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Post by Cole D on Oct 12, 2022 16:56:25 GMT -5
Yeah that's what I was thinking, you would think at least the electricians would have gotten a better knowledge of how much amperage it would take. And even an average all-electric house on a 200 amp service would be about the same you'd think.
Another neighbor down the street was out of town during the storm. They had one that was installed in 2004 but for some reason it didn't start up when the power went off, until after they got home. So I guess something wasn't set right because it was running later when they did whatever to it.
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Post by Cole D on Oct 11, 2022 22:20:33 GMT -5
When you decide to pull the trigger on a small generator, pass up the Westinghouse iGen4500. I repair welders and generators for a living, and that machine is so flawed. Go with a Generac if you can help it, or a Champion. Our neighbor on one side had a Generac installed a couple of months ago. When the power went off it would shut down sometimes and they called the electrician out to check it. It turned out that whenever their AC started up the starting wattage was too high for the Generac. The electrician said they needed to install a higher value starting capacitor to lower the current draw but in the mean time they shut off the water heater to lower the amperage draw. We were planning to get an estimate for one but were going to wait until after hurricane season in the winter when prices may be lower with a little less demand. TBH though I'm not sure we really needed one, but we definitely were blessed with the cooler weather this time. Every other hurricane I remember save Wilma it was sweltering and power was out at least two weeks. Wilma was a late hurricane in November and it actually got very cold suddenly when it came through.
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Post by Cole D on Oct 11, 2022 20:52:17 GMT -5
We fortunately did not have any real damage from the storm. It left every inch of the yard covered in branches and sticks, quite a few limbs, and the neighbor's tree blew over in the back yard. But that was pretty much it. The coast had it so much worse and even inland areas had awful flooding. Here, just about everything was back up and running in about 4-5 days. I didn't really go to town for a few days as work was closed until the following Monday and I was busy getting the yard cleaned up.
We were also really fortunate that the weather got cool after the storm came through. It really didn't even get hot in the house with the windows closed. And the power was only out for a few days, I was amazed how fast they got it back on and in so many areas too. Usually after a hurricane we'd be out 2 weeks where I am, although some areas usually come back sooner. But this time I think 99% were back up within 5 days I heard. Some people never even lost power which is just amazing to me.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 26, 2022 20:48:50 GMT -5
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Post by Cole D on Sept 23, 2022 20:47:14 GMT -5
Looks like this one could well hit Florida. We have kind of managed to miss any major hurricanes in 2021 and 2020 with the last major one hitting north Florida.
Hope it goes out to sea. I went out tonight and heard lots of talk about the storm and people buying supplies.
I had 1/2 tank in the car but decided to fill up. There was lines at the stations in town but as I got further out toward home I was able to get right in. Always seems similar whenever there is a panic on fuel shortages or storms.
We were supposed to have gas installed at work and built in generator but it didn't happen. So I'm sure we'll just have enough power for the computers but no A/C. Usually when the power is out we just work half days and go home because it gets too hot by the mid day.
I'm hoping the power doesn't go out long. After Charley and Jeanne it was out for two weeks. After Irma in 2017 it was out for longer plus our lines were damaged so we had to have a new service installed which took another week after our neighbors got power back, it was awful. Good thing with that one though is downtown had power within a few days. So I'd go to Walmart and walk around or go to a restaurant for a while after work to cool off. The other storms nobody had power for at least an hour or two away!
If I ever buy a house I'm going to get a small generator and window A/C unit just to cool one bedroom and stay cool at night. That's the worst thing to me is trying to sleep in hot weather with no A/C and no breeze.
Some of our neighbors have whole house generators, the neighbor next door just had one installed, I wish we had one too.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 23, 2022 20:41:52 GMT -5
Who knows, fans could come back. I notice that a lot of 70s/80s designs have come back like the 4 bladed spinners, etc. I think trends come and go and ceiling fans will probably always be around.
I do think the future of fans is DC motors and LED lighting, unless some new technology supersedes it.
