61–70 of 74 posts
To me, the obvious reason why solar would be a gamble is that I have no guarantee I’ll be living here in the same home five years - let alone twenty - from now and I can’t take it with me when/if I move.
If you don't think you will be living there in 5 years, you probably shouldn't have bought the place, as the up to 10% or more transaction costs will eat you alive.
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Interestingly, I’m not particularly young (approaching 40), and can’t stand living in the suburbs (where I moved, from a city, last year). I feel so completely trapped, unfree, and dependent on my car, it’s ridiculous. I’ll be eating a $40k+ loss on this house purchase to move back asap, and it will be worth it. I find the ability to walk to my library or grocery store infinitely more freeing than having to buckle in…
So what you’re saying is you are against seatbelt laws…
I've done these calculations, particularly after putting an 11.6Kw solar array on our last house, which was in St. Petersburg, FL, one of the sunniest places in the US. We sold the house after having the system for ~6.5 years, but we were tracking for a 9 year ROI. My cost was ~$23K out of pocket at the time, with power bills of $500-$800/mo., depending on time of year. I think our average daily consumption was 69Kwh…
I'm curious, it boggles my mind how people get energy bills that high. Do you pay 90¢ a kilowatt hour or something? What are you doing in your house to use that much electricity?
We had an electric clothes dryer, which would run a few hours a week. And electric oven and cooktop, which had minimal use (mostly cook outdoors). The only other large loads were an electric water heater and an elevator, plus a few PCs that were on 24/7.
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Yes, if we all lived in city-centre 'WFH pods' eating bug paste we could get infrastructure costs and environmental impact way down! Then we could breed more humans, and 'growth' continues! (for some definitions of 'growth') But while some (young) people are fine with super-dense urban living, not needing a car, and rarely leaving their city, many people place a very high value on space, peace+quiet, and the increase…
Interestingly, I’m not particularly young (approaching 40), and can’t stand living in the suburbs (where I moved, from a city, last year). I feel so completely trapped, unfree, and dependent on my car, it’s ridiculous. I’ll be eating a $40k+ loss on this house purchase to move back asap, and it will be worth it. I find the ability to walk to my library or grocery store infinitely more freeing than having to buckle in…
> I like being able to hop on my bicycle and get out of the city
You find it safer to bike in NYC or SF than in a quiet low-traffic suburb?
I did spend a lot of time biking in Manhattan in my youth but I wouldn't call it safe. Much safer cycling these days in the suburbs with low traffic.
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I see. That makes sense. That actually seems like a very solvable problem with older boilers by adding something like a heat exchanger on the flue / exhaust. That should be a >90%.
Sounds like a great engineering challenge! I don't know a lot about boilers, but I do know that obstructing the flue in any way risks carbon monoxide poisoning - which may be the reason these things don't (yet?) exist.
I could build one for my house for Short story is that a heat exchanger would add resistance to airflow, but that could be trivially countered with ... a fan. I could design a control system for setting fan speed to make it look like an unobstructed passage for Disclaimer: I've done work in an adjacent field, and I'm confident about all of the above working. I can give you the parts list almost off-hand if you want a longer story, right down to the pressure sensor I'd use if I needed a control system. That said, I have close to zero background in civil engineering, regulatory requirements around things like this, and similar. My knowledge of thermodynamics and thermal engineering is also quite good, but my knowledge of HVAC specifically could fit on the head of a pin. I give the background so that you can decide whether or not to believe me. :)
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Sounds like a great engineering challenge! I don't know a lot about boilers, but I do know that obstructing the flue in any way risks carbon monoxide poisoning - which may be the reason these things don't (yet?) exist.
I don't think it's a challenge at all. I could build one for my house for Short story is that a heat exchanger would add resistance to airflow, but that could be trivially countered with ... a fan. I could design a control system for setting fan speed to make it look like an unobstructed passage for Disclaimer: I've done work in an adjacent field, and I'm confident about all of the above working. I can give you the p…
Sounds like a great startup
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I don't think it's a challenge at all. I could build one for my house for Short story is that a heat exchanger would add resistance to airflow, but that could be trivially countered with ... a fan. I could design a control system for setting fan speed to make it look like an unobstructed passage for Disclaimer: I've done work in an adjacent field, and I'm confident about all of the above working. I can give you the p…
I believe you - I'm saying do it! A $500 device that would provide an efficiency jump from 60 to 90% would be a big seller - and would mean that billions of people across the world wouldn't need to upgrade their boilers, saving billions in costs and fuel. Sounds like a great startup
I think it's probably worth doing, but I have a list a dozen long of better startups. The key risks around something like this as a startup are:
1) Regulatory and compliance. A lot of the reason things like this aren't adopted is here. I can point you to a dozen ways to build better homes which don't meet code which is written around things like inches between studs rather than structural integrity.
