You can also install a heat pump water heater and run in heat pump only mode, as a first stage in front of your natural gas heater. This runs in the much more efficient mode more of the time, and uses the gas heater for rapid recovery when necessary.
Downside is increased cost (maybe, you do save on only having to install a 40 gallon heater) and that natural gas heaters lose a little more heat due to the vent losses.
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/ar ... m-retrofit
Search found 1774 matches
- Tue Feb 27, 2024 2:52 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Best water heater with solar
- Replies: 55
- Views: 5252
- Mon Feb 26, 2024 6:02 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: 24 year old- money problems
- Replies: 50
- Views: 6390
Re: 24 year old- money problems
You’re actually doing ok. You don’t have a ton of student loans. You have a car payment but it’s for a Corrola, not a Jeep or Bimmer. Moving back in with your parents will free up more than 40% of your income for savings. You’re lucky to have that option. Your income is not high. Handymen make way more than that in this era of historic labor shortages. Focus on preventing burnout, finding a better income (can you get a certificate and do counseling?), being a good houseguest to your parents (fix things up, don’t leave a mess, so some dusting or other light housework in common spaces without being asked, say thank you explicitly…), and not increasing spending. Then use that gap to pat down debt and save aggressively. Don’t neglect savings—at...
- Sun Feb 18, 2024 3:13 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Rental Depreciation - Picking up where CPA left off
- Replies: 6
- Views: 710
Re: Rental Depreciation - Picking up where CPA left off
That doesn’t seem right. Usually for depreciation purposes you separately account for the land and improvements such as buildings. Your accountant almost certainly made this designation the first time it was placed into service as a rental. You’ll need to go back your previous tax records and figure this out.
I am not a CPA or lawyer, so take with a grain of salt.
I am not a CPA or lawyer, so take with a grain of salt.
- Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:34 am
- Forum: US Chapters
- Topic: Happy Birthday John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3970
- Fri Feb 02, 2024 7:10 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Oil fired hot water boiler
- Replies: 66
- Views: 5049
Re: Oil fired hot water boiler
It still saves a fair bit of money over oil in winter, especially if you have an outdoor reset. To heat up the indirect, the boiler will heat up to the full 180°, then the pump has to run for a few minutes. All of that energy is going somewhere.just frank wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 5:48 am
The HPWH won't save much money over the oil in the heating season, so that would be fine. Would he bypass the indirect in the summer?
If you get the relative setpoint of the first stage, (HPWH) and the second stage (indirect), correct, the indirect will rarely run, but still helps the recovery rate. This is what I did. In summer the indirect only kicked in when we had guests plus kids plus us take a bath.
Get a mixing valve put in after the indirect if you’re going to use higher temps.
- Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:38 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Oil fired hot water boiler
- Replies: 66
- Views: 5049
Re: Oil fired hot water boiler
I agree with Valuethinker about oversizing of boilers. The OP can just listen to his boiler on a cold day, with a stop watch or clock, and tell if it is firing 75% of the time to satisfy the radiators, or 30% of the time. If the latter, it is oversized by a factor of 2X. Oversizing is bad bc the parasitic losses from the boiler cost money in the summer, and scale with boiler size. Short cycling also leads to inefficiency. Even if its a 'cold start' unit, it still cycles every time the indrect needs heat. Its a lousy system from a eff perspective, even if it feels great in the shower. So if the OP tells the oil man he wants a smaller unit, the guy will say... but you want a big unit for the indirect, so you have infinite hot water! But ofc ...
- Wed Jan 24, 2024 4:57 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Best car for icy weather? Advice about driving in snowy conditions?
- Replies: 113
- Views: 7459
Re: Best car for icy weather? Advice about driving in snowy conditions?
For sheet ice? Agree to stay home.
For anything else? Subaru AWD is notably better than other brands. There’s a Consumer Reports video where they demonstrate this.
That only helps you starting not stopping. As others have said, snow tires make a huge difference, as does proper driving technique.
I’ve been very impressed with the Michelin ClimateControl 2’s we put on last year. Other snowpeak rated tires also probably good. The key is the snowpeak rating—they are almost as good as snow tires, but you don’t have to take them off for summer. Also impressive in the rain—I commute over trolley tracks that I used to slip on and no longer do.
