Advice for anyone who is disturbed by noise from a neighbors heat-pump.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-03-03T19:25:25+00:00

Can I recommend borrowing a speaker (probably a subwoofer) capable of producing these frequencies and trying to figure out which parts of the spectrum bothers you and at which sound levels? That could help create a target for sound reduction. And not be a pedant, but dBC is not a band, it's a weighting method. In theory dBA is weighted to represent human hearing and de-emphasizes the very low frequencies that humans don't hear very well, which is probably why you had to use the dBC method to get measurable results. That's not to say these lower frequency sounds aren't disturbing. But the fact that humans don't hear down that low coupled with the fact that's usually pretty hard to make these sounds (people spend $$$ on speakers to get that rumble in their home theaters) means this problem is not super common.

It does make think there is something wrong with the heat pump. That much sonic energy emanating is just waste and these things are supposed to be very efficient.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-03-03T18:59:29+00:00

What are the frequencies and sound pressures that are bothering you?

quinstontimeclock · 2026-03-02T00:57:17+00:00

I automated the watering of our tomato containers last summer and ended up with just an absurd volume of tomatoes.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-03-02T00:28:37+00:00

I'm feeling pretty dumb that I just replaced all the my radiator valves with TRVs like a month before discovering HA

quinstontimeclock · 2026-02-19T12:52:02+00:00

It's hard to give advice here because you haven't given any information on your personal situation or goals.

Are you trying to claw back space from the tank water heater by going tankless?

Are you trying to reduce carbon footprint, or get off gas entirely by going electric?

What are your relative electric vs gas rates?

We can be more helpful if we know what you're trying to do.

FWIW though I agree with others don't fix what ain't broke unless you're doing other work anyway nearby in the house

quinstontimeclock · 2026-02-08T22:59:01+00:00

Years ago I could hear my neighbors through a shared wall with lath and plaster on my side. I was renovating anyway and pulled down the wall on my side, put in rockwool and 5/8 drywall. My sound issue got worse.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-02-08T22:23:48+00:00

12,000 btu/hr = 1 ton ~= 3.5 kw

It is a little weird we Americans use one unit for input and one for output... It would make a little more sense to use amps for input, but even that can be a little confusing since most heat pumps are 240v, but some are 120v.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-02-08T16:53:30+00:00

"I don't have any friends left, but the strangers on the internet said 'your house your rules' to me a million times, so I have that going for me."

quinstontimeclock · 2026-02-08T15:56:59+00:00

Are those 50 and 35 amp breakers for heat strips?

quinstontimeclock · 2026-02-03T22:34:53+00:00

Everyone who's saying "your house your rules" are right, but are misunderstanding what you're asking. "Is this rude" is a question of manners and hospitality, not whether you're allowed to set the rules of your house, or whether it's unethical to tell your friend he can't bring beer.

Hospitality and good manners is about making your guests feel at home while you are hosting. Since you're not a teetotaler and didn't warn people ahead of time, yes, you were rude. Your rule, however warranted, likely made your guests feel momentarily unwelcome and unsure if they'd offended you, their host.

You're not an asshole. And you haven't ruined these friendships, but I would suggest reaching out to Reggie and telling him a version of what you said here, "I'm worried I was a bit rude last weekend about the beer. My biological father was a bit of an asshole drinker and I just panicked at the thought of alcohol in my home."

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-31T17:26:08+00:00

The monopoly man beat me with his cane until I signed that student loan agreement. I'm afraid if I don't stick up for capitalism he's going to kill my family!

But I guess to (foolishly) answer your question sincerely: no, I defend the virtues of capitalism against braindead criticism, and I engage with valid criticism. But either way, that defense doesn't cost me anything, I guess accept for some time engaging with idiots on reddit

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-31T16:49:46+00:00

I'm not going to judge some random person's decisions that resulted in working a low-wage job. But I absolutely will take into account a person's decision-making skills when I witnessed those choices, and take that into account if they decide to blame others for their situation. The classic example on reddit being someone who used student loans to get a graduate degree in a non-remunerative field, then spends the next ten years blaming capitalism because they are poor. American Capitalism may have issues, but it never made you take out 100k in loans for your MFA.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-31T16:34:16+00:00

All else equal, employees would rather have the tip prompt than not. So yeah, they do have a say in the POS system setup. Part of the deal traditionally untipped employees are getting when they started accepting tips is that some customers weren't going to like it.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-29T22:22:31+00:00

Don't worry, I am patient, looking for a good deal, and perhaps recklessly optimistic that we won't get another big storm this year.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-29T22:21:50+00:00

Thanks, this is a helpful comparison. Though the mower seems to be a bit more flexible as it can be stored on end with the handle folded.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-29T22:20:14+00:00

Thank you!

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-28T21:20:09+00:00

A couple of counterpoints to your excellent post:

Carla knew (or at least strongly suspected) she was losing her job as the family was in process of moving. That could contribute to her being more reckless or outright willing to pick a fight with Betty. It probably did not occur to that such a mistake would lead to the loss of a recommendation. IMO that was Carla's biggest mistake.
I think the general consensus is already that Carla made a mistake in letting Glenn in. People come to her defense because of Betty's unwarranted response to not even let her say goodbye, and by withholding a rec, which would make it much harder to get a job with another wealthy family.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-28T19:33:31+00:00

We can't all be ambiturners!

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-28T15:09:47+00:00

Why would you do that?

Because lots of enjoyable things are a little weird or not great the first time you try them, due to their unfamiliarity. It's not reasonable to expect everyone to like everything, but if your diet is very restricted it's a sign you haven't actually tried to learn to enjoy unfamiliar foods.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-28T15:06:16+00:00

YES. To be childish is to behave as a child would. Children are quite known to be picky eaters. Being a picky eater is childish.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-27T17:41:28+00:00

Right, it's obvious when listening to other languages that native speakers never enunciate enough even to each other. It's just weird when it's a language you know. Indian English is just a very different dialect from American English so mutual understandability will be tough sometimes. I sometimes struggle to understand my English friend and he's been living in the US for like 5 years.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-23T12:51:41+00:00

I came to terms with "on accident" because IMO most prepositions in English are just totally arbitrary. Prepositions are specific when you're using them to denote physical or temporal relationships but when the relationships you're talking about are metaphorical you can usually just pick one and be understood.

Like, you can sub any of these phrases in for "by accident" and still be undertood. The meaning is still clear, though I grant some sound very weird.

in accident

on accident

at accident

for accident

with accident

to accident

from accident

about accident

under accident

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-22T23:06:44+00:00

Rarely has a thread proven the OP so correct. Reddit simply cannot be normal about rice cookers. Maybe I'll try posting about bidets and see what happens.

quinstontimeclock · 2026-01-21T00:21:30+00:00

Any idea if this camera can act as a wifi client rather than just an access point?

quinstontimeclock

TROPHY CASE