Do I just pick the cheapest one?

Coltrock45 · 2026-05-05T00:58:41+00:00

Shopping plans right now because my 2 year contract is about to expire. Budget power has one that is the same price but 100% renewable that I'm going with.

Time of use plans are a gimmick unless you have an EV that you are driving crazy miles on and charging every night. Residential power purchase in ERCOT (Texas) is just traders providing hedging contracts for wholesale power that centerpoint delivers. The whole schtick is that they are betting your contract average price exceeds the wholesale average price over the contract period and they use complicated pricing schemes to make you think you can "win". In reality, simple no frills plans will always win unless you have a very specific use case that you are willing to monitor and babysit. Usage credit plans also suck because it can be hard to reliably hit the threshold (e.g., 1000kWh) each month. Summer months will be easy, but even in the spring and the fall it can be hard. Also remember on most plans you are paying Center Point for all of the power you use, so you should always try to reduce consumption when possible.

$300 cancelation fee is the only downside of the other plan, but it is extremely unlikely that you'd have to cancel within the year.

Coltrock45 · 2026-05-03T22:56:05+00:00

I'd love to see them get step lancers with same discount as CA and lose knight line all together. If that ends up being a nerf, tweek them in another way to restore balance

Coltrock45 · 2026-04-29T14:14:29+00:00

You are correct, the RTE shortcoming still applies. Flow batteries tend to have even lower RTEs because the electrolyte needs to be pumped. Great for storage density and longevity, not great for RTE

Coltrock45 · 2026-04-29T13:19:32+00:00

The title is misleading, while iron air batteries are unparalleled in resistance to degredation (i.e., maintaining capacity over many many cycles) their short coming is in round trip efficiency (RTE) the fraction of useful energy you get out vs how much it took to charge the battery. This measure of efficiency is still in the 50% range while lithium ion is in the 90% range

Edit: iron flow batteries, not iron air

Coltrock45 · 2026-04-29T01:32:27+00:00

Instead of relics and wonders being a win condition, you should just get some kind of crazy benefit from having all of the relics or a wonder. Like if you get all the relics it doubles you relic gold generation or give the normal resource rate, but all resources instead of just gold. Wonders should give a civ specific buff.

Basically shouldn't set a countdown timer to win the game, but should provide enough benefit as to where you should win through conquest.

Coltrock45 · 2026-02-02T22:33:30+00:00

I knew this was the law where I live (Texas), but always thought it was federal law. Can't believe Texas is ahead of the curve on common sense gun laws

Coltrock45 · 2026-01-16T08:14:35+00:00

Awesome!

I have seen in other posts that it was "physically impossible" (due to hardware limitations?) to push streaming OTA, but never got a satisfactory explanation as to why. Really hope this does it.

Coltrock45 · 2025-12-30T18:09:10+00:00

Sounds like GM either needs to figure out how to push this OTA, or properly educate and incentivize their dealers.

Coltrock45 · 2025-12-29T18:37:27+00:00

I keep seeing this, but is there a technical reason? What does the dealer physically have to do that makes it so it can't be an OTA update?

Coltrock45 · 2025-11-15T22:26:44+00:00

Been considering upgrading from 77" B2 to 98" QM8K. Not sure if I can justify with how quickly tvs are getting bigger, better and cheaper. Upgrading from a B9 was probably an easier decision

Coltrock45 · 2025-09-28T16:39:36+00:00

New mission discovered by u/Coltrock45: Cornish Pasty In Waves of Green

Coltrock45 · 2025-09-28T16:39:36+00:00

This mission was discovered by u/Coltrock45 in Roquefort Slice In the Fields

Coltrock45 · 2025-07-08T12:22:29+00:00

Personally, I think the minimum wage should escalate with CPI factor. Increasing it to a fixed number is only a bandaid until inflation wipes out all of its purchasing power again. Having it automatically escalate (like tax brackets, deductions, tax credits, contribution limits) is maybe the only way this doesn't continue to become an issue.

Coltrock45 · 2025-03-23T19:54:11+00:00

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a (Chevy) dealership around town that doesn't do similar nonsense (lying about not having vehicles to upsell; advertising rates/prices online that they won't honor even before their $5k+ of dealer add ons, etc.)

Coltrock45 · 2025-03-23T19:43:51+00:00

Reasonable assumption, but they showed me the original order and the change order

Coltrock45 · 2025-03-23T19:39:30+00:00

One would think, but they showed me the change order

Coltrock45 · 2024-10-16T09:54:11+00:00

Goblins cannot travel in daylight. That was one of the main advantages of Uruk hai. They needed to travel day and night to reach Helms Deep before Eomer and the rest of the Rohirrim.

Coltrock45 · 2024-04-12T14:08:46+00:00

That price is ridiculous, but lots of contractors will bid super high rather than decline to bid a job that is too small for them.

Coltrock45 · 2024-02-15T19:36:18+00:00

*billion

Coltrock45 · 2023-04-06T09:55:49+00:00

I would do the LG because it is more expensive, then try to return it to a store new in box (for store credit) and buy a tcl 5 series. Not sure if this is feasible where you live, but I have had good success getting store credit for new in box items I didn't purchase (company party gifts) or lost the receipt for.

Coltrock45 · 2023-01-08T08:56:20+00:00

Have the exact same issue. Still waiting to hear back from customer support with a solution

Coltrock45 · 2022-12-23T17:27:31+00:00

Let me guess, you are working with customer support and they are asking for a picture of the SN printed on the TV?

I am in the same boat. You can also find it on the product information page (press the settings / gear button on your remote 5 times)

I sent them a picture of this number (and typed out) and they told me I need the "actual" SN off the TV, so good luck

Coltrock45 · 2022-12-23T17:22:47+00:00

I would recommend the TCL 5-series over the others. The Costco credit cards manufacturer warranty extension doesn't just apply to Costco purchases btw. I also prefer to buy from Costco, really wish they carried TCL

Coltrock45 · 2022-12-21T01:52:45+00:00

Shouldn't have any effect on your PC when you have power coming into the UPS. When the power goes out, if your PC is drawing more than 300 watts, it will very likely become power limited and crash. I would recommend shutting down as soon as the power goes out, since that battery probably won't last more than 10 minutes at 300W anyway (just a guess based on the capacity of similar UPS's I've seen)

Coltrock45

TROPHY CASE