For anything else? Subaru AWD is notably better than other brands. There’s a Consumer Reports video where they demonstrate this.
That only helps you starting not stopping. As others have said, snow tires make a huge difference, as does proper driving technique.
I’ve been very impressed with the Michelin ClimateControl 2’s we put on last year. Other snowpeak rated tires also probably good. The key is the snowpeak rating—they are almost as good as snow tires, but you don’t have to take them off for summer. Also impressive in the rain—I commute over trolley tracks that I used to slip on and no longer do.
- Wed Jan 17, 2024 5:06 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Do you use BOTH gas AND electric (heat pumps) to heat your house?
- Replies: 26
- Views: 3321
Re: Do you use BOTH gas AND electric (heat pumps) to heat your house?
Radiators can be individually zoned essentially by replacing the mechanical valve on each with a thermostatic valve. They even make ones with a wire so you can get the thermostat away from the radiator. Some of those, along with some fine tuning of remaining mechanical valves in the other rooms, would go a long way. Watch out for your boiler short cycling since it’s now way oversized for the heating load needed. This can be pretty inefficient. Definitely look into an outdoor reset for your boiler as mentioned above. These lower the water temp on chilly days, and raise it on frigid days. Some let you modify the hearing curve to a less aggressive option than is typical, which may be what you now need. If you have the budget and access to the ...
- Tue Jan 02, 2024 12:05 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Plumber's Auger - Clogged Shower Drain
- Replies: 44
- Views: 5659
Re: Plumber's Auger - Clogged Shower Drain
Milwaukee AirSnake is expensive but amazing.
Harbor Freight has some cable-based augurs in various lengths and powers that work well enough for once a year use.
Agree you likely have an underlying problem. Old cast iron rusts and that rust can snag wipes.
Don’t use flushable wipes. Get a hair mushroom to grab hairs, etc.
Harbor Freight has some cable-based augurs in various lengths and powers that work well enough for once a year use.
Agree you likely have an underlying problem. Old cast iron rusts and that rust can snag wipes.
Don’t use flushable wipes. Get a hair mushroom to grab hairs, etc.
- Sat Dec 02, 2023 5:37 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How to predict if my MAGI will be too high for Traditional IRA in 2024?
- Replies: 37
- Views: 2614
Re: How to predict if my MAGI will be too high for Traditional IRA in 2024?
If there’s any doubt just do a backdoor IRA from the start then you don’t have to worry.
- Sat Nov 11, 2023 4:47 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: SFH renters, how does your landlord handle repairs?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1387
Re: SFH renters, how does your landlord handle repairs?
Hard to tell what’s going on here, but I wonder if the general perceived surliness of the landlord is getting to you? Ignoring the attitude, and maybe any feelings of guilt or frustration you have about that (why are you offering to help?), is stuff getting fixed in a timely manner? If so, maybe just don’t get wrapped up in the drama. The only power he has over you is not renewing the lease, which you’re basically considering inflicting on yourself anyway. So maybe just take some space, submit your requests, and set some appropriate expectations for how quickly things need to get fixed. If they’re not happening in a reasonable timeframe, request a rent reduction for not having full use of the space. Some people are just not good landlords, ...
- Sat Nov 11, 2023 4:03 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Tax Optimization Strategies
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2203
Re: Tax Optimization Strategies
A lot of confusing info here. Depreciation creates losses that offset income from a business. It also reduces your future basis, so you’ll pay it back when you sell. If you do a 1031 exchange, I believe depreciation carries forward, so you won’t pay it now but when you sell eventually you don’t magically regain that basis. Most long-term rentals are considered passive income. You can only use passive rental losses to offset rental income (not W2) unless you’re a real estate professional. Tons out there about how to qualify for REPS, but basically it has to legitimately be your primary job. Even a few hundred hours per year of active work on rentals won’t do it, especially if you have a W2 already. I have no idea about private jets but I am ...
- Sun Nov 05, 2023 6:20 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Credit score impacted by being a guarantor of a rental, for which cleaning fees are not paid 2.5 years ago
- Replies: 16
- Views: 2028
Re: Credit score impacted by being a guarantor of a rental, for which cleaning fees are not paid 2.5 years ago
Can they prove you were the guaranteur? Like they still have a signed form where you agreed to have your credit ruined over this small sum? Can’t hurt to contest it and make them prove it. There are federal processes.
