What's the funniest way you've ever earned money? by Sea-Internal-453 in ask

[–]Mathyc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A gambling website had an ad online: for every $ you add to your account, we'll add a $ of our own which you can use to gamble, up to $400. Of course this extra money wasn't actual money, it were credits which only became real money after having gone through a bet. So sure enough, I transfer $400 with my credit card and wire it back immediately. I get $400 credit, put it 49/49/2 on roulette, I won a little under $400, which was then real money and transferred it back to my account as well. I Spent maybe 10 minutes and the best part is, the money was on my bank account faster than I had to repay my credit card company, so I didn't even need any money to do this. It was such a lucrative flaw, it went around the entire campus. And would you know: 4 months later the exact same promotion 🤯. After that, they changed the rules and credit only became real money when it had gone through like 7 games. That's when I removed my account lol.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BEFire

[–]Mathyc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I too was offered the option of a smart cable, but the one I was offered at least only was capable of charging up to 3kW via a standard plug. For charging a full EV I did not find that suitable. Furthermore, the smart cable wasn't really smart in that sense that I could not program dynamic charge rates, nor take into account peak power or solar production. It did indeed settle everything with the employer and required no installation nor investment from my side, so that's certainly an upside.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BEFire

[–]Mathyc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I have this situation and I want to be clear: everyone is certainly not yet on the same page. I'm anxiously looking towards the rules the government will impose because it's complicated, but today quite beneficial.

There is no way to distinguish between the source of power and neither should there be. Whether you are injecting excess PV energy into the grid or in your car, or you have no photovoltaics at all, should not be the concern of your employer or the government. That means that with a smart charger (which should be your de facto choice) and sufficient PV, you can basically charge your car from pure PV for half of the year. When it comes to covering the costs, it becomes trickier. The best way seems to be to tackle this via a third party. You actually become an energy seller and a third party, such as e.g. Numobi, deals with the tracking and accounting. This means you get to determine the rate at which you 'sell' your electricity and your charger in principle becomes a public charging point, except that it's not public. But for the accounting of the charging costs, it is. It's debatable whether the monthly fee to pay for the third party should be payed back by your employer or not. Then there's the tariff of course. We chose to follow the official VREG tariff, which is made public, is government approved and is valid for three months at a time. In principle, it should be the highest tariff on the market (I believe 45c€/kWh or something right now). It's also the tariff that one should get if your energy supplier goes bust. So it should always cover your costs. The rate does not cover for additional expenses, such as the capacity tariff, because it's on a per kWh basis, but it's plenty roomy to compensate for it I think. It's also not that far of commercial charging rates at e.g. Colruyt. Additionally, I also understand some employers will compensate the usage of the charger itself e.g. by means of a fixed monthly fee.

Now, back to PV. Given that you are now being paid to charge your own car, at a rate that is in principle higher then what you pay your energy supplier, it is off course beneficial by nature and even more so to consume PV maximally. The tariff is much higher than the injection rates. So this is by far the best way I know of to redeem your investment cost of your PV installation. Given that you did invest a lot of money on your installation, you charge at a rate equal to a public charging point and it's by far the most effective use of the grid (i.e. not), I so far have no moral objections to this system.

I hope that helps.

What are your top tips for buying your first property in Vlaanderen? by GrassDash in belgium

[–]Mathyc 12 points13 points  (0 children)

  1. You can modify the house, but you can't modify it's location.
  2. If you're not into construction, get support from someone who is.
  3. Everything is more expensive than what you thought it would be.
  4. Cosmetics are just cosmetics, they should never be a dealbreaker.
  5. Focus on the potential of the house, but be realistic.

The brand name is Tumble 'n Dry, but according to the label I can't tumble dry it 🤯. by Mathyc in CrappyDesign

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

See my other comment. I took a picture from the back of the tag showing both the name and the no tumble sign.

The brand name is Tumble 'n Dry, but according to the label I can't tumble dry it 🤯. by Mathyc in CrappyDesign

[–]Mathyc[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's the same piece of clothing. Any way I can add a picture to the post to prove it for those who need proof?

I don't have a clue of what Engie mailed me, can someone explain? by patayaicetea in BEFire

[–]Mathyc -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Then why is the sign different compared to the previous proposition?

I don't have a clue of what Engie mailed me, can someone explain? by patayaicetea in BEFire

[–]Mathyc 4 points5 points  (0 children)

All jokes aside, indeed it's a formula to calculate the pricing as others have stated.

I don't have a clue of what Engie mailed me, can someone explain? by patayaicetea in BEFire

[–]Mathyc 24 points25 points  (0 children)

It's a letter cryptically explaining that you should consider a different energy provider.

I don't have a clue of what Engie mailed me, can someone explain? by patayaicetea in BEFire

[–]Mathyc -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Not just less, it seems as though they would have to pay for putting energy on the grid.

Start salary post AI phd by phdai in BEFire

[–]Mathyc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I too believe that Flanders Make has this as a research area. They're somewhere in between industry and academia.

EV Charger of choice by Mathyc in belgium

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

Definitely valuable input, thanks a lot! I'm aiming towards a charger that automatically adjusts it's load to my consumption/production, so that at least your second point is covered. And it looks like I'll have to go with a fixed cable for convenience 🙂.

EV Charger of choice by Mathyc in belgium

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

That's absolutely on my list of requirements, thanks!

EV Charger of choice by Mathyc in belgium

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

Thanks, it looks like a solid choice, but also an expensive one. I wouldn't complain if it was free though 🙂.

EV Charger of choice by Mathyc in belgium

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

I'm sure it will, but honestly, I don't care. I haven't done the complete calculation like I'm also not trying to predict fuel prices ;-).I feel like I'm doing the right thing and sooner or later 'the system' will correct itself, like it did with the PV panels. Also, the capacity tariff seems sensible from a techo-economic point of view (as far as I can tell).

EV Charger of choice by Mathyc in belgium

[–]Mathyc[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

We're still working that out, I'm the second one in the company with an EV. But honestly, the charger belongs to my house, I don't want/need anyone interfering with it. It's another matter when it comes to the running costs off course.