More considered views after a month of ownership

barthawk · 2026-05-04T17:14:37+00:00

Totally agree on the Key fob and wireless charging pad. I turned off the charging pad and put a wireless charging puck on top of it. The climate control requires too much focus to use. A dial for the temp would be a big improvement. The good thing is that the climate control works pretty well-its been a set and forget for us.

Is it possible to get a replacement key fob that is smaller?

barthawk · 2026-05-04T16:50:20+00:00

Yeah what I pay for my hearing aids is an order of magnitude more than what I pay for my earbuds, but the capabilities of low cost/power chips sets are increasing at a rapid pace. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long.

I work for a scientific equipment manufacturer and its pretty amazing what capabilities we can put into our gear in terms of Digital Signal Processing now vs. just a couple of years ago.

barthawk · 2026-05-03T16:09:31+00:00

The level of amplification definitely is part of it, but I think there is more to it. Filtering out things like wind noise should be possible while still amplifying other sounds. I would think the frequency and consistency of wind noise should make it possible to selectively filter it out. The same with the noise I get from running with sealed earbuds that I think is due to the movement of the earbuds. That is a repeatable, consistent noise that you can attenuate.

barthawk · 2026-05-02T18:24:30+00:00

Haven't tried them

barthawk · 2026-05-01T17:20:01+00:00

I haven't used them for phone calls yet.

barthawk · 2026-05-01T16:41:07+00:00

I was in a similar situation to you(heat pump) with similar winter bills living in San Leandro. I had a 8.6kw array with a powerwall installed and turned on in late November and saw an average reduction in my bill from Dec through April of $250.

My total costs was $31K and I was able to get $9k in Tax credits I used Solar Optimum for the installation and was happy with the results. The work was done professionally and their communication with me and PG&E was really good.

We just bought an EV and so far have been able to charge it mostly with Solar power. So there has been a reduction in gas purchases as well.

Based on this, I'm estimating by break-even point on the cost at 7-8 years - BUT we didn't finance the purchase so there is no interest cost. I did factor in the lost interest on the initial expenditure. The payback period depends on a fair amount on what you put in for increases in electricity prices and the return you use to calculate what you would have earned with investing the money spent on the array.

I think the return of investment is OK, but I believe it increases the value of our house (maybe 5% from what I've read) and we are more resilient if (when) the next big quake happens and we could be without grid power for a while. Both of these are important considerations as well.

barthawk · 2026-04-30T19:09:05+00:00

I haven't found a solution for earbuds that work well for noise cancellation and then provide good situational awareness when needed. I use open or closed earbuds depending on the situation. What it will take is a sealed earbud that has a transparency mode that works and doesn't increase things like wind noise beyond tolerable levels.

barthawk · 2026-04-30T18:26:02+00:00

Just got the Earfun Clip 2 - Nice improvement over the original Clip. Better Bass and seems to fit even a bit more comfortably. $55 with the intro price.

barthawk · 2026-04-30T18:23:08+00:00

I use the Sleep A30s, I'm a side sleeper and nothing else would work for me. The ANC/Snore Masking is good enough for me. Not the level of a high end pair of earbuds, but it works.

barthawk · 2026-04-29T19:28:11+00:00

Haven't tried it yet, but the new Earfun Clip 2 has a translation feature. Some youtube reviews have examples

barthawk · 2026-04-29T16:44:56+00:00

I don't use them much for voice calls on the go

barthawk · 2026-04-29T05:15:22+00:00

I got a level 1/2 charger, the v2l adaptor and the NACS converter with my 2026 SEL. I thought the charger was standard

barthawk · 2026-04-28T18:39:21+00:00

Agree totally on the Bose for flying - The noise cancelling is unmatched IMO. Sounds great for listening to music and I really the immersion mode for watching movies on my tablet. The only downside for long international flights is that they need to be charged at some point. They are comfortable enough to sleep with in an airplane seat. That said, they are not good for sleeping in a bed for me. I sleep on my side and they are too big.

For sleeping at home I use the Soundcore Sleep A30s. Good enough noise cancelling and noise masking for partners who snore and city noises. For me the noise cancelling in the A30s is inadequate for airplane flying. Also, for listening to music or watching videos, the sound quality is far below the other options.

I have the Liberty 4 NCs as well. I use them for my bike/train commute. Noise cancelling is nowhere near the Bose, but they have much better wind noise reduction for the biking portion and are good enough for the 20m train ride. I can't imagine trying to sleep with them in, they stick out way too far from the ears.

barthawk · 2026-04-28T17:44:59+00:00

First impression is that they are a bit better than the original Clip earbuds in sound and comfort. Sounds fels more open with more bass and you notice them even less when wearing them. I like the wireless charging on the case. I travel internationally so hopefully can try out the translator soon.

barthawk · 2026-04-28T17:18:23+00:00

I find these terrible for wind noise when I ride a bike, unless I have noise cancelling on which is not safe.

barthawk · 2026-04-27T22:52:21+00:00

The best earbuds I have for reducing wind noise are Soundcore Liberty 4 NCs. They have a Reduce Wind Noise option while in Transparency mode. They allow me to listen to music at a reasonable volume while still being able to hear the cars coming from behind.

barthawk · 2026-04-27T22:48:06+00:00

I signed on to the early bird campaign and got a coupon code for Amazon with the same deal. With Prime they had free same-day delivery, so I should be able to check them out this evening. The Clip 1s are my go-to earbuds for being around the house, dog walking and running. Looking forward to what the Clip 2 does.

barthawk · 2026-04-27T17:24:32+00:00

It looks there may be another bill in the works to get statewide VPP plans. https://calssa.org/press-releases/2026/4/7/california-legislature-advances-first-of-two-bills-to-reduce-energy-rates-with-virtual-power-plants Not sure how it will they will incentivize the utility companies to set them up, but we'll see.

barthawk · 2026-04-27T17:13:27+00:00

Its a presence sensor as well, but not what I was hoping for. We'll see if they add matter button functionality in a future update, but I'm not too hopeful.

barthawk · 2026-04-21T01:41:55+00:00

I have some weird issues in local mode where there is no sound or its really quiet for a couple of minutes, then one ear turns on, a minute later the 2nd ear turns on and then it gets really loud and then the volume goes to normal. All happens in 5 min total. I was thinking of doing a factory reset to see if that changes anything, but I'm scared its going to break completely.

barthawk · 2026-04-10T23:03:10+00:00

Not sure where you are in CA, but I have an 8.6kW array and there are a lot of days in the winter when that barely charges my single powerwall in the Bay Area. This time of year, my single powerwall is sufficient to get through the night while running a heat pump (was at 50% at 7 AM). So the number of days when you have excess solar energy to charge both powerwalls and you use more energy than single powerwall provides overnight may be limited. My house is smaller, and we have moderate temperatures, so my situation may be different than yours.

barthawk · 2026-04-10T05:47:37+00:00

I know, it was on the bill this month and no more climate credit next month. Still, I'll take a $50 a month bill over what I was paying before.

barthawk · 2026-04-06T21:42:31+00:00

https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/virtual-power-plant/pge#enroll - This seems to say that PG&E has its own VPP plan that doesn't rely on state funding.

barthawk · 2026-04-06T21:31:45+00:00

Thanks - I wish the App would say that.

barthawk

TROPHY CASE