- Sun Nov 05, 2023 2:20 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
- Replies: 754
- Views: 141313
Re: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
Not a lot of mention of privacy so far, but would encourage you to look.
I remember reading PC (now Empower I guess) privacy policy after I had signed up and linked a few accounts. It was not good at all. Like able to profile you and use that data in ways linked to the ad/profiling economy. When I tried deleting account data they made it very hard.
Tiller makes pretty strong privacy claims, which is another reason I use it.
Haven’t had any issues with timely account updates. There’s a “fill” button if you want it to manually check for new transactions across all accounts. Like other Tiller synching features it is a bit slow—30 sec to update maybe?
PTA sounds fun. Thanks for mentioning.
I remember reading PC (now Empower I guess) privacy policy after I had signed up and linked a few accounts. It was not good at all. Like able to profile you and use that data in ways linked to the ad/profiling economy. When I tried deleting account data they made it very hard.
Tiller makes pretty strong privacy claims, which is another reason I use it.
Haven’t had any issues with timely account updates. There’s a “fill” button if you want it to manually check for new transactions across all accounts. Like other Tiller synching features it is a bit slow—30 sec to update maybe?
PTA sounds fun. Thanks for mentioning.
- Wed Nov 01, 2023 6:32 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
- Replies: 754
- Views: 141313
Re: Intuit's Mint App Shutting Down...Replacement Recommendations?
Yes but then you don’t get auto-updates.
I’ve been using Tiller for the past year and it’s pretty great. Comes with templates but it’s in a spreadsheet so you can add in categories and customize.
For instance, I have a PivotTable which pulls all work related expenses in and then compares them to reimbursements to make sure everything got submitted.
I’m convinced this approach is the best of both works for those not afraid to mess with a spreadsheet.
- Sun Sep 03, 2023 6:37 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Buying a first car (Nissan Leaf?) at 35
- Replies: 60
- Views: 6005
Re: Buying a first car (Nissan Leaf?) at 35
Have a 2015 leaf, bought for $8k in 2021. Also a car-lite city person at heart type of human.
Endorse the Leaf highly for this type of use. You always start fully charged from home (6kw L2 charger will charge the 24kwh battery back up ridiculously quickly since battery is so small).
Bolt is a lot peppier to drive if that matters to you. Leaf still gets you the electric “all the torque off the line” effect though so feels zippy in practice.
But also have you considered just moving back to the city?
Endorse the Leaf highly for this type of use. You always start fully charged from home (6kw L2 charger will charge the 24kwh battery back up ridiculously quickly since battery is so small).
Bolt is a lot peppier to drive if that matters to you. Leaf still gets you the electric “all the torque off the line” effect though so feels zippy in practice.
But also have you considered just moving back to the city?
- Thu Aug 31, 2023 5:08 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: How much deficit would you run to fund a third child?
- Replies: 22
- Views: 2407
Re: How much deficit would you run to fund a third child?
You list $110k/year retirement savings and then talk about running at a deficit. Seems very arbitrary? You have enough to retire tomorrow on. Kids require (huge) sacrifices—time, money, etc. They also bring huge rewards. Your wife does high income shift work—guessing those shifts are way higher stress per hour worked than you are accounting for in your mental math. What’s the burnout rate in her field? Suggest you think hard about optimizing her working longevity and stress as way more financially important to your lives than whether you saved 110k or “only” 90k last year. Agree with the other poster that you seem to be using financial worries to justify not wanting to have a third kid. Couples therapy isn’t only for couples who hate each o...
- Wed Aug 02, 2023 6:25 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Questions about installing a new EV charger in my garage
- Replies: 109
- Views: 11717
Re: Questions about installing a new EV charger in my garage
The other hardwire vs outlet consideration is that depending on location if you have an outlet, your code may require a cutoff switch within sight.
And upsizing the wires is not as easy as it sounds, although worth aiming for—if you don’t upsize the breaker, you still have to have an electrician come to swap to a different charger. If you do upsize the breaker, you run into bigger code requirements, limit your panel’s expansion, and may never use that capacity.