Fans in commercial applications like restaurants, schools, etc is definitely not as popular as it once was. But on the other hand the HVLS style fans have become popular in places.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 22, 2022 22:26:06 GMT -5
Well hearing what the fed has been saying I think we're going into a recession, if we weren't already, in order to bring down inflation. I'm hoping that this causes prices to go down to more reasonable levels, but we shall see. I think the prices on a lot of things needs to come down obviously. I'm just concerned about job stability as we go into this. Definitely won't be buying a home or any large purchases anytime soon.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 21, 2022 21:50:27 GMT -5
Good news is I contacted the seller with pictures. They said they could either offer partial refund or offer another shade. So I went with getting another shade since it might be hard to find another. I'm going to see if I can glue the broken one back together so that I'll hopefully have a spare for my other fixture. IDK if it will work or not.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 18, 2022 21:11:34 GMT -5
Lots if places do this. They think nobody cares. I would tell them youre interested before they scrap anything. I'm thinking that's what's happening. I don't know that they get enough in for it to be worth asking, and I don't know they'd do it. Maybe I should start peeking in the dumpster sometimes when I go. And this is also why I've stopped donating anything to them, I never see any of it get put out for sale, so I assume they throw it away. I now only donate to other thrift stores in the area. Habitat used to not be this way, I remember when the ceiling fan dept had lots of motors, light kits and blades, even Original motors, etc. But I didn't collect back then much so never got any of it. Now it's mostly either assembled fans downstairs on display or blades upstairs.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 18, 2022 13:29:13 GMT -5
This has gotten ridiculous lately.
Three times this year I've purchased items on eBay and gotten shipping damage. I have purchased a lot on there over the years and never had any issues but once before.
But this year I've gotten a plastic Lasko fan with broken parts, a Hunter fan with broken plastic blade.
This time I bought a vintage light and the shade is busted and metal bent. I think the seller packed it too tightly personally, but they don't offer returns so I don't know if I can get refunded.
Usually the buyer files a claim with shipper and then I get refunded and don't need to return the item.
But with this happening so often I wonder if eBay is going to think it's a fraudulent case. It just seems unusual for this to happen so frequently.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 18, 2022 10:14:34 GMT -5
So maybe a couple of months ago I found a set of Fasco Porch Fan blades and arms at Habitat, but no motor.
Now last week I found a set of Fasco Great Room blades and arms and again no motor.
I'm starting to wonder if Habitat is just selling the blades and throwing out the motors if fans get donated unassembled. Because I notice there are no disassembled fans for sale, it's either just blades or assembled fans.
I did buy both sets of blades anyway because may have a use for them someday but I don't know if I'll ever find just a Great Room and Porch Fan motor.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 17, 2022 14:04:45 GMT -5
Yeah Encon/Westinghouse aren't the best. But I do like some of the Encon models since I used to see them at Scotty's Hardware and Lumber as a kid. And also looking at them in the sales circulars.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 16, 2022 22:16:03 GMT -5
I forgot to mention it was the Princess Petite model. There's one on Ebay right now but it has 42" blades instead of 30". Which is odd because I thought the 5 bladed ones were all 30".
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Post by Cole D on Sept 16, 2022 18:48:41 GMT -5
I always loved those 30" white/PB Encon Princess II spinners as a kid. Now I notice that Westinghouse still sell these, but they all seem to be overseas, where cheapy little spinners seem more popular, than here these days. Has anyone seen a source for these in 120V? Since all the ones I see are 220V.
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Post by Cole D on Sept 9, 2022 11:50:32 GMT -5
I know at my job we had so many lumber increases in 2020 and 2021 on jobs, it was sad having to constantly get lumber addendums approved and signed. Most of the builders realized what was happening though. But then you have to pass that to the customer too.
I was looking at buying a 6x6 post in late 2019 to put up a light possibly and by summer 2020 the price had increased so much already it was crazy. This year and I'd say the last several months we've been giving refunds on jobs since the lumber costs have fallen so much. But I haven't paid attention if those costs are reflected at home centers and lumber yards or not. Now though it's the costs with fuel and steel that are keeping prices up.
I wanted to build a house at some point but I don't think I'll ever afford it. My aunt was telling me her house cost $65 a square foot to build in 2004 and that is a nice house. My friend told me earlier this year they tell people they start at $150 per square foot plus land and site work. Yeah I don't think that's ever going to happen for me. LOL
I have seen some pretty big price drops here the last month or so, $20K $40K on some houses. But the houses are still very expensive and not selling. Some of them were just so overpriced that $40K is nothing and they are still overpriced. Nothing anywhere close to 2019 prices and you have double the interest rates and the houses have doubled in the last 2.5 years so your property tax and insurance will double soon after you buy.
I don't know how people afford this, I guess with two incomes you could still buy possibly, but I think people also aren't factoring in how high the taxes and insurance are going to go up either, and that's a big issue. They are basing it off the last sale which was probably at least $100K lower than it will be now.
I've also been watching videos from realtors and investors and they are saying this is similar to 2008 and wait to buy because it's going to fall. I don't remember much about the 2008 crash but looking at how high some prices went up it seems similar. And they've gone up more than that did. I was in college at the time and my parents weren't in jobs effected much by the recession so I didn't notice much other than how cheap houses got in 2012 or so.
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