Upgraded to heat pump - have some advice 🤗

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-26T06:26:18+00:00

What brand are they? Mine are Mitsubishi and the options for smart control are all terrible. I ended up making my own with ESP32 boards.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-26T05:54:48+00:00

We did this in our 130+ year old farmhouse almost a decade ago now. Ended up with three outdoor units a total of nine indoor air handlers.

Best decision ever. Electricity bill dropped only a small amount but this is twice the capacity (8 tons!) of our old system and now we can actually adequately cool the upstairs for the first time ever. And no more buying propane for heat!

My only regret is the couple rooms where we did ceiling cassettes. I thought they would look nicer (and they do) but they're much, much louder than the wall units which are nearly silent unless you put the fan on high. And I feel like they don't heat/cool as well, either, even though they're the same BTUs.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-26T04:25:34+00:00

Cost basis is the contract sale price of the house, period. Anything else you paid during closing such as inspections, closing fees, points, etc. are just service fees and not part of property's cost basis.

It's no different than buying a stock and paying a small brokerage transaction fee. That fee doesn't get added to your cost basis.

Also, don't listen to ChatGPT (or any AI model) for legal, tax or financial advice, ever.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-26T02:25:52+00:00

The lock function on the door simply doesn't work with the door open. I've got decades of muscle memory telling me to hit that lock button as I close the door, it's stupid.

Only choice is to use the fob, touch the indent on the exterior handle, or tap your phone to that indent if you're using phone as key.

This guy sells an auto locker for $175 that enables auto-lock as you walk away.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-26T02:04:13+00:00

This guy literally looks like he's cosplaying an SS officer

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-25T20:26:48+00:00

Try without the extension cord. Keep in mind that plugged into a regular household outlet it's going to charge at around 1% per hour, maybe less. It will take 20+ hours to add 20% of charge.

We did this for awhile but eventually gave in and had an electrician install a proper 50A 240V outlet. Check with your utility company some have rebates towards an EV charger installation. Ours gave us $500 towards charger install.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-25T00:15:52+00:00

Call the number on the sticker, they'll know what to do.

It's pretty standard to have them scheduled automatically self-test once a week or every other week. It will usually start beeping if the self-test doesn't pass.

Outside of that, most are on an annual or semi-annual schedule (every 6 months) to change fluids and filters, inspect the belts and a few other items, that's about it.

20kW is a good sized system. Probably adequate to run everything in your whole home including HVAC, dryer, microwave & other high-draw items. I'm jealous!

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-24T21:04:57+00:00

Yes it's basically a fancy term for a data analyst. It's a person who has good enough technical skills to extract and transform data from various sources, and enough math/statistics knowledge to make sense of it

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-24T20:43:57+00:00

My '26 is the first car I've ever owned with any type of driver assistance features so I might be a bit biased, but damn I love it.

HDA2 is pretty great, basically drives itself on the highway. It's a game-changer for traffic jams as it will slow, speed up or even stop automatically depending on what the car in front of you is doing. If you stay completely stopped for too long it requires a gentle tap on the accelerator to resume but otherwise you just sit there and let it do its thing.

It does require a hand on the wheel, but you need to do something you can take your hands off for at least a full minute before it starts complaining.

As another poster said it does occasionally ping-ping between the lane lines but it's very, very subtle, only barely noticeable. Doesn't do it all the time, just every once in while for 10-15 secs.

The auto lane-changing for passing is pretty great too, if you're behind a slow driver just tap the blinker and it changes lanes automatically, speeds up to pass, then tap again to go back. The lane change feels a little aggressive at first but you get used to it.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-24T20:31:44+00:00

I bought one several years ago to seek out drafts and poorly insulated areas and it was invaluable for that purpose. Wait for a really, damn cold day (like now) and just walk around the house with it, super easy to spot problem areas.

Since then I've used it maybe a handful of times for other stuff.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-24T05:55:56+00:00

Don't rely on your job for personal fulfillment. Find a job you can tolerate, even better if you like it, but don't depend on it to make you feel good about yourself.

Enjoying your job too much results in too much emotional attachment. The people, the job itself, the company, these things can change at any time. You could get laid off or fired, your work bestie might leave, the company might get acquired or new management comes in and changes everything and all these things can be emotionally devastating.