Bottom line: find a trusted electrician and listen to their advice.
And upsizing the wires is not as easy as it sounds, although worth aiming for—if you don’t upsize the breaker, you still have to have an electrician come to swap to a different charger. If you do upsize the breaker, you run into bigger code requirements, limit your panel’s expansion, and may never use that capacity.
Bottom line: find a trusted electrician and listen to their advice.
- Mon Jul 10, 2023 6:02 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: HSA what expenses are eligible and documentation required
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1787
Re: HSA what expenses are eligible and documentation required
I am new to HDHP but have been thinking of what qualifies as:
- Insurance component: Just like traditional insurance, but with less network and prior auth stuff. Still, ultimately what qualifies is up to your insurer bc they’re on the hook for the bulk of the expenses once the OOP max hits.
- HSA component: Just like a FSA/Flex bc the government is on the hook in the form of tax deductions. What qualifies is ultimately anything from the list above, with the IRS ultimately deciding if you get audited.
Would believe nothing I just said until confirmed by an HDHP/HSA expert here!
- Insurance component: Just like traditional insurance, but with less network and prior auth stuff. Still, ultimately what qualifies is up to your insurer bc they’re on the hook for the bulk of the expenses once the OOP max hits.
- HSA component: Just like a FSA/Flex bc the government is on the hook in the form of tax deductions. What qualifies is ultimately anything from the list above, with the IRS ultimately deciding if you get audited.
Would believe nothing I just said until confirmed by an HDHP/HSA expert here!
- Mon Jul 03, 2023 6:13 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Anyone still favor Vanguard?
- Replies: 359
- Views: 48438
Re: Anyone still favor Vanguard?
Every time I am tempted by the latest thread about Fidelity or Schwab I think back to the Schwab Yield+ fiasco or to the various ways in which for-profit firms stiff their customers out of yield (profits from lending shares, bond convexity, etc.). Then I stick with Vanguard.
Incentives matter.
Incentives matter.
- Thu Jun 15, 2023 4:47 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Does anybody else out there still pay for an email address?
- Replies: 125
- Views: 33546
Re: Does anybody else out there still pay for an email address?
Have my own domain through namecheap, set up for automatic wildcard forwarding.
Protonmail is secure and unlike many they do not hold the encryption key so they cannot read your mail even if they wanted to or there was a hack.
Any vendors or financial accounts go to eg vanguard@me.com
That then forwards to me@me.com which is my main email account. It’s zero work once set up (eg if I’m creating a new account at Vanguard, I don’t need to create vanguard@me.com since everything sent to anything@me.com gets forwarded.
Works great.
Protonmail is secure and unlike many they do not hold the encryption key so they cannot read your mail even if they wanted to or there was a hack.
Any vendors or financial accounts go to eg vanguard@me.com
That then forwards to me@me.com which is my main email account. It’s zero work once set up (eg if I’m creating a new account at Vanguard, I don’t need to create vanguard@me.com since everything sent to anything@me.com gets forwarded.
Works great.
- Tue Jun 13, 2023 4:31 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Indoor CO2 levels above 1650 at night!
- Replies: 51
- Views: 7438
Re: Indoor CO2 levels above 1650 at night!
No personal experience, but the new building science folks (good forum here https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/) seem to think they work and are essential in a very well sealed home.
That said 1500 doesn’t seem so high.
OP you could just put in a HRV/ERV in your bedroom if you’re worried. Much much cheaper than doing the whole home since the unit is well under $1k—it’s the ducting that is expensive to retrofit. Not sure about noise though.
- Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:20 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
- Replies: 23
- Views: 2918
Re: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
Most basements are uninsulated. IIRC it's more than half the heat in the basement leaks out the walls/floor. So that heat isn't doing you much good unless you have an insulated basement. If the temp in your basement drops below the ground temp (50-60 in most places, including winter in the north), then the ground will not let basement temp drop much below that, so there's free heat there as well.
Plus you get the added benefit of dehumidification, which most basements need--reduces risk of termite, mold, etc.
The bottom line is, almost everyone is better off with HPWH than gas or electric from an energy efficiency perspective. Whether it's worth the extra cost of such a water heater is up to you.