2) Dissemination. In order for something like this to be successful: (a) people need to know about it (b) installers need to know how it works. Most people have no idea what a heat exchanger is.
3) Fundraising. Building things is expensive, so this would be a raise in at least the single-digit millions to start an efficient production line. No one will fund you unless you've solved (1) and (2).
To give an idea of how hard consumer ignorance is:
I was working on a random home project. I could find just one appropriate heat exchanger being sold in my local hardware store, with Panasonic's brand power behind it. The hardware store itself doesn't know what it is:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Panasonic-WhisperComfort-40-20-2...
Home Depot thinks it's a bathroom exhaust fan. It's an ERV, which is a super-fancy sort of exchanger which also exchanges / captures humidity. The manual says not to use this in a bathroom, kitchen, or similar since it literally doesn't work for blowing out humid air.... However, that's how Home Depot markets it.
I can ship the best product in the world, and no one will buy it if they don't know about it or understand it.
Pulling together a real business plan means thinking through problems like that. I can build this thing would be easy, at least for a good engineer. That doesn't mean one can make money doing so.
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Interestingly, I’m not particularly young (approaching 40), and can’t stand living in the suburbs (where I moved, from a city, last year). I feel so completely trapped, unfree, and dependent on my car, it’s ridiculous. I’ll be eating a $40k+ loss on this house purchase to move back asap, and it will be worth it. I find the ability to walk to my library or grocery store infinitely more freeing than having to buckle in…
I enjoy walking to the library and grocery stores (and many other things), that's why I live in a suburb which has all these amenities within an easy walk. > I like being able to hop on my bicycle and get out of the city You find it safer to bike in NYC or SF than in a quiet low-traffic suburb? I did spend a lot of time biking in Manhattan in my youth but I wouldn't call it safe. Much safer cycling these days in the…
1. Whatever suburb you live in is extremely unusual as far as suburbs go. Suburbs are almost defined by the lack of amenities accessible by foot. Hence the whole “15 minute city” thing. If you’ve got that in a suburb, that’s a great suburb.
2. There are cities other than New York and SF. For what it’s worth, I lived in NYC for a decade+ and rode my bike as my main mode of transportation for a lot of my time there. And the comparison isn’t even close. Yes. I absolutely find it safer riding my bike in Manhattan than in the quiet suburb I find myself living now. Infrastructure matters. And the infrastructure here is solely built for car driving.
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The car infrastructure you were referring to is more than just stroads and mandatory vehicle ownership. I know that's all your favorite youtubers talk about, but there are actually other aspects.
Hey friend, how about instead of writing a comment that does nothing but sound condescending, you add something to the discussion. What “more” are you talking about? I’m very interested in this.
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I enjoy walking to the library and grocery stores (and many other things), that's why I live in a suburb which has all these amenities within an easy walk. > I like being able to hop on my bicycle and get out of the city You find it safer to bike in NYC or SF than in a quiet low-traffic suburb? I did spend a lot of time biking in Manhattan in my youth but I wouldn't call it safe. Much safer cycling these days in the…
I’d suggest a couple things here: 1. Whatever suburb you live in is extremely unusual as far as suburbs go. Suburbs are almost defined by the lack of amenities accessible by foot. Hence the whole “15 minute city” thing. If you’ve got that in a suburb, that’s a great suburb. 2. There are cities other than New York and SF. For what it’s worth, I lived in NYC for a decade+ and rode my bike as my main mode of transportat…
I disagree. Every suburb I've ever lived in has had services within walking distance.
> Suburbs are almost defined by the lack of amenities accessible by foot.
Well... If you decide to define suburb by lack of walkable amenities, then of course by definition any place that's walkable isn't a suburb. Tautologically, so I can't argue with that.
But I will argue that this is not actually the definition of suburb!
> There are cities other than New York and SF
Sure but those are the top two densest cities in the US, so worth considering.
> Yes. I absolutely find it safer riding my bike in Manhattan than in the quiet suburb
Interesting. Well that's very different from my experience. Riding a bike in Manhattan is an extreme sport. I did it in my youth along with other risky things but in hindsight maybe a bit too much risk. Riding a bike out here in the quiet suburbs is a pleasure since there's so much less traffic and more space.