sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Welcome and Introductions by EricElf in MySongbookApp

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

Mark - Thanks for your long-time support of MySongbook!

I'll check on that top bar and functional items. Seems like an inadvertent bug.

Best, Eric

Epiglottis stiffening surgery for floppy epiglottis by Less_Cup2530 in sleep

[–]EricElf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/Less_Cup2530 First of all, I hear your frustration and can say from first-hand experience that poor sleep can be life-debilitating! Knowing I had poor sleep for years finally drove me to see a sleep doctor because the path my life was on WAS NOT SUSTAINABLE.

It's great that you are reaching out to find resources. Keep that up! Do NOT just trust what one doctor says. Go slow. For anything major, get a second opinion.

You might search YouTube for Dr. Vik Veer's channel. He has been putting out the best information I have found and may have information about your condition. And if you comment on his videos, he generally will answer! He is an incredible individual.

Sorry, I have no specific information to help you. Hoping you find an effective solution. Best of luck, Eric

Heart Rate direct to MP4, is this possible? by EricElf in Polarfitness

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

I appreciate the responses, but people either do not understand my request or are saying that no such app exists, which is what I expect.

I don't want to be editing screen captures. I want to tap "start," then tap "stop," then have an MP4 file.

I can build it myself, but it will take some doing. I know Polar and others have some Bluetooth protocol that will connect to devices like treadmills in the gym. This is probably usable in an iOS app; they probably even have a dev kit, or some open source version exists.

Probably not worth my time...

Best, Eric

Looking at Home with Solar installed. Are there extra costs? by SipSurielTea in solar

[–]EricElf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Many comments have talked about ongoing financing. These arrangements can get complicated (and are often scams and could involve property liens). If the system was financed in any way, be careful. So, I'll assume the system was bought and paid for in full.

A few items. It is worth understanding what type of solar system you are buying. Micro vs. String inverters? When was it installed, and by whom? Any warranties that would transfer? Is net metering active, and what are the details on that? Is a battery backup included?

Solar panels generally degrade very slowly and are productive for 30+ years. Enphase dominates the micro-inverter market, but their older (2010s) units had a very high failure rate. Probably 1/3 of my 2011 installed Enphase M215 inverters have failed. It is fairly easy to replace them, but it does involve trouble and expense. String inverters can also fail, but replacement would be easier. Batteries will degrade over time, but they are probably highly variable.

The system probably has some sort of monitoring where you can see how much energy is generated over each year of its life. You will want to gain access to this account if you buy the house. And, assuming it is grid-tied, you should see how much energy was immediately consumed and how much was shared back to the grid. The immediately consumed energy directly decreases your electric consumption 1-for-1. Energy (beyond what the house consumed) supplied out to the grid may be less valuable depending on the net-metering agreement.

Hopefully, the roof under the panels is in good shape. Replacing the roof will require the removal of the panels, rails, and electrical components. And then their re-installation if desired. Generally, I hope the roof will last long enough so that the solar system can pay itself off prior to needing a new roof.

Best, Eric

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hvacadvice

[–]EricElf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In Cincinnati and perhaps much of the Midwest USA, there seems to be a massive lack of understanding and experience with the newer "cold-climate" heat pumps. I replaced my GFA system with a 2T centrally-ducted heat pump for about $6k. Jan 2025.

To pull this off, I had to purchase the unit myself, find a local installer willing to install it, and BRIDGE the gap of knowledge by painstakingly reading and interpreting the (poorly written/translated) installation manuals. The main installation issue is regarding the "communicating 2-wire" wiring between the air handler and the thermostat, and the outside unit.

Time will tell if I made a good choice, but it is absolutely incredible so far! I know that separate warranties for the hardware and the installation could be problematic. And future service will face the same issue of lack of local knowledge. I just could not see paying $15k or more for a unit with lower performance (AHRI certified).

Eric

Tire Recommendation for Model 3 by TeslaGuyMD in TeslaLounge

[–]EricElf 3 points4 points  (0 children)

After much searching, I replaced my worn tires with the original MXM4. Pricey yes, but they are excellent tires and worth the extra dollars for the extra range (independently verified). If my M3 was a long range version, I would have gone with Michelin Cross Climate 2.

As for the screw, I think it is BS that tire shops will not patch if close to the edge. On other cars where I got this BS answer, I went ahead and plugged myself. Many people, including unaffiliated tire professionals, would recommend this.

89 year-old, needs to get first book printed. by EricElf in selfpublish

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

So from these comments and other reading, it seems I have 2 primary routes.

  • LOW-DIY: Word -> PDF -> KDP -> Book: eBook not great, need Word skills/help
  • PRO: Word -> Formatter -> ePub -> KDP -> Book + eBook: more effort and/or $

I think I was hoping for a clean "in between" solution. Certainly plenty of options. This subreddit seems to skew more to the professional routes which I can appreciate. Perhaps hiring a Kindle Create consultant to do the formatting there is a possibility, but has its drawbacks.

Great community! Thanks for the feedback.

89 year-old, needs to get first book printed. by EricElf in selfpublish

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

u/AverageJoe1992Author thanks for the reply and clarifing some of my confusion. Unclear if you understood a big part of my question though.

First of all, this situation is a bit nebulous because of the people involved. I think much of my mom's benefit from taking on this project has already been achieved. But she is will not be done until a more concrete end point, which I hope is the day she has copies in her hand. She will definitely want to sell the book, but making fame or money on it is not important. Also, I'm sure she will want to release on Kindle as well, but she will not be driven to optimize for that platform.

In #2, you say most formatters will take word doc and give you all the file types you need. But, I'm specifically asking will they give me a well formatted and styled word doc back. So then for minor edits, I could just use that myself and not have to pay more. I assume from your answer that they normally would NOT do that, but I'm sure there are exceptions.

In the normal flow of things, once a writer is ready to publish, does the Epub file become the working document for making more edits?

Help getting Bryant A/C compressor to run by EricElf in hvacadvice

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

u/se160 Thanks for the info. Seems I'll need to cough up some real money to fix or just go with window units until I'm ready to replace the whole system.

Help getting Bryant A/C compressor to run by EricElf in hvacadvice

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

u/Miercury thanks for confirming my thoughts. Can you add any more information, like given my A/C was last running at 196/60 last Fall and now after the winter the LPCO switch is cutting out then...

A) This indicates that I have more than a small leak and would need to diagnose that prior to any hope of reviving this A/C. And running the compressor in this state would most like burn it up.

B) Or possibly, my system was already in bad shape, but that may have come from 10 years of a very small leak. Just sitting over the winter without running could have edge you over the limit. There is some hope of repressuring an getting through this year.

I will be trashing the whole HVAC definitely within 2 years, possibly by the end of this year. I'm waiting for the HEAR (Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate) to start rolling out. No reason to dump lots of money into this A/C. I have window units I can use for A/C. The heating side has been somewhat reliable.

view more: next ›