Plus you get the added benefit of dehumidification, which most basements need--reduces risk of termite, mold, etc.
The bottom line is, almost everyone is better off with HPWH than gas or electric from an energy efficiency perspective. Whether it's worth the extra cost of such a water heater is up to you.
- Tue Apr 11, 2023 4:12 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
- Replies: 23
- Views: 2918
Re: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
Great q.
Most can also be ducted—could draw from outside in winter and inside in summer if you really wanted to. Unlikely to be worth the cost of the ducting and switched and effort to switch it over each year though.
Most can also be ducted—could draw from outside in winter and inside in summer if you really wanted to. Unlikely to be worth the cost of the ducting and switched and effort to switch it over each year though.
- Mon Apr 10, 2023 5:55 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
- Replies: 23
- Views: 2918
Re: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
"According to the Department of Energy, the average heat pump [water heater] uses 2,195 kWh per year of electricity (kWh/yr)." Here that's ~$250...assuming one only uses heat pump mode, which can slow recovery. Our 50 gallon, 15-year-old, tank natural gas water heater here uses ~$150 worth of natural gas annually. That number includes resistance electric heating not running it in heat pump only mode. The amazing ness of a two stage model is you’re using gas for the fast recovery and lower cost than running the electric elements in the heat pump tank. From your own link: Heat pump water heaters are without a doubt a better option for most homeowners than gas water heaters (tankless or conventional). … Compared to gas water heaters...
- Sat Apr 08, 2023 3:57 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
- Replies: 23
- Views: 2918
Re: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
Our electricity prices are about average and our natural gas a little below average. Still running the first tank in heat pump only mode cut water bill by 2/3. So unless your natural gas prices are 1/3 as much as ours I doubt that’s the case.
Happy to send the code and/or model it out at your local prices if you don’t believe it.
Basically heat pumps are 300-400% efficient vs natural gas heaters being less than 100% efficient—takes a huge difference in costs to make up for that.
Plus it dehumidifies the basement which saves us $30/mo to run a dehumidifier in our slightly damp basement normally.
Happy to send the code and/or model it out at your local prices if you don’t believe it.
Basically heat pumps are 300-400% efficient vs natural gas heaters being less than 100% efficient—takes a huge difference in costs to make up for that.
Plus it dehumidifies the basement which saves us $30/mo to run a dehumidifier in our slightly damp basement normally.
- Sat Apr 08, 2023 4:55 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
- Replies: 23
- Views: 2918
Re: in need of replacing water heaters soon.
I highly recommend setting it up so the first stage is a heat pump tank in heat pump only mode. Second is natural gas in what you describe as “recovery” position (set 15-20 degrees cooler. I just modeled this out for my own house and almost all the hot water winds up coming from the extremely efficient heat pump this way, but you still get almost unlimited hot water.
- Mon Apr 03, 2023 5:14 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How to enter rental income?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 659
Re: How to enter rental income?
You don’t need a statement. Just add up all your rent payments for the year and that’s your revenue.
Consider hiring a CPA—rentals generate a lot of tax nuances and you’re likely missing out on some deductions or accounting for depreciation or purchase costs not quite right. Or at least read a good book on rental taxes. Nolo has one.
Consider hiring a CPA—rentals generate a lot of tax nuances and you’re likely missing out on some deductions or accounting for depreciation or purchase costs not quite right. Or at least read a good book on rental taxes. Nolo has one.
- Tue Mar 28, 2023 10:45 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Rain collector bypass
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1168
Re: Rain collector bypass
We have the kind that is a plastic piece that creates a bulge in your downspout. There’s a little diverted in there that is designed to be removable, so if you take it out water falls straight down and doesn’t go down the rain barrel hose. Works well.
- Sat Feb 25, 2023 5:14 am
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: Budgeting software?
- Replies: 70
- Views: 9541
Re: Budgeting software?
Tiller (which is a series of templates for Google Sheets or Office O365, including updates through Yodlee) has been the one thing that worked for us. Everything else was too inflexible. For instance, my work expenses can be excluded from the budget, but then rallied in a separate spreadsheet so I can see if there’s a big claim that was never reimbursed and go bug the appropriate people.
- Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:13 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Rheem Non Metallic Lifetime Electric Water Heater?
- Replies: 30
- Views: 3973
Re: Rheem Non Metallic Lifetime Electric Water Heater?
The manufacturer recommends PEX anyway to reduce vibration transmission so moving the connection to the side is no big deal. They make sweat-to-PEX adapters that go up a size so you don’t have any narrowing, recommend that.
With the recent HD sale + $300 2022 tax rebate + $350 local utility rebate ours came to $450. No brainer to replace a 10 year-old resistance electric heater. Will save $300/yr.
With the recent HD sale + $300 2022 tax rebate + $350 local utility rebate ours came to $450. No brainer to replace a 10 year-old resistance electric heater. Will save $300/yr.
- Thu Feb 09, 2023 5:11 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Do you have a bookkeeper for personal finance?
- Replies: 19
- Views: 2496
Re: Do you have a bookkeeper for personal finance?
Not sure I entirely understand how there can be quite this much bookkeeping, but I’ll tell you what I do for our rental.
Receipts go into a Dropbox folde(if emailed or printed to PDF) or app (if paper, via phone camera) as soon as they are generated. Then at tax time I hire a bookkeeper off Upwork to categorize them into a spreadsheet template I provide. I send the spreadsheet and receipts images to my CPA who does the taxes.
You could also look into Expensify or similar which are aimed at small business bookkeeping.
Receipts go into a Dropbox folde(if emailed or printed to PDF) or app (if paper, via phone camera) as soon as they are generated. Then at tax time I hire a bookkeeper off Upwork to categorize them into a spreadsheet template I provide. I send the spreadsheet and receipts images to my CPA who does the taxes.
You could also look into Expensify or similar which are aimed at small business bookkeeping.
- Tue Feb 07, 2023 5:22 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Water Heater Replacement Costs
- Replies: 113
- Views: 11531
Re: Water Heater Replacement Costs
My Bradford and White has an annoying integrated anode (eg the inlet pipe is also the anode) that makes it really hard to change out. Never again.
- Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:27 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Water Heater Replacement Costs
- Replies: 113
- Views: 11531
Re: Water Heater Replacement Costs
Just paid $450 after rebates ($300 2022 tax credit, $350 from local utility) for a 40gal heat pump water heater.
Going to set it up in series with a natural gas water heater we already have, which will act as a buffer. If I didn't have that, I'd have gotten the 80 gallon--the heat pump is the same size but the extra tank massively increases the percentage of time it's running off the heat pump rather than the fast recovery resistance coils.
Our basement currently has a dehumidifer which costs $30/mo. Hoping this also reduces that usage bc it's basically an AC for the basement that pumps the "waste" heat into the water, so it dehumidifies as it goes.
Going to set it up in series with a natural gas water heater we already have, which will act as a buffer. If I didn't have that, I'd have gotten the 80 gallon--the heat pump is the same size but the extra tank massively increases the percentage of time it's running off the heat pump rather than the fast recovery resistance coils.
Our basement currently has a dehumidifer which costs $30/mo. Hoping this also reduces that usage bc it's basically an AC for the basement that pumps the "waste" heat into the water, so it dehumidifies as it goes.
- Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:29 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Proactively replace valves under sinks, toilets
- Replies: 43
- Views: 4873
Re: Proactively replace valves under sinks, toilets
You *cannot* just use a hacksaw. You need the mating surface to be clean for the push-on/Sharkbite types. You have to deburr them as well. YouTube is your friend here.michaeljc70 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:16 pm. The only tool I needed was a pipe cutter, though you could use a haxsaw.
- Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:14 am
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Using Roth IRA for first home purchase
- Replies: 19
- Views: 1652
Re: Using Roth IRA for first home purchase
You can also put money back into a Roth up to about 30 days later. So with a spouse that’s 60 days to close on the house and then a HELOC to replete the Roth space.
- Sat Jan 21, 2023 5:43 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Any way to disable "ready" beep on coffee maker?
- Replies: 46
- Views: 4852
Re: Any way to disable "ready" beep on coffee maker?
Return it and get a Technivorm? Buy once cry once….
