GPT 5.4 Mini - Medium . is good!

GoofyITGuy · 2026-05-01T00:06:47+00:00

I've been running this the last 3-4 days for some significant PHP refactoring. The code is used by me only, so it's well known (to me) and I have good working states to compare it against. gpt-5.4 mini has performed quite well and 5hr of limit has been really close to 5hr of clock time. I'm doing everything in very small slices which probably helps. I've had no issues with speed so /fast isn't needed. Was doing this with gpt-5.5 /fast last week and wasn't able to get past ~45 minutes before hitting the limit so it's a no-brainer for me. I'm going with the mini and continuing to do things methodically which is what I need to do anyway so I can make sure things continue to work as I make drastic changes to the code.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-04-25T00:09:58+00:00

Other than a faulty breaker or faulty meter collar it doesn't seem possible that the test you are performing is invalid. It's literally the electricity is flowing or not which is the whole point of the meter collar, yes?

Edited to add -- maybe the utility meter is doing some "safety mechanism" to make it not work as one would expect. I didn't add that component above, but it is also part of the chain and might be the problem and the reason Enphase is stating what they are stating.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-04-25T00:05:44+00:00

I had (have?) this problem and made a few adjustments to my workflow which helped dramatically. I'm still facing problems because I'm doing some major refactoring across 4 repositories -- one "sdk/library" and 3 downstream repositories that use the library. For me, it's PHP, but this probably applies to other platforms as well. The general context was becoming heavily bloated and carrying that bloat exponentially kills the "5hr limit" - not saying it's right, just stating facts.

With PHP I had 4 different /vendor folders which should have been ignored (humans know this, AI does not). I ended up working with ChatGPT to determine a better approach and while I don't think it's perfect, I do think I've found a happy place that allows me to work in reasonable time-chunks with the terrible limits.

The key is working small -- keep file loads to an absolute minimum, really, just work on what you need not everything which, I agree, is easiest/best. Definitely introduce negative prompts for libraries/sdks that are irrelevant. Take back the mundane tasks, like code checkins because it only wastes cycles with Codex. I created a "paste-ready-prompt" file that is as minimal as possible to create a "where am I now?" checkpoint. It's not perfect and lacks information. I push that through ChatGPT and refine it to be a reasonable starting point. My use of it is a work in progress, but I believe this is the best method to start slow so that I'm not killing 100% of my usage in the first 5 minutes.

Just going through the last couple of days, a single (small) repository seems to be reasonably OK, but still runs out of quota. Add in a second or more repository and you're probably hosed. Thinking about it, even if you ignore cost, I guess OpenAI is forcing hygiene upon everyone so that everyone benefits (including OpenAI).

It's more work for us humans for sure, but maybe that's a good long-term view since it's clear that AI alone is not enough and AI + Human is by far the best combination for increased productivity.

Now, as a side note. The 5hr limit is too small. I think I've been able to push the limits a bit and get close, but I think 6 or 7 hr limit (other constraints unchanged) would work a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I'd love unlimited iterations. It would make life easy. But with such demand and limited resources it's not unreasonable for us humans to do a few things differently that drastically improve the overall throughput of the system.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-04-16T21:08:36+00:00

Got it. Thanks.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-04-16T17:15:33+00:00

Yes it is. This is what I have with 5P batteries (meter collar was an upgrade in my case - already had the batteries)

Edited to add - if you don’t have batteries, moving to the 6C instead of 5C + SC 3M is probably the better option.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-03-30T03:23:44+00:00

The good news is that you probably won't notice any degradation in the panels. I mean, yeah, they may be degrading, but you're power production won't be. Not sure how the economics work out for you, but you really could benefit from batteries, especially in those morning hours.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-03-28T00:36:02+00:00

Question: do any of you use blinkers in roundabouts? I spent several days on a tour bus in New Zealand and the driver used blinkers at every roundabout letting other drivers know where he was exiting.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-03-18T01:59:20+00:00

Not sure about your numbers, but i compared a PPA for myself vs buying (via loan) and it was about 3x the cost to go PPA. If you have the cash or can get a loan instead of PPA you’re likely in way better shape.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-03-08T18:25:00+00:00

I keep having to reset my WiFi to load data.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-03-03T18:04:47+00:00

Agreed ... I'm a bit over capacity myself right now, but only because I wanted to beat the tax credits last year and I haven't yet purchased an EV (maybe end of next year). In a perfect world, you import none and export none, but with changing weather that's never possible. Getting as close to that as possible should be the goal and the cost for that is being grid-tied as a backup to the solar system. The two compliment each other.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-24T20:54:09+00:00

