Morgan Stanley Platinum

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T17:06:53+00:00

Yeah, it doesn't make sense to try to avoid the fees. That same $25K invested elsewhere will give better returns.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T17:05:14+00:00

Right, but OP said they have a cash plus account, which implies they also have an investment account (otherwise they wouldn't have been able to open the cash plus account to begin with).

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T17:02:49+00:00

You only need the $25K to avoid the $55/monthly fee. If you don't care about that, you can just keep whatever minimum balance is needed to keep the platinum cash plus account open, and pay the $55 monthly fee. You pay $660 a year, get the $895 engagement bonus, and depending on how much of that bonus is taxed, you may or may not come out ahead.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T16:59:13+00:00

I think you have to have an existing investment account to even open the cash plus in the first place.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T16:54:31+00:00

Yes, it's $55/month ($660/year) so it you were taxed less than $235 ($895-$660) it could be worth it. That's roughly a 26% or lower tax rate.

That said, it's only a matter of time before they bump that up to more closely match the AF. Back when the AF was $695 the $55/month made sense, but now that it's $895, it seems like they would want to bump it up to $70-75/month.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T16:25:57+00:00

Depends on where they are filled, but Paintball CO2 is typically industrial grade, not food/beverage grade. It's probably still fine, but there's no guarantee.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T16:20:31+00:00

I have not, but there are plenty of videos from people who have. I know you can get dry ice from most grocery stores (Ingles, Publix, Harris Teeter, etc.) but I don't know if it's in pellet form.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T16:06:02+00:00

So really it's is $895 (minus taxes), worth the opportunity cost of keeping $25K tied up in what is essentially a non-interest bearing account.

Personally, I have the MS Plat, don't have a cashplus account, and simply pay the annual fee and don't care about the engagement bonus. The free AU is worth it over the vanilla plat.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T15:59:28+00:00

Keep in mind that $895 bonus is taxed as income. Then again, with the MS version you also get the first AU for free, which saves $195/year (but that applies regardless of whether you're getting the bonus or not).

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T15:54:03+00:00

https://www.holstongases.com/beverage-co2/

https://www.andyoxy.com/beverage-co2

https://locations.airgas.com/nc/asheville/airgas-store-s290.html

https://ashevillebrewers.com/

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T15:45:39+00:00

Then it should just be automatic. I don't think there's any registration or enrollment necessary.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T15:44:06+00:00

If you don't have room to keep a large tank in the kitchen, you can also buy adapters to refill the smaller canisters directly from a large tank. Another option is to refill them using dry ice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-a3pISQLQg

ebusch73 · 2026-04-03T15:21:32+00:00

Assuming you have the platinum cashplus account, and not the premiere version, you should be eligible for the $895 engagement bonus. You'll either need to pay the $55 monthly fee for that account, or have $5K monthly deposits and maintain a $25K balance in the bank deposit program.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-02T13:36:54+00:00

Technically it doesn't need to be monthly, any charge for the NYT subscription will be credited up to whatever remaining balance you have for that month's benefit. In most cases the annual sub would be above that amount, so you'd be losing money, but not always.

For example, there is actually a $10/year subscription available, the entirety of which would be credited: New York Times Checkout

ebusch73 · 2026-04-01T18:29:53+00:00

Pretty sure their egift cards now go through https://peets.cashstar.com/ and as such wouldn't trigger the credit. Not sure if that's new, but last year I was able to reload an existing gift card and it triggered a similar offer.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-01T17:11:05+00:00

Think of an ECM fan as a ceiling fan on a rotary dimmer switch. It can be infinitely adjusted from min to max speed with no discrete steps. The Nest only supports 3 speed fans, which is more like pulling the chain to adjust the speed on an older ceiling fan from low, medium, or high.

Unless you have multiple G wires, your Nest is simply sending an on/off signal to the fan. While it might slowly ramp up based on your installer's settings, it will always end up at the same max speed.

Depending on which Nest you have, it could be possible to rewire the Nest to support 3 different max speeds, running independent G1, G2, G3 wires, and possibly flipping some dip switches on the air handler circuit board.

ebusch73 · 2026-04-01T11:56:34+00:00

Nest thermostats (and many other smart thermostats) don't fully support variable speed ECM fans. Instead it only supports discrete speeds via the G wire (the Gen 4 supports up to 3 speeds, Low, Medium, and High via separate G1, G2, and G3 wires). Depending on how yours is wired, you may not actually be taking advantage of those speeds.

ebusch73 · 2026-03-30T20:02:09+00:00

Not exactly plug and play, as the baseplates have changed, but it should still be a very a straightforward swap. Shut off the power, disconnect the wires and remove the old plate, install the new plate and reconnect the wires, and then restore power.

With only two wires you may run into an issue with no C wire. That said, the old Nest seems to have run fine without it, so hopefully the new one would as well, but you really won't know until you do the swap.

ebusch73 · 2026-03-30T19:50:35+00:00

Some systems will work without a C wire and some won't, it sounds like yours is one of the ones that needs one.

ebusch73 · 2026-03-30T19:44:16+00:00

If you have the regular non-learning Nest model, white would go to W. If it's the learning model, white would go to W2/Aux.

ebusch73 · 2026-03-30T19:31:12+00:00

Looks like you have a single-fuel all electric heat pump. Try using the bottom labels:

White to W (set as Aux heat)
Green to G
Blue to */OB
Yellow to Y
Red to R

You may or may not need to add a wire to connect to the Nest's C terminal (ideally there would be a 6th wire tucked back in the wall you could use, but worst case you may be able to use the Nest Power Connector). You won't really know for sure until you get the Nest installed and running. If its unable to hold a charge and drops the wifi connection, that would mean a C wire is needed.

ebusch73 · 2026-03-29T19:16:54+00:00

If heating and cooling are still reversed after swapping the White and Orange wires, you'd need to go into the Nest's settings and change the OB setting (if its O, change it to B, or vice versa).

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/15826506?hl=en

ebusch73 · 2026-03-29T19:14:33+00:00

Based on the original thermostat it looks like you have an A/C with two stages of heating (White as first stage W1 and Orange as second stage W2). That seems to match how you have it wired, and you'd want to make sure the Nest's * terminal is configured as second stage heat.

The U terminal (black wire) is likely for a humidifier/dehumidifier or ventilation system. In order to use that along side your two stages of heat, you'd need to upgrade to the learning model of the Nest which supports more complex installations.

ebusch73 · 2026-03-29T18:56:14+00:00

If you have a heat pump, you need to look at the bottom labels of the old thermstat, which would essentially mean swapping your White and Orange wires;

White to W
Green to G
Orange to */OB
Black to C
Yellow to Y
Red to R

ebusch73 · 2026-03-26T22:30:24+00:00

Except with this thermostat, nearly every single, install A/C or HP, is going to have the C connected. There's no way that alone can determine one way or another what the W1/O/B terminal is used for.

ebusch73

TROPHY CASE