- Thu Jan 19, 2023 5:16 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Mysterious dripping sound in ceiling **SOLVED!**
- Replies: 64
- Views: 21130
Re: Mysterious dripping sound in ceiling
Stuff like this is why I just pulled the trigger on an inspection camera for my old house. Had one before but image quality made it useless.
Just bought a “Teslong” off Amazon and its great. Articulating like a medical scope so you can peek around, and good enough focusing and image quality to really get a sense of what’s going on. Get the shortest one possible—you only need a foot or two, the rest of the length just gets in the way.
Just bought a “Teslong” off Amazon and its great. Articulating like a medical scope so you can peek around, and good enough focusing and image quality to really get a sense of what’s going on. Get the shortest one possible—you only need a foot or two, the rest of the length just gets in the way.
- Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:54 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: Overinvestment in real estate
- Replies: 31
- Views: 3350
Re: Overinvestment in real estate
I imagine diversification is in some tension with knowledge of a local market. My rentals are in a town where we used to live. We know the streets, we have a superb property manager, and we know the city and property values. In theory, I know it would be good to diversify to somewhere else. But I haven't thought of a way to do so with the kind of knowledge I have about our old city, and especially with the property manager I have there. Of course there are others out there around the country, but it's hard to know who they might be from afar. This gets to the heart of it. The PURPOSE of diversification is to reduce risk while not hurting (or improving) returns. Owning one or a few rental properties often involves hyper-local knowledge and ...
- Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:38 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: help understanding bond funds
- Replies: 2
- Views: 420
Re: help understanding bond funds
The wiki is great.
Read about duration, run through a few examples, get an intuition for WHY price changes when the rate changes.
Then read this:
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Individ ... _bond_fund
Read about duration, run through a few examples, get an intuition for WHY price changes when the rate changes.
Then read this:
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Individ ... _bond_fund
- Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:33 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How should I pay for our New Building?
- Replies: 7
- Views: 839
Re: How should I pay for our New Building?
How should you *structure* your new building? Usual advice seems to be as it’s own corporation, but I’m no expert.
Then your real estate company takes a loan out and collects rent from your main biz.
Then your real estate company takes a loan out and collects rent from your main biz.
- Sun Dec 25, 2022 7:38 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Intro to home ownership and basic maintenance
- Replies: 21
- Views: 2720
Re: Intro to home ownership and basic maintenance
YouTube is great for DIY but also can be misleading.
Consumer Checkbook (a nonprofit, and the only contractor review site that doesn’t allow pay for placement/reviews) has a maintenance calendar that can be a good start:
https://www.checkbook.org/boston-area/h ... ance-plan/
Consumer Checkbook (a nonprofit, and the only contractor review site that doesn’t allow pay for placement/reviews) has a maintenance calendar that can be a good start:
https://www.checkbook.org/boston-area/h ... ance-plan/
- Thu Dec 22, 2022 4:32 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Leaving for a week: shut off main water supply?
- Replies: 174
- Views: 19523
Re: Leaving for a week: shut off main water supply?
Hydronic heating should have the auto fill set to OFF in normal operation. Monitor for pressure loss. This is a common recommendation on heatinghelp.com and helped find a big leak (outside foundation so no water puddle just big waste) before it got even worse.
Even my 100 year old gravity conversion hasn’t needed a drop more in a year since that was fixed. I have no fears about turning water off therefore.
Steam probably needs auto fill.
Wouldn’t turn off at curb personally. Have two ball valves right where main enters basement and the second one gets turned off.
Even my 100 year old gravity conversion hasn’t needed a drop more in a year since that was fixed. I have no fears about turning water off therefore.
Steam probably needs auto fill.
Wouldn’t turn off at curb personally. Have two ball valves right where main enters basement and the second one gets turned off.
- Sun Dec 18, 2022 3:36 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Device for Kids to Listen to Audiobooks - Your Recommendations
- Replies: 11
- Views: 948
Re: Device for Kids to Listen to Audiobooks - Your Recommendations
HomePods are also pretty good. Kids can control podcasts themselves by voice. You can play audiobooks through Audible on phone. Unfortunately Apple and Amazon aren’t playing nice to allow voice control of Audible, and I wouldn’t touch Alexa with a ten foot pole due to significant privacy risks (they don’t even pretend they’re not using the data to profile).
- Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:55 pm
- Forum: Personal Investments
- Topic: TIPS fund for inflation
- Replies: 123
- Views: 8817
Re: TIPS fund for inflation
KlangFool I really respect your posts and knowledge but you’re dead wrong here. Lots of people have posted about the CPI vs personal inflation part. There’s also the large allocation to MBS’s in TBM that make it particularly less great for combining with stocks in a typical portfolio. MBS’s have negative convexity. How much? Literally no one knows, because it depends how mortgage holders behave in exercising their option to refinance if rates drop. Duration moves unpredictably in the opposite direction from what you’d want if interest rates change in either direction. Finally, implicit in this is that the goal of bonds is liability matching. The more I have studied this and witnessed a decade or more of Boglehead posts on it, the less I bel...
- Tue Nov 29, 2022 10:24 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Evaluate Philly Getaway Itinerary
- Replies: 19
- Views: 1456
Re: Evaluate Philly Getaway Itinerary
Agree with recs so far especially Please Touch, ANS, and Franklin at those ages.
Barnes museum is out of this world good.
Passyunk Ave is very cool these days for a stroll and/or dinner.
Barnes museum is out of this world good.
Passyunk Ave is very cool these days for a stroll and/or dinner.
- Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:56 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Best EV for around $50k, or RAV4 Prime???
- Replies: 133
- Views: 17580
Re: Best EV for around $50k, or RAV4 Prime???
This mechanic seems like they are full of it.
Everyone predicted doom about batteries. In reality they have been lasting far longer than expected, even for the uncooled Leaf batteries once they fixed the chemistry issues in 2014. Even the 2011 batteries don’t randomly fail, they just degrade a little faster in super hot (think Arizona) climates.
Road bumps, sheesh.
Everyone predicted doom about batteries. In reality they have been lasting far longer than expected, even for the uncooled Leaf batteries once they fixed the chemistry issues in 2014. Even the 2011 batteries don’t randomly fail, they just degrade a little faster in super hot (think Arizona) climates.
Road bumps, sheesh.
- Fri Oct 07, 2022 12:39 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: New EV: Type of Level 2 Charging for Garage?
- Replies: 135
- Views: 10349
Re: New EV: Type of Level 2 Charging for Garage?
Wait until you look at the TCO (Japanese build quality with no dirty explosions inside to muck things up = super reliable car). 2015 Leaf is the ultimate Bogleheads second car. They solved the battery degradation in hot weather issue in mid 2014. In 2016 the range went up so the price did too disproportionately. The 2015, it’s the one.quantAndHold wrote: ↑Fri Oct 07, 2022 10:01 am
Actually, that video made me realize that a really good idea for my family would be to replace one of our cars with an older Leaf or something like that. 70 mile range and level 1 charging would handle 95% of our driving. We could take the CR-V for the occasional longer trips.
- Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:32 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Recurring whole house low water flow
- Replies: 16
- Views: 1534
Re: Recurring whole house low water flow
Should last decades not months.
Look up model and download the manual. There’s only a few major brands and they all have manuals on website.
Make sure pressure is set right, if not do so.
Open it up and check for mineral deposits gumming it up.
Hire another plumber and buy the best/simplest part you can find. Have her plumb in a bypass with a ball valve in case this happens again.
Look up model and download the manual. There’s only a few major brands and they all have manuals on website.
Make sure pressure is set right, if not do so.
Open it up and check for mineral deposits gumming it up.
Hire another plumber and buy the best/simplest part you can find. Have her plumb in a bypass with a ball valve in case this happens again.
- Wed Aug 24, 2022 11:09 am
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Hammer drills
- Replies: 35
- Views: 2399
Re: Hammer drills
I have drilled many similar sized holes with the M12 Fuel hammer drill. It’s a great all-rounder too. Similarly even the non-Fuel impact will be fine for setting a Tapcon or similar anchor in it.
That said, once I got a real SDS corded Hammer drill, I haven’t used the M12. So much more power, same price (from Harbor Freight). But less versatile.
That said, once I got a real SDS corded Hammer drill, I haven’t used the M12. So much more power, same price (from Harbor Freight). But less versatile.