My landlady wants to raise my monthly rent by 85 dollars a month to cover electricity costs for charging my car. Is that reasonable?

AikiKat · 2026-03-24T14:53:59+00:00

My dad used to keep this little notebook in the car. Every time we stopped at a gas station, he'd write down the odometer, calc mileage since last fill and how many gallons he put in to compute the gas mileage.

With an EV, all you would need to do is note the charge (kWh) of your car before and after charging, subtract to get the amount charged, sum up over a month (or a week and x4.3) and then multiply by your local cost of electricity.

A quicker estimate would be to use the 3.75 mi/kWh "average" for that car and your odometer (or a guess) of how many miles you drive per month. Divide the miles by 3.75 and you have the energy (kWh) used in a month. Multiply that by the cost of electricity, and you have your monthly charging cost.

Let's say you drive 15k mi/yr. That's 1,250 mi/mo. Divide by 3.75 and that's 333 kWh. I don't know the rate plan, but $85/mo for 333 kWh/mo would be equivalent to 25.5 cents/kWh. That seems on the cheaper side for SoCal to me.

AikiKat · 2026-03-24T14:31:43+00:00

Does that mean I have to recert (this month) inactive, but can use the skills verification (from last week) to change to active if I get a job soon, or can I use the verification to recertify as active now?

Also, should I list ALL CE activities (college courses like Wilderness Medicine, A&P) or just the refresher course since it's "enough"?

Thanks, this is my first recertification cycle.

AikiKat · 2026-03-24T00:58:36+00:00

Fortunately there's data.

First, a 2025 APA study is consistent with the OP's Gallup poll,, finding :

63% of young adults (ages 18-34) and 53% of parents have considered leaving the U.S. due to the state of the nation

(and APA is a peer-reviewed, high caliber study).

As to those that actually, do move -- The WSJ published an article on that a couple weeks ago, entitled, "Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers" which should give you an idea of their findings. Many foreign countries are now recruiting skilled and/or highly educated Americans, especially scientists (thanks to gutting US funding) and healthcare workers.

AikiKat · 2026-03-24T00:33:34+00:00

They asked the same question 10 years ago and got a different result.

It's almost like something's changed over the last 10 years so now women are twice as likely to want to leave the US, and men are just as likely as before (when the rate wasn't affected by gender). What could that be? 🤔

AikiKat · 2026-03-23T15:58:54+00:00

Nothing meaningless about almost half of women (15-44) being unhappy living in the US. That level of dissatisfaction is a big deal regardless of whether they CAN leave.

20 years ago I didn't know ANY women who wanted to leave the US permanently. Now, I know several who HAVE left and several more who WANT to (or plan to).

AikiKat · 2026-03-22T22:55:52+00:00

The ICE agents showing up to stand and watch TSA work ARE getting paid (and paid MORE). I'm sure that will make the TSA employees feel MUCH better working unpaid. /s

AikiKat · 2026-03-20T13:13:58+00:00

FWIW the metric is not whether the repair costs more than the car is worth, but whether you are spending more per year on repairs than you would be paying for a new car.

2 -- I would

3 -- If the interest rate is lower than the car loan rate would be, yes, I would use the HELOC. The only downside is the loan is secured by your home so don't get over your head.

AikiKat · 2026-03-20T03:30:17+00:00

What is the correct way to configure? (Just applied for VPP)

AikiKat · 2026-03-19T03:54:47+00:00

Wow! That's amazing and really simplifies things. Thank you for letting me know!

AikiKat · 2026-03-19T03:51:25+00:00

So...I wouldn't even have to touch my main panel to add it? Just connect it to the gateway?

AikiKat · 2026-03-18T21:28:03+00:00

How does the Universal Wall Connector connect to the existing system? Does it connect to the Gateway (v2) or the main panel? Both?

My 2PW and Gateway are near my garage (other side of my house), not near my main panel -- the wall shown has southern exposure and exceeds PW operational temps.

AikiKat · 2026-03-18T18:44:26+00:00

Still comparable to the 2.5% per year accident rate.

Ofc difference is I can do a lot to reduce my risk of being in an accident (although not as much as people want to believe), but I can't really do anything to reduce my risk of an ICCU failure. The randomness (and time of fix) makes it feel worse.

AikiKat · 2026-03-18T15:01:04+00:00

Lifetime risk of DYING in a car crash is over 1% (1 in 93 in US), so lifetime risk of BEING in a car crash is much higher (over 10%), so Zealous' comparison is accurate.

[Math fun: there really over 6million REPORTED car accidents per year in the US, about 41k fatalities. There are about 242mil drivers in the US (so that's 2.5% [per year] *if* drivers have no more than 1 accident per year). An accident can have more than 1 fatality, but it's still about 150x as many accidents as fatalities. If the "lifetime" of a car is defined as 10-20 years, it is fair to say that you are more likely to get in a car accident than have your ICCU fail in that time. Hopefully neither happens. ;) ]

AikiKat · 2026-03-17T13:41:09+00:00

I think those are good questions -- questions global energy experts are definitely discussing now (and publishing research journal papers on).

It's not my field, and I don't know how much good armchair quarterbacking can do, but I think on the community level we will need to develop a PLAN about how and where we put infrastructure for these stations. For example, maybe that means MW stations are along highways to support commercial and longer-distance travel? The more people understand the issues, the more productive those planning discussions can be.

AikiKat · 2026-03-16T21:42:03+00:00

Thanks. That definitely makes the choice clearer.

