231–240 of 281 posts
Author here. Thanks for the comments everyone! There are many comments on the price point. I would like to comment on one thing. "$20k is too much" I agree $20k is an investment. Could I have done it for cheaper? Absolutely. Would a DIY shell been cheaper? Would doing more of the work myself have been cheaper? Could I have saved by putting in the smaller stock windows and not having a skylight? Of course! But I am a…
I jumped to the end and saw $2.3k for the mini split and couldn't believe it. I've installed mini splits on two homes and the quotes were always in the $15-25k range for 3-5 head units, so $2.3k for a head + outdoor condenser unit sounded implausible, but then I saw he found a surprisingly good deal: > I got a ton of quotes for installing a mini split. They ranged from $4-$7k, which was higher than I expected after r…
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In my state they require: >160 hours of education/vocational training and 2 years’ verifiable experience in the trade To get the license to install minisplits (two years experience generally means working an apprenticeship). It's no wonder install costs are so much in the US. And as you've experienced, they're hardly rocket science to install. The 160 hours training would be more than enough, I'm not sure why 2 years…
Protection racket. They guys doing the installs now would make much less money if just anyone with some tools could start competing with them.
https://successfulsoftware.net/2009/07/27/where-i-program/
Might have some ideas for people thinking of setting up a home office.
When I moved house I renovated an old summer house in the garden now and use that as my office. It is great. I just wish that I had put in an air source heat pump, rather than an electric radiator.
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It's smarter (and cheaper!) to live by yourself because your entire house is distraction-free.
I visited a friend's apartment and he was going on and on about how everyone around him seems to be getting exploding dogs, so I think the key is to live by yourself in a house separated from others. But down that path lies a cabin innawoods.
I've heard of bomb disposal dogs, but this is an angle I hadn't previously considered
For work-from-home, I can't emphasize enough how much of a game changer it is to have a physically separate building for your work, especially if you have a family with kids and noise and pets and things. Working from a spare bedroom, even one without a bed / outfitted as an office, is just not my thing. Even if your family "knows the rules" and let you work in peace. It subjectively still "feels like you're home". W…
Stepping back a bit, if you are working remotely that's likely a proxy for an increased likelihood of job loss due to AI. Why start and invest in a construction project for a building that may not be staffed long term? Perhaps renting a small coworking space in town is the safer financial move. And have your employer pay for it.
The article states that in only 4 years it's already broken even vs renting a coworking space. Plus it is at least a theoretical bump to the property value (vs rent paid to coworking space which would be pure overhead)
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What will they do if they learn you installed your minisplit yourself?
Nothing assumes no issues. If it catches/causes a fire, good luck with insurance
Your insurance will pay up. Then they will consider terminating your contract. DIY work in your home does not invalidate insurance claims. This is ludicrous claim. You could go read your insurance contract in five minutes and verify.
DIY https://buildfreely.com
I like that CO2 detector. I wonder if I could build one cheaply as a DIY project by buying and attaching the sensor to Raspberry Pi?
CO2 sensors are not all created equal. The price of a good one is a large chunk of the cost of the device.
I jumped to the end and saw $2.3k for the mini split and couldn't believe it. I've installed mini splits on two homes and the quotes were always in the $15-25k range for 3-5 head units, so $2.3k for a head + outdoor condenser unit sounded implausible, but then I saw he found a surprisingly good deal: > I got a ton of quotes for installing a mini split. They ranged from $4-$7k, which was higher than I expected after r…
Honestly, I would recommend just doing it yourself. Especially if you have a contractor pull in the electrical connection for it. I installed a pre-charged unit in a much more complicated attic setup (condenser mounted to outside wall on second floor, 20' of refrigerant lines run with lots of angles) and the whole thing took 6-8 hours with no experience. Mounting it to a shed where you're basically just cutting a hol…
But if you screw up the refrigerant lines, they will leak over time, and your machines will not only stop cooling and the motor will burn out, but HVAC personnel who are licensed to buy refrigerant and re-charge your lines will refuse to work on DIY lines because they then will incur legal liability.
I installed my own and paid an HVAC company to very my connections were good, and when it came time to release the refrigerant into the lines, the guy told me I had to do it for legal liability reasons.