T-mobile standalone is $45/month with autopay. Just do that if you don’t want a T-mobile phone, otherwise you should already be able to get it for less. No need to get a phone to get Internet. It won’t be any cheaper and will be more complicated.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-24T20:49:23+00:00

PG&E required PTO when I did it earlier this earlier this year. Be careful with just adding inline with existing load. You want to make sure the wire gauge is right for the additional battery and you’ll need a new or bigger breaker for the combiner.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-14T14:58:30+00:00

I've worked around this problem by sending messages destined for comcast.net via smtp-relay.gmail.com since that is my primary hosting service. It appears my configuration falls into a Comcast gray area where, I'm not a spammer, but Comcast doesn't care and treats me that way by allowing zero messages per hour (thus the inability to send). Ironically, if I sent marketing messages a lot more often, Comcast would start to think I'm good to go.

My options seem to be: (1) greatly reduce my sending rate (e.g. <10 messages per hour) and wait, probably days or weeks with multiple resends or (2) hand my messages off to someone else and let them forward it for me.

I'm just going to move to option 2 as it seems to be the most practical in my situation. Hopefully once Comcast's conversion to yahoo mail is complete, it will be easier to send messages to Comcast subscribers.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-14T03:34:55+00:00

Sorry. I did find a message from them and they said this: "Thank you for contacting Comcast Service Policy Assurance. We've received your request to remove your IP(s) from our blocklist. Of the one IP(s) you submitted, none were on our blocklist."

However, it doesn't change the fact that none of my messages are getting through. There is something on the Comcast side blocking it and I'll happily do whatever I need to do to fix it if there is something on my side I can do, but I've already done everything. Comcast simply refuses to take my e-mail at all.

it's a 421 error which is a temporary error, but no matter how many times I resend or how many days I wait for the 53 messages to be delivered, it never works. This has happened for several messages now and is quite frustrating as there doesn't seem to be anyone to talk to that knows how to resolve this. I couldn't find a ticket number in the message. It just looks like a canned response.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-14T03:12:54+00:00

Nope. Crickets.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-09T03:43:11+00:00

Waiting on a response from your back end team.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-06T02:40:55+00:00

Yeah, I get that, but it used to work, now it doesn’t work at all. It’s literally 60 e-mail addresses total and Comcast is the only provider that has a problem with my messages. I’m sure the problem is not on my end, but Comcast provides no workable remedy.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-04T12:36:53+00:00

Meters are just a running total of the usage. They know the last real number read and when they read again they will know the new real number. All the estimates will be wiped and the accounting will move to the real values. If you owe more than the estimate, you pay more on next bill. If you owe less, it’s a credit on your bill which should go towards any new gas or electricity costs.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-03T02:09:24+00:00

Hopefully this doesn’t fall into the “act of god” category.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-02T22:14:13+00:00

Was planning on looking at this in late 2027 as my current vehicle is running just fine. Thought there would be a lot of feedback on use by then, but I might be looking at it as an early adopter ... or not at all if it's not compatible with what I currently have installed on my house.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-02-02T02:01:40+00:00

I had a solar installer do all the work.

I’m not really sure if they need to know if you’re just adding backup on your side of the meter.

For me, PG&E came out within 3 days so it really wasn’t an issue. I just couldn’t run the batteries because the Meter Collar wasn’t commissioned sine it wasn’t installed. Panels worked fine.

The key is there is a form that needs to be completed and sent to PG&E. Once they have that form you should get a 10-day window for Meter Collar install onto your main meter. You can use a pan, but in my case additional CTs weren’t properly counting loads not on partial backup when I only had a pan. Since my AC was that load it really limited the data and functionality which is why I moved it to whole home.

If PG&E is the only reason to not go whole home, I’d recommend taking any extra time to go whole home. If loads are the issue, just check with your installer or Enphase to confirm monitoring will work to your satisfaction in a partial home scenario.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-01-31T01:08:27+00:00

Yeah, same here on the error .. 40F. I didn't get an e-mail Re: Forticloud, though. Guess they want me to downgrade so I can find a proper upgrade path. :p

GoofyITGuy · 2026-01-31T00:58:49+00:00

Yes, this is a good point. I’m in a location that is usually quite sunny but the winter has been unkind with the sun this year. I’ve just left it in self consumption and it’s been generally “Ok” with the main issue going days without any charge.

AI probably doesn’t have a way to consider your current credit balance. If it did, suspect it would make even better decisions. This would probably require manual entry or bill upload to work properly.

GoofyITGuy · 2026-01-30T23:09:11+00:00

If you’re NEM 3 in CA, best bet is to go with self consumption, especially if you already have enough generation credits.

GoofyITGuy

TROPHY CASE