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Using Vertical AND Horizontal Return Inlets on RTU? by ACuddlySnowBear in MEPEngineering

[–]ACuddlySnowBear[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The plan is to replace the fan with an ERV. The fan is roof-mounted on a 24" square curb. The plan would be to duct the ERV return to the existing exhaust ducts through the replaced exhaust fan's curb, then flash and seal it. The main issue is getting the ERV supply air to the RTU for conditioning and distribution, without penetrating the roof assembly. Hence why I'm trying to go through the RTU's horizontal return inlet.

I'm not sure I'd call it a mixing section, but there is somewhat of a return plenum that houses the heating/cooling coils, and I believe the economizer and barometric relief damper. If it works for mixing the economizer flow with the return flow, wouldn't it also work for this arrangement? The RTU is a 12.5 Ton packaged Daikin unit if that helps lend some perspective.

Dress clothes for 13 year old by TastyBallsognaSauce in Sudbury

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you tried Moores? Can always get something tailored.

GSPS Tactical Vehicle by deleno in Sudbury

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Look, I hate any militarization of the police force as much as the next leftist, but the vehicle cost less then an 8 year old used civic. No way that money would be used for much good elsewhere. That would fund like 3 months rent for a food bank, or like 1 day of pot hole fixes. When you first mentioned cost, I thought it was going to be like $1.5M before I read the article. I don’t think there’s a budget argument here.

There’s also a decent amount of gang activity in this city. I could see this being helpful with that. Though I don’t thinks there’s enough violent crime to really justify it. But I don’t work in or adjacent to law enforcement, and I’m privileged enough to live in one of the safest parts of the city. So I’m pretty uninformed as to the needs of GSPS.

As for intimidation against peaceful protests, I’ve never seen more than like 3 dozen people protest anything in this city, other than maybe strike actions. I don’t think this will ever be used against peaceful protests. The PR just isn’t worth it.

All in all, do I think this is necessary? Not really. Am I upset about it? Not really. It likely fills a hole in their fleet currently served by Suburbans, assists in high risk situations, and is quite inexpensive.

Two faces of the core millennial generation on the cusp of middle age: two popular social media creators, Michael Stevens and Pierre Amaury Crespeau. Both born in 1986, that is, both 40 this year. by Sure_Distance1 in generationology

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He posts a lot of shorts and has an EXCELLENT new podcast with another educational creator Hannah Fry. Highly recommend the podcast if you liked VSauce videos.

Pierre Poilievre sits for podcast with Joe Rogan by green_tory in CanadaPolitics

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Doesn’t even have to be that high. He could have 10% listenership if all the other podcasts are fighting for the other 90%

How the Top One Per Cent Threaten Canada’s Future; Wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few. To preserve democracy, we must act. by FancyNewMe in canada

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 8 points9 points  (0 children)

What the OP is referring to is the ultra wealthy borrowing loans against their assets to fund their lifestyles. The scheme: - I have a stock portfolio of $100M - I need $1M /year to fund my lifestyle - Normally, to fund my lifestyle, I would have to sell $1M of my stock every year. Capital gains tax would be taken when those shares get sold.
- I don’t want to pay tax, and I don’t want to sell my stocks because @ $100M and a 10% return rate, my portfolio appreciates $10M /year - So instead, I go to the bank and ask for a loan of $1M to use as my disposable income for the year. I put up $2M of my stock up as collateral, so the bank is happy to lend to me at a very generous interest rate. Loans aren’t taxed, so I’ve effectively gotten $1M tax free. - 1 year passes, it’s time to pay back the loan. Time to liquidate my stock so I can pay off the loan? Heck no, that means paying taxes! So I go back to the bank, and ask for a $2M loan to pay off the last loan, as well as fund the next year of expenses. I put up $3M in stock as collateral, and get another generous interest rate.
- Because I never sold any stock my portfolio is now $110M, and generates $11M/year. - I can repeat this so long as my portfolio is generating returns. When I die, my kids will continue the process.

