put your finger in the toaster, rather than just the power to your kitchen cutting off, the power to the whole house cuts off. I think thats a fine tradeoff to save $1200.

Well, if the power shuts off and that saves me from electrocuting myself, I couldn't care less how much of the rest of the house lost power.

The annoying part is when I plug in some faulty device that is not immediately dangerous and that shuts down power to the whole house.

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#248

Post by eppp »

brianwawok wrote: post #237
zbrozek wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Electrical code has completely unreasonable and unrealistic demand factors associated with appliances. Basically "1" for just about everything, as well as 3 watts per square foot of floor area. If you sum all of these things up, I'm well above the 200 amp service delivered to my home. Reality? I had a peak draw of 23 amps from the grid in the last year. Luckily the NEC has an escape valve for folks who can prove that…

Right, don't go off code for having to do a big upgrade like this. I legit hit 100A several times a month. Have hit over 150A. Easy way for me to draw 100A at once: 40A: EV charging 32A: Electric Oven warming up at max 24A: Electric Dryer 40A: HotTub jets on 40A: AC ON Max Unlikely all of those are on full max, but it's pretty easy to imagine getting past 100A before we even touch things like lights and computers. EV…

And if you only have a 200A service, your service drop is likely only 2 or 1/0.

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#249

Post by LesZedCB »

5544ffee wrote: post #242

I considered beginning an electrician apprenticeship because I just can't sit in a cubicle 40 hours a week anymore. I'm still young enough that the physical aspects aren't an issue, but the overall working conditions, pay and benefits sound terrible. I think I'd rather just learn to repair electronics.

same. if i could find something that's like 50/50 or some other ratio with a similarly scaled pay i think i could make the jump

Re: We need a lot more electricians

#250

Post by [deleted] »

floren wrote: post #66
photonbeam wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there visas available for those in blue collar trades like this? I’m wondering if they’re also protected from immigration related market forces on wages

Electrical wiring practices differ from country to country. Anyone coming in on a visa would need some retraining if only to learn the local regulations. You can sling Javascript the same way in Chennai or in Cleveland, but I wouldn't want a UK electrician wiring my house in California.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN