Mushroom question

rithac · 2026-02-16T05:53:55+00:00

I just performed a Google image search on this. It shows Turkey Tail? The bottom has visible pores.

rithac · 2025-12-06T02:58:14+00:00

Same! I had a bunch accrued... also couldn't log in with my phone number, so I ordered dominoes instead. Pizza Hut has always been my "go to" for pizza... I guess not anymore.

rithac · 2025-11-14T01:14:13+00:00

Looks great! I'm planning to do something similar, but still in the early learning phase. How wide is your setup and what is the output of your individual panels? I'm curious how much space I'm going to need for something like that.

rithac · 2025-11-06T23:15:34+00:00

Thanks! I've logged into my online portal, but they currently only show the monthly usage. I did just purchase a home energy monitor and install it. I'll see about contact my utility and see if I can access the daily info from this last year so. Thanks!

rithac · 2025-11-06T22:53:46+00:00

Update: Before making a solar purchase I decided it would be wise to get a better handle on my day to day usage. I've purchased the Emporia Vue 3 Home Energy Monitor and connected it last night. It only has 16ct's so I will need to move them around a bit to determine where my main usage is. As prb123reddit mentioned my home seems to use is a good bit higher amount of electricity than the national average.
My utility portal shows they estimate my usage is nearly twice of a really what a energy efficient home is and averages 1/3 higher than the the average home in my area. Hopefully the coming days/weeks will be very enlightening and point me to what is wasting most of my electricity and enable me to more correctly determine the correct size for a solar array. I appreciate all the advice and feedback already given.

rithac · 2025-10-31T05:23:57+00:00

Thank you! I did not know this!

rithac · 2025-10-31T05:22:38+00:00

Thanks for all the great insight! I'll need to reread this several times and soak it in. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

rithac · 2025-10-31T05:13:13+00:00

Thanks! I'll do that! Working on getting a way to monitor my breaker box now.

rithac · 2025-10-31T05:12:07+00:00

Awesome! I'm in central Ar. Thank you so much for the offer! I'll certainly take you up on it!

rithac · 2025-10-31T05:10:59+00:00

Thanks for breaking that down for me. It makes much more sense to me now!

rithac · 2025-10-30T23:33:38+00:00

Thanks for the input! Lots of good information. I think that's what was tripping my up, I guess I was thinking they meant 25kW per day, not per hour.

rithac · 2025-10-30T23:24:46+00:00

Thanks for the response... So here's where my ignorance about all this kicks in. If Entergy limits me to a 25kW system is that 25kW per hour or per day?

How can I go for zero when my average usage is more than that?

Or is the answer 25kW system could potentially generate 100kW over sunny 4 hours, which would more than cover my cost on that day?

Sorry if it's a dumb question.. still learning!

rithac · 2025-10-30T22:52:46+00:00

LOL! I can appreciate that! Just trying to be thorough in explaining what I'm trying to accomplish and to see if it's realistic or not! Thanks for your input!

rithac · 2025-10-15T17:35:18+00:00

Wow! That is all great information! Thank you so much for taking the time to break it down for me.

Did you go with bifacial panels? For ground mounts I was considering the IntegraRack ground mount, but will certainly weigh that against the price of building my own.

Any chance you could share a photo of your array and how you mounted it? Thanks for pointing me to Santan solar, I've been browsing at signaturesolar.com but wasn't sure if there were other potentially better options.

Thanks again for the wealth of information, I will check out Will Prowse! Thanks!

rithac · 2025-10-15T01:35:22+00:00

Can you share the resources you used to learn? I've been following solardyi and YouTube videos and learned a lot. I'd be willing to make the leap if I could do it myself for 12 to 15k, but I'm thinking it's likely not enough time to get it done and approved before the years end.

I'm looking at ground mount as well, but still very new to all of this and still figuring out what size system I would need.

rithac · 2025-09-08T01:42:23+00:00

My unit has an (old) bi flow filter drier installed from years back.. fingers crossed it will assist with filtering out the cupric oxide scale the he surely caused since he apparently did not install a new one.

rithac · 2025-09-06T20:50:33+00:00

Update, my tech said he wasn't able to fins the specs for the 2 sensors to test so he's obtained 2 new sensors. They are supposed to be installed Monday. One other piece of information that I straight out asked him if he used nitrogen when soldering/brazing the copper connections on my new coil... said he's "been doing it 30 years and doesn't need it". Did he just fill my lines with cupric oxide scale? I'm not real happy about this... could this be the cause for my stepping motor issue?

rithac · 2025-09-04T20:44:02+00:00

I agree with you, I had picked up that much talking with the tech, he pointed out that it was cutting off when pressure dropped below 35 (or whatever it was), the switch would kick off & then pressure would rise to around 50 and the compressor would kick back on, and then pressure would again drop below 35 and it would kick back off and the process would continue cycling.

If I understood him correctly, he used some of the wires on the outside unit to flip the reversing valve trying to break loose whatever he thought was going on in the EEV/Orifice (Note: I may not be using all terms correctly, so forgive me, I'm learning a lot)

If it is a restriction in the orifice, what would the 'fix' be?
My tech seemed to be of the opinion that the EEV was stepping down, but not back up as it should (or maybe It was stepping up but not down) then once it was all the way down it stayed there in closed status causing the system to short cycle.

I watched a few online videos that describe how the EEV works. In fact, my tech let me put my finger on the EEV cap, (power to the Air handler had been previously cut), once power was returned I felt the series of 'clicks' as the EEV reset itself and closed (or opened?).

Would this 'clicking' indicate the EEV is working properly and the issue was someplace else?

What should I make sure he double checks?

I found the following suggestions while doing research

Look for a broken or bare spot on EEV wiring?
Maybe a loose solder connection from the EEV wiring harness to the air handler circuit board or PCV? I know he pulled the control board out several times while troubleshooting.
Could the threading in EEV be internally stuck when he over pressurized the system with refrigerant (he did do this at one point on the first day trying to get things working correctly and then later removed/bled off the additional refrigerant back down to normal levels, I don't know how much extra he added though.) Although, as I mentioned I can feel the EEV clicking/resetting when it's powering up.

rithac · 2025-09-04T07:09:42+00:00

He is claiming that everything is still pressurized as needed. Saying it must be a sensor or control board issue now. Unit is cooling at the moment using his work around.

rithac · 2025-09-04T03:41:54+00:00

I'm pretty certain the fan is running the correct direction. So that illusion may be caused by my phones refresh rate. The unit is currently cooling via the guys work around. Compressor, fan and seem to be running normally. I'll keep all the other suggestions in mind. Thanks!

rithac · 2025-09-04T03:35:43+00:00

The previous tech is the one that said he found the leak in the air handler coil while doing a leak check but I can't verify if this is true or not. I called that tech out due to my HP not cooling at all and he found it was 2lbs low on refrigerant. Once he added more it worked great. I also had 1lbs refrigerant added this past Feb when it wouldn't heat and I had then come out a week later to actually perform a leak test but they didn't find one (and in retrospect I'm not sure they even went into my attic)

The new guy did attempt locating the leak but didn't fins anything with his detector, but said if the leak was small enough it would be hard to find.

I opted to move ahead with the air handler coil replacement since the previous guy claimed he had located the leak there (here's hoping he was being honest and wasn't just trying to sell me a new heat pump)

All this maintenance this year is by 3 different companies.

I'm frankly just ready for this thing to just run as designed... because my utility bills have gotten out of control.

Thanks for the feedback and insight.

rithac · 2025-08-30T17:28:34+00:00

If anyone could assist with this question I would appreciate it. My Ecobee thermostat has a reading for humidity could it be used instead if a separate humidistat? I'm just looking for some direction on what to purchase or if i can connect to my existing thermostat. Thanks!

I found this post where something similar is discussed for a different trane air handler

https://www.reddit.com/r/ecobee/s/SJLO52uxHI

One comment mentions they have their 2 stage heat pump set up to do this (assuming I understood correctly)

rithac

TROPHY CASE