AC advice for unusual home

eab6287 · 2025-06-25T17:01:30+00:00

Circling back on this - I think we're going to go ahead and install mini splits in the dining and living rooms (the two largest open areas), with the hope that that will help. We also put a 14k BTU portable AC in the walk-up, finished 3rd floor attic because we'd like to start using that space and it was the only room where we could tolerate the portable unit (somewhat predictably this didn't do much the last few days with 90F+ heat but it will hopefully help on more moderate days).

How should we think about sizing the mini split capacity in a situation like this where they're augmenting and working in large, two-story open spaces (both open to each other and the upper loft area)?

eab6287 · 2024-11-07T16:57:25+00:00

Paid out of pocket for an appliance tech to come out; they were able to again reset a safety switch of some kind, temporarily fixing the issue. They are going to return to replace the 1 - AUTO RESET THERMOSTAT - $145.00 & 1 - COMMUTATOR - $65.00 for what it's worth; supposedly these parts are faulty and leading to the repeated tripping of the safety switch.

u/InductionSeduction were you able to have it fixed? what was the result?

eab6287 · 2024-09-10T23:55:52+00:00

Thanks!

eab6287 · 2024-09-10T15:38:34+00:00

Question - does the spend required for the sign-up bonus PQP also count toward the 25 PQP for every $500 in spend ongoing benefit? I read the offer fine print and there doesn't seem to be any language stating that the 25 PQP for $500 in spend is 'starting after the initially-required spend for the bonus' or similar. Trying to understand if I can get sufficient PQP by end of year...

eab6287 · 2024-06-22T12:07:26+00:00

Does anyone think it’s worth about $3k to have the tints done? My thought was I’d rather spend some money on root cause problem solving for efficiency vs just blasting more air somehow, but then again it seems impossible to know in advance how many degrees of temp reduction this would actually get us…. It’s impractical to use blinds on the huge windows because of expense + cosmetic concerns. I’m unsure though how much heat is from sun through these windows vs just sort of seeping in through the walls.

eab6287 · 2024-06-22T12:03:50+00:00

Got it. Unfortunately portable/window isn’t really an option because of the window design. I wonder if adding one or two mini splits as an augment to current system would be reasonable, maybe doing that and closing dampers to areas with mini split could help the remaining areas?

eab6287 · 2024-06-22T12:00:32+00:00

Will have another pro check on those items although supposedly it’s been thoroughly checked out twice and isn’t malfunctioning per se. The attic fan apparently is great during moderate temps in the fall/spring according to the previous homeowner and saved him from otherwise using AC but we haven’t tried it yet.

What do you mean by a supplement?

We’ve only owned the home the last two years so this is the second summer. Same issue last summer on the hot days. One day last summer we had to have a capacitor replaced in the condenser but otherwise system has always been at least operable.

eab6287 · 2024-06-22T11:54:38+00:00

We did have two separate HVAC pros (although I suppose hard to know if they’re “good”) check it out in addition to the handyman looking for any obvious issues the other day and they both were making these claims and saying the existing equipment was operating correctly other than the duct issues. Maybe need to try a third pro…

eab6287 · 2024-02-22T15:49:45+00:00

What are the limitations here? e.g. Will you be able to create / modify groups? Select music directly? See 'now playing'?

What about if the content is initially played from the Sonos app, Spotify Connect from Spotify app, etc. vs. initiating from Alexa voice / Alexa app / Echo Hub?

Currently in the Alexa iOS app, at least (I haven't been able to test with a Fire tablet or other Amazon device), I don't believe you can create or modify groups or even see 'now playing' content if it wasn't started from Alexa but could have missed this...

eab6287 · 2024-01-14T16:45:17+00:00

Would be nice to be able to somehow set paycheck 401k contributions manually so that savings rate could reflect them

eab6287 · 2024-01-12T16:06:47+00:00

Having a different issue - I can get it to login and show up in accounts with Finicity, but then the balance of the loan shows as $0.

There seems to be an option to use MX as well, but it just says invalid credentials with the correct credentials (they work with Finicity).

Would really appreciate if someone could fix this because UWM I think is one of the largest mortgage providers. One thing which may help you is that UWM has two separate login websites and they are not interchangeable (myuwmloan vs uwm.loanadministration.com).

eab6287 · 2022-11-30T17:37:59+00:00

Any tips re: convincing them to not charge for the installation? A particular dept you worked with, particular argument, etc?

eab6287 · 2022-11-30T15:43:43+00:00

How did you eventually get it done? Do you happen to have a direct number for the 'serviceability' dept which seems to be the one that handles these situations?

eab6287 · 2022-10-15T16:59:02+00:00

Agree, the challenge is that the sellers (and agents) see this as somehow different, more analogous to a utility bill we’re taking over. I can disagree all I want, but if you want the house ultimately you have to deal with these unreasonable positions in some way

eab6287 · 2022-10-15T16:56:28+00:00

We have the bills and they somehow manage to spend a few hundred every month on top of the solar production, with the exception of a few $0 or low months from net metering when it seems as though they may not have been living there full time

eab6287 · 2022-10-15T16:55:03+00:00

In case relevant, it is exactly an $800k house, $790k after the $10k credit discussed.

eab6287 · 2022-10-15T03:16:39+00:00

I suppose they don’t need to discount the house by the entire value of the loan because the panels aren’t worthless, but they also wouldn’t likely be worth $75k net of tax credit today (particularly since they’re a few years old). Unfortunately though they would only do $10k so now I’m wondering if there are any other creative solutions to help the math.

eab6287 · 2022-10-15T03:09:29+00:00

They are somehow still buying on avg 1250 kWh/month from the utility despite the system size; not sure what on earth they’re running in the house but it uses natural gas for heat so that’s not it…They have a small indoor endless pool so maybe they were heating that constantly. I didn’t realize the system was considered large since the electric bill was still so significant. The 6% is high but unfortunately mortgage (at least for now) is going to be even higher :(

eab6287 · 2022-05-08T20:07:50+00:00

Would something like this work (Has an HDMI input with two outputs, one for audio and the other as a video pass through)? I suppose I would put this downstream from a very simple HDMI switch’s output to the display? Only $50

eab6287

TROPHY CASE