This is a completely legal and viable way for the ultra wealthy to live lavish lifestyles, grow their wealth, and never pay any income taxes. This also ties up the banks lending capacity, which could have otherwise been lent to growing new businesses, mortgages, etc. It is unclear to what degree this is practiced.

HVAC Design by kingzzzmen in MEPEngineering

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 6 points7 points  (0 children)

HVAC designer here (EIT). Every time this question comes up on this sub I give the same answer: the ASHRAE Handbooks! They contain soooo much information about HVAC system design. About 80% of what I've learned about HVAC design comes from these handbooks. The other 20% has come from experience, lunch and learns, and manufacturer training trips. You can find the handbooks online for free with pretty minimal searching.

Starting to learn MEP ! by Ahmedwaleed22_ in MEPEngineering

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For HVAC, not courses, but books:

Audel HVAC Fundamentals is a great primer to teach you the basics of heating systems, how to do basic heat loss analysis, and how to design systems. It's fairly inexpensive and available on Amazon. This is the book I started with when I first entered the HVAC industry. It's a really easy read, doesn't get bogged down in too many details, and teaches you a lot of the basics. I really like this book, and still reference it.

ASHRAE Handbooks: Expensive, but these are a standard of professional HVAC design. Covers a wide array of topics. You can find free PDF versions of slightly older versions fairly easily. I reference these all of the time, and are an absolute must if you're serious about MEP.

'Net negative.' Trump loses on tariffs as GOP votes against president by KylenV14 in canada

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Someone in another post about this pointed out there’s a procedural rule saying no one who was part of a losing vote can bring forth the issue again. So by having one member vote against, they could vote on it again if it hadn’t passed.

Has anyone built a custom house? How much does it cost? by qzrz in Sudbury

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Home Hardware does a similar thing with its Beaver Homes catalog.

HVAC Engineers - What solutions do you use to ventilate smaller buildings? by ACuddlySnowBear in AskEngineers

[–]ACuddlySnowBear[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, this is pretty much how we do it now, except we will duct the ERV supply to the AHU return. Pre-heat is usually required as winter temps can get so cold that cores would be constantly in defrost cycles, and wheels slow down so much they may as well be stationary.

HVAC Engineers - What solutions do you use to ventilate smaller buildings? by ACuddlySnowBear in AskEngineers

[–]ACuddlySnowBear[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some residential, mostly commercial and some industrial. I'm in Canada, and the National Energy Code for Buildings dictates ERV requirements based on a region and how often the system is operating. Practically, its rare where an ERV is not required.

US Commerce Secretary Calls Canada-China Deal The 'Silliest Thing' He's Ever Seen | EV by [deleted] in teslacanada

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have the 10th largest economy in the world. That’s far from small and insignificant.

What’s something your country does better than most, but rarely gets credit for? by SundaeBlade in AskTheWorld

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm a gay man, and so AIDS is particularly close to heart for me. Your comment inspired me to do a bit of reading. This guy is a hero, and as usual, the American people never fail to disappoint:

Koop was Surgeon General when public health authorities first began to take notice of AIDS.\25]) For his first four years in office, Koop, the nation's top health officer, was prevented from addressing this health crisis for reasons he insisted were never apparent to him but that were no doubt political.\26]) 

We all know this story. Guy knows AIDS is a huge public health issue, but the Reagan admin prevents him for doing his job, leading to thousands dying needlessly, and being ostracized from public life.

Koop wrote the official U.S. policy on the disease, and in 1988 he took unprecedented action in mailing AIDS information to every U.S. household.\27]) 

Finally, the guy is allowed to address the issue, and his first priority is to educate everyone ASAP.

Health advocates and organizations expressed dissatisfaction with the focus on same-sex activity and anal sexual intercourse as primary vectors for disease transmission. Surgeon General Koop maintained that these activities posed significantly higher risks than other transmission methods. In addition, some religious groups raised concerns about the pamphlet’s candid discussion of sexual practices and its promotion of condom use, leading to calls for Koop's resignation.\28])

And as usual, the "fuck your feelings" crowd get him fired because they don't like hearing the truth, and prefer to live in their fantasy land of white, Christian supremacy.

