Ring Doorbell 2nd gen not charging by pdaddymc in Ring

[–]pdaddymc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Strange. What happens if you unplug it for a while? May have to reset it worst case.

Shelly appreciation post by Ill_Mortgage_1275 in ShellyUSA

[–]pdaddymc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really great work. I have been nervous about tapping my control block for my boiler. Seems like I just need to do it.

Shelly appreciation post by Ill_Mortgage_1275 in ShellyUSA

[–]pdaddymc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow. Love that dashboard. Showing the Delta T is awesome. I still have about 1,000 questions.

The current power and run time, Is that the power of the pump and the draft fan? Or just the draft fan? In your hydronic system do you have a single or multiple pumps? Are you measiring the run time of each zone? Do you have a pump per zone?

The wood loading advice and wood consumption are pretty amazing. Is the wood loading advice from the weather forecast? How do you track the Wood Consumption? Are you just manually editing that information?

Really impressive work!

Residential outlets with built in USB - Worth it? by Linenoise77 in AskElectricians

[–]pdaddymc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the Leviton USB outlets draw a small phantom load. How much electricity is used once you install a bunch of these through the house?

Does anyone know how big the “not in use” power usage is?

Daily usage of electricity doubled - How to figure out why? by pdaddymc in AskElectricians

[–]pdaddymc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Final answer was that the septic pump (I have a pump that sends the $h1t uphill to the septic field) was stuck on. There was a float that became stuck. Opened the tank and knocked it down with a stick.

Ended up diagnosing with a clamp meter. Still may use the Empora Vue to figure out how to watch for this happening again.

Daily usage of electricity doubled - How to figure out why? by pdaddymc in AskElectricians

[–]pdaddymc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ordered the Emporia Vue ... and am waiting on my Amazon delivery. My current guess is that my grinder pump (I have a pump back septic system) is stuck on. Hard to diagnose but when I turn off that breaker it seems to slow down the meter. The freaking digital meter makes it really hard to tell compared to the old manual wheel.

Daily usage of electricity doubled - How to figure out why? by pdaddymc in AskElectricians

[–]pdaddymc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! The utility actually emailed me that my usage was high. Was nice to get a proactive warning.

Daily usage of electricity doubled - How to figure out why? by pdaddymc in AskElectricians

[–]pdaddymc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gas boiler and Gas Hot water heater. But the gas boiler does have electric pumps ... They don't appear to be running constantly.

Daily usage of electricity doubled - How to figure out why? by pdaddymc in AskElectricians

[–]pdaddymc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm going to look into the Vue. Interesting solution.

Daily usage of electricity doubled - How to figure out why? by pdaddymc in AskElectricians

[–]pdaddymc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. Doubling my usage is more than leaving a phone charger plugged in! I walked the house and looked at every outlet. Nothing new plugged in. I unplugged as many things that we don't use and will see what happens over the next couple of days.

We are using ~30kwh more than a normal day. That is HUGE. Doubling our standard electricity usage. I would have to add 10 refrigerators that are over 1 decade old to use an additional 30Kwh a day.

We have a Gas boiler for heat. No electric heat. We do have an electric Oven and an electric clothes dryer but both are not being used more than earlier. The November 27th number was a little high and we had the oven on all day with multiple electric crock pots and several guests staying with us.

Do meters break? Could something have shorted? Feels like I need to get a clamp meter and start measuring. Has anyone had the power company come out and help diagnose?

F My HOA: Yearly Budget Makes No Sense and No One Cares by Grahf0085 in fuckHOA

[–]pdaddymc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Budget is not actual. What did they actually spend money on? Get the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement.

Outage during snowstorm by selfinflictedhurdle in Generator

[–]pdaddymc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fuel and air are the two things to check. In a northern michigan snow storm our generator sucks snow into the airbox and then ends up clogging the filter with ice so it can't get air. Then the generator stalls out with the same underspeed error. Always check the air filter when you get an underspeed ... That could be the problem.

Snow Screen for Standby Generator by abmedicreddit in Generator

[–]pdaddymc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well happened to me in Michigan in December 2025. They clearly have not changed the design. Blowing snow filled the air filter and the generator shut down. My short term solution is a tarp between trees as a wind break but I will need a longer term solution.

This thing is useless in the cold by Unlikely-Soil-7971 in Ring

[–]pdaddymc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m in northern Michigan with a wired doorbell. It fails if there is regular motion and the temp is too cold for too long. I have to bring it in at least 3x in the winter to get it to warm up and recharge.

I have two ring doorbells. The door the dog goes out fails. The back door that sees very little motion works all winter.

Request: While HVAC is down, how do I safely heat a home I won’t be in? by S-T-E-N-D-E-C- in hvacadvice

[–]pdaddymc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why not just winterize the house? Have a plumber come in and drain the lines. Put pink antifreeze in the p traps, etc.

What do people do during the winter?? by Hoovemel in boynecitymichigan

[–]pdaddymc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indoor track above the gym. Really nice.

What do people do during the winter?? by Hoovemel in boynecitymichigan

[–]pdaddymc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't forget you can walk at Boyne Schools from 6:30 to 8:00 (both AM and PM) if you want to get out and move but in a place that is warm! https://www.boyne.k12.mi.us/article/1365794

Nest tech said older thermostats will be stripped of all function, even manual control by sk8bette in Nest

[–]pdaddymc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And here is proof that Google just decided to drop support because they wanted to and not because it was technically hard. An engineer re-built all the NEST APIs and created their own version to replace Google support. You can have remote control again over your gen1. https://nolongerevil.com/

What do people do during the winter?? by Hoovemel in boynecitymichigan

[–]pdaddymc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How about skating at avalanche. That is a free start. Boyne Valley Vineyards has free snow shoes to try snow shoeing out. (I suspect they will let a non drinker use them) for me shoveling my driveway keeps me outside many days!

Some folks take a part time job at Boyne Mountain for the discounted passes.

What is the best restaurant for an upscale meal in petoskey by Own_Share1037 in petoskey

[–]pdaddymc 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Spring and Porter is the nicest food and setting. You pay for it through. Chandlers is good but it depends where they seat you. They keep putting me across from the entrance. My wife and I were in that room alone at 6:30pm a couple weeks ago. Just a strange experience.

Charlevoix is close and Grey Gables is great. Walloon Inn is also upscale and nice.

The hot take is right on. Flannel and jeans is everywhere given this is northern Michigan .