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Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

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Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#181

Post by croemer »

shadyKeystrokes wrote: post #167
maccard wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in the UK, and it’s basically £100 to get a tradesperson to show up to my front door regardless of what I want them to do. I can buy a flat screen TV from £100 new from one of the UK high street retailers [1] , or £85 [2] if I go on Amazon [1] https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7623909?clickPR=plp:6:323 [2] https://amzn.eu/d/bVCBLv3

Its also for free to repair a hole in the hand after trying to knock a hole into the wall ;)

Not free if your time has a value :)

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#182

Post by beeboop0 »

testdelacc1 wrote: post #52

The author makes an error while explaining Jevons’ Paradox. They say “the cheaper and faster we got at producing coal, the more coal we ended up using”. But that’s not paradoxical at all. That’s basic supply and demand curve from economics 101. It’s exactly what you’d expect. Whereas if you take the extraordinarily difficult step of opening Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox ), you understand th…

as work / token (engine efficiency) increases, because agents are getting smarter, my agent (locomotive) count is increasing, because I find more uses for smarter agents, and my overall token use is increasing.

what's odd is we must take this back to literal coal in order to complete the analogy. tokens are ethereal; energy inputs are not.

cost / token is decreasing while model performance stays roughly the same or gradually improves. cost is a rough proxy for tons of coal consumed.

I think smarter models is what's driving greater coal use overall.

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#183

Post by beeboop0 »

otikik wrote: post #112
testdelacc1 wrote: post #52

The author makes an error while explaining Jevons’ Paradox. They say “the cheaper and faster we got at producing coal, the more coal we ended up using”. But that’s not paradoxical at all. That’s basic supply and demand curve from economics 101. It’s exactly what you’d expect. Whereas if you take the extraordinarily difficult step of opening Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox ), you understand th…

> price per token, which has fallen. I think that statement is incomplete. It's cheaper because the AI providers are subsidizing the queries by burning cash in order to gain market share. So it's not a price , it's a subsidized and temporary price. Which will likely go up once burnable money runs out / the providers switch from "market acquisition" to "let's try to make this thing profitable at all".

[dead]

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#184

Post by WillPostForFood »

array_key_first wrote: post #174
WillPostForFood wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regulation, for example occupational licensing of jobs, has become much more prevalent. 60 years ago, only 5% of the workforce was occupationally licensed, now it is 25%.* There is a bipartisan push to reduce occupational licensing, and recognize licenses across state lines. So not irrational, unsubstantiated, partisan, or ideological. * https://documents.ncsl.org/wwwncsl/Labor/NCSL_DOL_Report_05_...

The ideological part comes in when you immediately choose to stop your analysis here. This is known as "playing stupid". Why has licensure increased in the past 60 years? What were the motivations? And, if we remove some licensing, how can we be sure the motivation does not come back? What is the ROOT CAUSE? It's entirely possible that we can get rid of the regulation, have a bunch of bad things happen, pay stupid am…

I agree, but it is equally idealogical to clean there is no rational basis for the idea that regulation increases costs. It is equally idealogical to stop at your analysis at "if we remove these regulations something bad will happen, so let's not remove any regulations".

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#185

Post by [deleted] »

vel0city wrote: post #157
pas wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but you need to put the TV on the wall VESA mounts and installation are not cheap it's really an apples and or ciders comparison that said, now I realized I have a door with two pictures screwed to it, because we punched a hole through it more than a decade ago during a house party, and that specific door is out of production, and it's the door to the storage room so it was (and still is) the perfect solution :)

A TV wall mount can be had for $30, or even little less. They're extremely simple to install. All you need is a basic drill and 20 minutes.

[deleted]

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#186

Post by jmb99 »

XorNot wrote: post #119
jmb99 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would your homeowners insurance not cover that? Mine would.

You might want to really do a careful read of your policy, because almost all of them have provisions about requiring work to be completed by licensed tradespeople.

I've heard people say this before, so a few years back I got all of my friends and family to send me a full copy of their insurance policies. 0% had any lines saying anything regarding work being performed by licensed tradespeople, or even that work must be done to building/etc codes. This was across multiple insurance companies in 3 provinces (Canada), for policies on condos, semi-detached, and detached homes.

I have my doubts that such a thing exists outside of extreme circumstances or internet commenters' imaginations.

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#187

Post by XorNot »

jmb99 wrote: post #186
XorNot wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might want to really do a careful read of your policy, because almost all of them have provisions about requiring work to be completed by licensed tradespeople.

I've heard people say this before, so a few years back I got all of my friends and family to send me a full copy of their insurance policies. 0% had any lines saying anything regarding work being performed by licensed tradespeople, or even that work must be done to building/etc codes. This was across multiple insurance companies in 3 provinces (Canada), for policies on condos, semi-detached, and detached homes. I hav…

Definitely not the case in Australia e.g. https://www.gio.com.au/know-more/insuring-your-home/things-t...

Insurance for damage due to building works is separate and required to be carried by the principal contractor for work over $20,000.

Which is to say, if I don't check they actually hold a policy, the residential insurance is not going to pay out.

I am extremely skeptical you have interpreted those policies accurately. For example, the one above doesn't require anything of anyone renovating stuff: but it also just won't pay for any associated damages.

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#188

Post by water9 »

throwaway173738 wrote: post #148
water9 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because if you get a leak in your air conditioner, instead of just patching the hole and refilling it with coolant, you have to replace your entire system in places like California because they require a more green, less gas, in the name of science, and still completely ignoring the simple fact that it doesn’t make a damn difference because we all live in the same globe. The amount of waste that is generated is…

Which existential threat are you referring to here?

Global warming / climate change

People vastly overestimate science’s ability to predict the future, especially when they often can’t get the weather right, right now.

But it’s more than that. People who study the climate change don’t get funding if there’s no problem for them to study. Their job necessitates there being a problem. It’s a conflict of interest.

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#189

Post by [deleted] »

locknitpicker wrote: post #140
water9 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because if you get a leak in your air conditioner, instead of just patching the hole and refilling it with coolant, you have to replace your entire system in places like California because they require a more green, less gas, in the name of science, and still completely ignoring the simple fact that it doesn’t make a damn difference because we all live in the same globe. The amount of waste that is generated is…

> Yes, because if you get a leak in your air conditioner, instead of just patching the hole and refilling it with coolant, you have to replace your entire system in places like California because they require a more green, less gas, in the name of science, and still completely ignoring the simple fact that it doesn’t make a damn difference because we all live in the same globe. I don't think you are holding an inform…

[deleted]

Re: Why AC is cheap, but AC repair is a luxury

#190

Post by water9 »

throwawaymobule wrote: post #143
locknitpicker wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, because if you get a leak in your air conditioner, instead of just patching the hole and refilling it with coolant, you have to replace your entire system in places like California because they require a more green, less gas, in the name of science, and still completely ignoring the simple fact that it doesn’t make a damn difference because we all live in the same globe. I don't think you are holding an inform…

A lot of refrigerants have a very high gwp.

OK, but you use very little amounts of the refrigerant. 1 pound of refrigerant that’s in a closed loop is the same as 1 ton of CO2, which is about the equivalent of burning one tree over 20 year period and that’s assuming it leaks out which it’s not supposed to.
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