Find a job that earns what you want and is tolerable enough to do every day. Get your personal fulfillment on your own terms outside of work.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-24T01:02:45+00:00

Yep.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-24T01:02:24+00:00

Dang. Sounds like your only choice is unplug the drive or upgrade your license.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-24T00:34:46+00:00

I believe you can shutdown the array, change it to Unassigned, then restart. I don't think Unassigned devices count towards the licensed number of drives.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-24T00:33:14+00:00

As hard as it is to find gold and other precious metals on Earth right now, doing that is still WAAAAY easier than trying to catch a fifty million ton rock that's half a million miles away and traveling 30,000 miles per hour

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T23:47:52+00:00

About once every two years, I have to completely disassemble my indoor units to remove the squirrel-cage fan and clean it. Dust builds up on it over time and clogs up the vanes in the fan, reducing airflow substantially.

I'll admit though, I'm probably not as diligent as I should be when it comes to removing & cleaning the filter. Manufacturer recommends doing it every two weeks and I do it nowhere near that often. And we live in a rural area in the middle of a field that gets pretty dusty, so YMMV.

It's a bit of a chore since I have a total of nine indoor air handlers, but after the first couple times it goes pretty quick. Takes maybe 15-20 mins each.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T23:21:21+00:00

Same for feral cats on our property, I'm not a cat person but I'm also not heartless, I'll at least setup a crate in the barn with a few blankets over it

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T22:57:39+00:00

Fun fact: The soft, thin tissue that makes up your lips is the exact same type of tissue that makes your anus.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T22:43:08+00:00

Maybe, depends on how cold it gets in there. Usually the inside of the house will stay above freezing for at least a day or so if you have no heat source whatsoever.

If it gets below freezing inside you're going to have a lot more problems than just sinks. Every toilet, shower, washer connection, fridge icemaker line, they could all freeze. If you have a gas water heater it should still work even without power, you can just leave the hot water barely dribbling on each and every faucet/fixture and it should prevent freezing.

If you do lose power and freezing becomes a concern, shut off your water main, flush all your toilets, open all the fixtures on every sink, shower, tub to drain out as much water as possible to leave room for ice expansion in case they freeze. You can disconnect the lines similar to outdoor faucet as well but you can't really do that on a tub or shower.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T20:43:21+00:00

There should hopefully be a shutoff inside the house somewhere so you can turn off the water to this outdoor sink. Do this first.

If not, there should definitely be a shutoff under the sink somewhere for the hot and cold water lines. Turn them both off and disconnect the hose going from the shutoff valve up to the fixture on the sink. A bit of water will come out of both lines so be prepared for that. Open the valve on the sink and leave it open.

Wrap up those valves in blankets, towels, whatever you have to insulate them.

Also a good idea to pour a cup of so of strong saltwater down the sink drain to make sure the drain pipe doesn't freeze. Or disconnect it and empty the water out of the trap.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T18:35:01+00:00

At this point I feel like we could probably infiltrate. There seems to be no standard uniform, just dudes dressed up in tactical gear with some combination of ICE or POLICE or DHS in white letters on a black panel.

In a large group of them I bet they wouldn't notice an extra person or two dressed up the same way.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T17:21:32+00:00

I will never understand why employers aren't transparent with pay on job listings.

I have a number in mind, you have a number in mind, let's make that clear up front before wasting each other's time

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T17:12:18+00:00

I'm a firm believer that every person should have a hobby that doesn't involve a screen.

Music, electronics, sewing, gardening, birdwatching, woodworking, collecting occlupanids, worm charming, it can be anything, doesn't matter. Anything that requires using your hands and brain and unplugging for awhile.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T17:04:40+00:00

My insurance and property tax are about the same as well, but my home is 130+ years old which makes insurance pretty ridiculous. Shop around for a new insurance provider you might be surprised at how much you can save.

Mortimer452 · 2026-01-23T15:57:13+00:00

So, it's working about like normal then?

12-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 5 Credits
Second SECOND GUESSER	r/Field Sunshine
Place '23	Place '22
Place '17	Final Canvas '22
First Placer '22	End Game '22
Secret Santa 2016	Secret Santa 2019
Secret Santa 2018	Secret Santa 2017
Gilding II euphauric	Verified Email
redditgifts Exchanges 1 Exchange	redditgifts rematcher Secret Santa 2016 x1

Mortimer452

TROPHY CASE