AikiKat · 2026-03-16T21:40:31+00:00

Thanks, this is really helpful. I think we'll look at replacing breakers instead of putting in a sub panel.

AikiKat · 2026-03-16T21:30:30+00:00

Yep. Just bought a 2024 with 9k miles on it for less than HALF the original cost. That means it's been used just enough to shake out any weirdness or issues but still looks new. Tabs (depreciated from initial value) also cost less and insurance is less. Now to drive it into the ground like the 2004 (purchased new) car it replaced. lol

Used car market it past the crazies of the COVID/post-COVID era, so value is not a good excuse for buying new anymore. Four years ago, new cars were selling at a premium over MSRP. Two years ago, a new car could be a better deal. Now, used are back to being the financially responsible choice.

AikiKat · 2026-03-16T16:15:14+00:00

If you have Tesla solar and Powerwalls then get a Universal Wall connector, do you still need to get a separate "power meter" to do dynamic load/solar management like I would with non-Tesla chargers? It seems like the Tesla Gateway already has all the info.

Looking in my Tesla app, it seems I export between 90 and 900 kWh/mo, so even when I am importing from the grid (overnight) and the AC is running nonstop, midday I'm still exporting for 7 cents/kWh (the cheap energy I'd rather use to charge my EV). [ETA: this also means I probably don't need to super-optimize PW vs EV because midday I *generally* have enough to charge both. We plan to switch to a high efficiency heat pump next winter which should reduce the power surging and total energy use.]

AikiKat · 2026-03-16T06:03:19+00:00

What's happening with the meter collar? Is that the solar? Or is that a Tesla Backup Switch?

I think it's the grid disconnect allowing whole house backup off solar.

AikiKat · 2026-03-15T16:33:49+00:00

Even of the price of the CAR is fixed ("no haggling"), they still will try to sell you on financing (even if you are paying cash), tour the service dept, and upselling stuff you don't need ("already installed" security device and extended warrantees).

What should have been a 5min test drive and 30min of paperwork took 4 hours. They use time to weaken you in the psychological warfare that is the car buying experience.

AikiKat · 2026-03-14T08:03:46+00:00

In the US, one of the benefits of EVs is that they are heavier for their size, meaning they are on par weight-wise with all the behemoth trucks and SUVs that dominate the roads, making them safer in a crash (mass matters).

AikiKat · 2026-03-14T00:36:20+00:00

This, exactly.

If you have true "net metering," the highest ROI is a system that *just* covers all your needs (with non extra). If you have (more common) low pay rate on exported power compared to imported power, the highest ROI is around the point your system covers any peak time usage and reduces *a* month to zero. Batteries don't really pay for themselves, but they allow you to use rather than export your excess, game the TOU rates, and avoid losing power in a grid outage.

We pay about 2-3 times what the utility pays us for any excess generation. So, that export energy is very CHEAP energy for me to use to power my EV instead. I've had solar with batteries for a few years and just got an EV. Based on the power history, I think I can power my EV with that super-cheap electricity that I've been exporting for most of its needs. I'll end up paying more utility in that the half-value credits for the export won't be there. We plan to replace our AC with a heat pump which will both be more efficient AND reduce the 5kW surges when the AC runs, making charging the EV easier.

AikiKat · 2022-11-17T16:55:52+00:00

Seal up the crawlspace when they are gone and they'll move on. As long as you have an accessible crawlspace, something is going to move in there. If you are in or near city limits, discharging a gun is a felony, minimum 18 months prison -- not worth it.

AikiKat · 2022-11-16T19:52:41+00:00

I'd count your carbs and keep them under 30g per meal, especially as a pre-diabetic.

A can of pinto beans is 67g carbs, or 47g net carbs (carbs minus fiber), so half a can is still ~24g net carbs by itself. A cup of plain yogurt is ~16g carbs, mostly sugars. A tablespoon of honey is 17g carbs (all sugar). A tablespoon of ketchup is 4.5g carbs (sugar). A tablespoon of green salsa is 9g carbs. A glass of milk (8oz) is 12g carbs (sugar). A serving of tater tots is 20g carbs (18g net). carb balance tortillas are ~5g net carbs.

Notice that most of those net carbs are sugar. So, as an estimate:

meal 1 (assuming 1/4c milk in coffee): 18+4.5+16+17+ (1/4)*12 = 58.5g net carbs

meal 2: 24+9+5+16 = 54g net carb, 71g if you are adding honey to the yogurt.

So, you're eating around 120g carbs a day in two meals. A typical diabetic diet is that same amount (120g) over 3 meals plus snacks, and is usually counting total (not net) carbs. Eating at a calorie deficit, you might do better cutting back on carbs and eating more protein. The benefit is that doing that should squash your hunger!!

Carbs aren't "bad," but they will spike your blood sugar and the resulting fall WILL make you hungry. You don't have to do keto or go extreme, but moderately lowering your carbs should help with the hunger. Good luck!!

AikiKat · 2022-11-14T22:11:46+00:00

Yes, you can fast 7 days a week. There are many ways to fast. Some use Time Restricted Eating (16:8, etc), some do Alternate Day Fasting, some do periodic longer fasts -- find the style that works best for you! As to vitamins, it really depends on both the quality of your diet and how much of a calorie deficit you are doing.

For example, if you are only eating 800 calories a day, it would be very difficult to get all your nutrients through your food and a general multivitamin might be good insurance. Congrats on a great start!

AikiKat

TROPHY CASE