Random Topics 3.1
- Thread starter Road Guy
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Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:
Wheelchair fixed. Chatted with the mom a bit - son has cerebral palsy, and this was his fold-up chair for someone to push when he would go out with friends, etc. I guess he was at camp, and the counselors tried to pick the chair up to go over a bump or curb or something, and grabbed it by the foot rest. When they did, the bending moment bent one of the tabs and cracked through the braze. Thankfully she left the good foot rest with me, so I made a fixture with some tubing and all thread to line everything up, eyeballed it to match everything as closely as possible, and TIG welded the tab to the wafer thin tubing. Reassembled, and thankfully she had the chair in her trunk for me to check it. Lined up perfect on the pins and latched securely, so I'm declaring victory.
90 minutes later I threw my back out again. No good deed goes unpunished, LOL.
90 minutes later I threw my back out again. No good deed goes unpunished, LOL.
X2! (Well not the back part but you know what we meant)
I’m sure mom and son were very grateful.
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She was, and messaged me again afterwards to thank me. I just know how hard it can be to find services like that around here (I've spent weeks just trying to find a machine shop that could drill and tap a piece of bar stock with no luck), and when I saw some of the ridiculous recommendations, I knew if I didn't offer to fix it, they'd be looking at either a) a very expensive fix, or b) a very long delay before finding someone to do it!
Anyone here have rooftop solar panels? Guy came around yesterday trying to get subscribers for Duke Energy's new deal - allegedly zero cost for equipment or install, the utility is putting up X amount that they need free of charge until they hit the number of residential customers they need to get their energy credits. Supposed to be 10 year warranty on install and equipment, and you have to commit to 10 years, or, if you sell your house and want to leave the equipment there, the person who buys the house has to activate their utility within 90 days of you turning off yours (pretty much no risk - they're the only utility in this area.)
wilheldp_PE
PE, LEED AP, SPAM KING
My major roof surfaces face the wrong direction (need a large south-facing roof in the northern hemisphere to make it work) and my roof is shaded for a large part of the day. If it weren't for those two factors, I would already have rooftop solar.
My house faces southeast, but based on the roof configuration, I suspect they would put it on the north side of the roof (less pitch, no odd peaks/geometry). Even still, both front and backyard get full sun the overwhelming majority of the day. No tree shade, and past mid-day, the awning on our back deck becomes useless for shade.
Supe, a friend of mine did the type of deal you're looking at. He's pretty happy with it, except when the panels are covered in snow.
I don't really like the idea of having the panels on my roof, but we have a a 5-acre clearing around the house that gets lots of sun, so I've been thinking about a ground-mounted array. But I'm also not real keen on someone else owning the equipment so I've been thinking about putting in my own system. But it's going to be in the $20k range... there's a 30% tax credit that decreases next year and the year after that would help with the cost, but that's still a decent chunk of change.
I don't really like the idea of having the panels on my roof, but we have a a 5-acre clearing around the house that gets lots of sun, so I've been thinking about a ground-mounted array. But I'm also not real keen on someone else owning the equipment so I've been thinking about putting in my own system. But it's going to be in the $20k range... there's a 30% tax credit that decreases next year and the year after that would help with the cost, but that's still a decent chunk of change.
We're lucky if we see an inch of snow annually, so I don't have much to worry about there. I 100% will NOT be paying for my own equipment, if only because a) it's a decent upfront cost that can be better spent elsewhere on the house, and b) it's highly unlikely that we will even be in this house for that 10 year duration, but I can understand the reservations on leased equipment. I will also tell them to shove it if they try to make me enroll in the program that lets the utility cut your power in times of "peak usage" like some people are volunteering for. I'll be damned if its 100 degrees out and they decide that my AC doesn't need to be on. In fact, that's my main motivator for considering the panels - cutting my bills enough that I can afford to cool the upstairs and downstairs to 68F all the time!
Road Guy
Well-known member
It Sounds like a good plan - I would just get someone to read the fine print- I don’t know how so many people here-have them- my average utility bill is a little over $100 bucks a month except for July and August when we actually run the AC. I don’t think I’d ever see a ROI on them at the rate I here they go for $18K and up..
We have a lot of sun even in winter but it just seems like a very long pay off...
We have a lot of sun even in winter but it just seems like a very long pay off...
Ble_PE
I need a beer.
I've not heard of a program like that, if you get more detailed information could you let me know the details?
Will do.
I think one of the conditions is that you have to have a bill here that averages around $150/month at least. We have two AC units on 8 months out of the year, so I stopped looking at my electric bills a long time ago...
Thunderstorm woke the dogs up around 2:00 AM this morning, which in turn woke me up. I was so tired/out of it this morning, I spent an honest two minutes or so trying to turn off the ceiling fan with the TV remote.
Mind you, the fan is not remote controlled in any ways - it turns on/off only by wall switch.
Mind you, the fan is not remote controlled in any ways - it turns on/off only by wall switch.
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Master slacker
Something awesome.
Reminds me of the time I locked my keys in the car at work. Last week.
Reminds me of the time I couldn’t find my keys and my wife found them in the fridge.