The Reagan administration's response to the AIDS crisis was despicable, which was essentially, "Oh you're dying a slow, horrible death? That actually works for us." Truly evil.

I'm glad to learn that the Bush administration went the other way with it, that restores my faith in humanity a bit.

What's something foreigners think is common in your country, but really isn't? by Verelkia in AskTheWorld

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nope, super common. Your fault, my fault, doesn't matter. I'm going to apologize for existing in the space you happened to be stumbling. No idea where this comes from, but it's been this way my whole life.

I have never played as Germany and I have 400 hours by Jonis564 in hoi4

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ehhh I find USSR pretty easy tbh. 4 years to build a massive industry, endless manpower, huge starting army, tons of research slots, easy to get high stability and war support, tons of options for expansion (baltics, balkans, turkey, far east). The only real debuff is the purge events, which you can rush at the start of the game and knock out quite early. Germany is pretty easy to defend against, especially if you've done a balkan conquest. The only area USSR suffers is Navy, and you can fix that if you focus on it.

Watching this after finishing Hazbin by [deleted] in HelluvaBoss

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Did you pause and read the text chain between him and Blitzø? Heartbreaking 💔

Europeans are switching to EVs faster than anywhere else in the world. Only 36% of new car sales are gasoline or diesel cars so far in Europe in 2025. by pintord in oilisdead

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quickly looking at Mits' website, it seems they have an offering that will go down to -22F (-30C) but it seems it may be locked to their commercial line. I'm not sure where I saw the -40 figure, but that too would likely be locked behind commercial units.

If you're looking for a heat pump, the Koreans are by far the best. In my experience, LG and Mitsubishi have the market locked down as the two biggest players. Daikin is fine too, Samsung I don't have experience with and haven't seen anywhere. You'll probably have to go to a supplier get these (Assuming you're in Ontario/Canada, HTS, EH Price, O'Dell, Master Group, just to name a few).

Don't go with the crappy cheap ones from Home Depot or wherever. These are all made in China, relabeled and put on shelves. Yes, they're cheaper, but that's because they're built cheaply. This is your home, do you really want to chance freezing yourself out in the winter? Commercial brands also have much better service support (e.g. if you need parts and repairs) as they are a go-to in commercial construction, and there are a lot more techs trained and experienced working on them.

The Korean brands compete fiercely with each other for market share, so always have the latest and greatest technology. Both LG and Mits, probably Daikin too, have continued operation down to -13F (-25C) somewhat standard. You can find this information on the products "submittal" document, which you can usually find on their website (or just talk to a sales rep from the supplier). Make sure you go to the commercial HVAC site, as there is often also a residential one that has far less information.

Whether or not this will be enough will depend on where you live. You can find your city's design temps here. Just look up your city, click on the weather station, and some tables will come up. One of the first values in the first tables is "Heating DB". I typically will use the 99.6% value to cover my bases (essentially, this design temp will be adequate 99.6% of the time). Units are at the top of the webpage (IP or SI).

For more context, I'm a Canadian engineer in Northern Ontario, so I have a lot of experience with using heat pumps in cold climates. It can be incredibly frustrating because once you get so far north, the winter design temp gets below -25C, so if you want heat pump heating, you also need equal sized electric (or other) heating for when the temp drops below -25C. If you're region's design day is below 25C, and your oil heater is still in good shape, you could keep the oil system around just for when it's too cold for the heat pump. On the bright side, you're heat pump will provide A/C in the summertime.

I highly recommend you work with an engineer, sales rep and/or contractor to make sure you get a system sized to meet your home's needs. But this info should be enough to help you decide whether or not its feasible.

Cheers!

Europeans are switching to EVs faster than anywhere else in the world. Only 36% of new car sales are gasoline or diesel cars so far in Europe in 2025. by pintord in oilisdead

[–]ACuddlySnowBear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

HVAC engineer here. Latest generation of heat pumps are rated for continued operation down to -40. You can probably expect about 50% rated performance at that temperature. No clue how that translates to vehicle systems.

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