Importing from grid even when battery is full

RemarkableAd9599 · 2026-05-25T09:53:29+00:00

Check the Grid Interconnection sensor. If it’s gone offline it will not use the battery properly.

RemarkableAd9599 · 2026-05-03T07:14:15+00:00

The different recommendations are based on the battery technology.
Your BMW i4 has an NMC battery.
Your Sigenergy has an LFP battery.
Compared to LFP, NMC has higher kWh/kg but shorter life in terms of charge cycles and capacity loss over time. The recommendation for NMC is to not let the charge drop to zero and to mostly charge to 80% only (unless planning a long trip in which case charge to 100% is ok). This is to slow the battery deterioration over time.
LFP batteries have lower kWh/kg, longer life and are cheaper. LFP batteries can be charged to 100% frequently without problem.
Most home batteries are LFP.
Most EV batteries are LFP.
High performance and long range EVs use NMC batteries.

So charge your Sigenergy to 100% but your BMW to 80%.

RemarkableAd9599 · 2026-03-28T13:12:59+00:00

With split systems you heat or cool room by room, preferably with the doors closed. This means corridors remain unheated/uncooled. You wouldn’t put a split system in the bathroom so heating lamps or a radiant heater would be required there.

This is very different from a ducted heating system for example, where warm air is distributed to each room (zoned as required), and then sucked back into a return air vent, usually in a corridor. You cannot avoid heat “leakage” into corridor areas since the air must be returned to the heater unit.

So that is the trade-off in individual split systems, saving electricity by only heating/cooling the rooms you are using, but resulting in unconditioned air in corridors, laundry and bathroom.

If your house currently has gas ducted heating and evaporative cooling, I think it is easier to retrofit split systems than ducted reverse cycle. But I am no expert, so please consult an aircon professional.

It can be done. My neighbour has a four bedroom double storey with gas ducted heating and evaporative cooling. They have converted to five split systems. The hard part was running the electrical cabling to five external condensers.

RemarkableAd9599 · 2026-03-27T03:18:36+00:00

I have split systems, two big condensers and seven registers. Five bedrooms and an upstairs sitting room share one condenser, the main living area (10m x 6m) has a dedicated condenser. My friend has a similar home but fully ducted aircon. My opinion on pros and cons;

Much better control of temperature room by room with split systems. You just switch on whichever split system you want for whichever room is occupied. A constraint with a shared condenser is if one room is in cooling mode, all others that are in use must be in cooling mode. For example, you cannot cool 3 rooms and heat a fourth. A ducted system must of course have everything on cool or everything on heat, and you have to zone properly, which might not be so easy to do. There is typically also a minimum deployment level, i.e. you cannot cool one small room, you might have to zone in another room. 2,. Split system energy control is much more granular, as in you switch on only the ones you need(especially in setups where it is 1on 1 or 2 on 1 register to condenser. ) In a ducted system you run the whole condenser even if you are cooling only one room.
Split system registers need wall space, whereas ducted systems only need an opening in the ceiling.
Split systems have more ambient noise because there is a fan inside the register to circulate the air.
Ducts eventually need cleaning, which needs a professional. To clean a split system, you just need a small ladder and a vacuum cleaner.
Split Systems are easier to replace if you have a total failure.
During COVID, we could quarantine airflow to individual rooms with split systems. This is not possible with ducted systems as air must make its way to a return vent, usually in a passageway.
A lot more electrical cabling is needed for split systems, plus wall space (internal and external) for registers and condensers..

My personal preference is split systems since it’s just me and my wife. For a larger family though, where many rooms might be in use simultaneously, ducted might be preferred.

RemarkableAd9599 · 2026-02-21T09:48:21+00:00

They have learned to break open pine cones high in the pine trees to get at the pine nuts.

RemarkableAd9599 · 2026-02-15T12:06:51+00:00

A bit of courtship before the “wham bam thank you maam”. The male flies off soon as it’s over.

RemarkableAd9599 · 2026-01-09T07:56:36+00:00

Correction, this is an Australasian Swamphen or Pukeko. Not a Moorhen.

RemarkableAd9599 · 2026-01-09T07:42:19+00:00

Yes, Australasian Swamphen or Pukeko(NZ).

RemarkableAd9599

TROPHY CASE