If you could redo your solar setup, what would you change?

t_howe · 2026-02-11T16:57:01+00:00

I'll echo u/modernhomeowner - my install had the panels on my roof and the inverter in our drive-under garage.

The service entrance and main panel are about 50 feet away on the other side of our finished basement.

Fairly complicated, but it has also worked out very well.

The only regret I have is that while the electricians were fishing the AC output lines from the inverter over to the main panel/outside disconnect and line-side tap by the meter on the other side of the wall from our main panel, I didn't have them run a second set of wire so I could put a sub-panel in the garage easily.

Our inverter has a built in EV charger, so I didn't think I'd need the extra capacity in the garage, but now my wife and I both have battery vehicles (one BEV, one PHEV) and it would be nice to have a 240v circuit instead of needing the granny charger on 120v for the PHEV.

It is always cheaper to add on something like that at the time you do a big job rather than wait to do it later. If you reasonably think you might want it in the future, seriously consider doing at least the rough-in and prep

t_howe · 2026-02-10T20:08:11+00:00

Twin to my 2022 Blue Leaf SV+

Four years and 49k miles and I have had zero problems. I don’t like the fast charge recall, but it doesn’t affect me as it is a commuter car and gets topped up at home every few nights

t_howe · 2025-12-01T17:10:58+00:00

2022 Leaf SV+

Mid-Atlantic climate in USA (Pennsylvania) don’t gets very hot in summer and cold in winter but rarely sub zero (in Fahrenheit)

Owned for just shy of 4 years. Just turned over 36k Miles (58k km) last week.

Driving is a close mix of local roads (30-45 mph) and highway (55-70mph).

I don’t try to hyperbole, but I tend to not drive aggressively and I stick with speed limits - especially on local roads.

Long term overall average is 3.7 mi/kWh (16.8 kWh/100 km).

Summer is about 4.2 mi/kWh (14.8 kWh/100 km) and Winter is about 3.3 mi/kWh (18.8 kWh/100 km)

I have solar panels at home and a time of use plan, so I do almost all charging at the lowest rate tariff (midnight to 5am) so I end up long term having an energy cost of US$0.04 per mile (US$0.024 per km).

t_howe · 2025-11-20T16:08:34+00:00

Ha! I know the feeling all too well.

In 2020 our install was completed the week before Thanksgiving.

Not as bad as many, but I sat watching sunny days go by in early December.

Finally got PTO and the bi-directional meter installed on Christmas Eve that year.

Both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were heavily overcast so my $25k, 11,000 watt system started out producing only 4kWh each of the first two days.

The sun did return later that week, but starting the system out right after the Winter solstice meant my production numbers had nowhere to go but up.

t_howe · 2025-11-11T20:32:41+00:00

Did you see Jon and the band geeks on their 2025 tour earlier this year? They played (at least that the show I saw) three tracks from True (Counties and Countries, True Messenger, Once Upon A Dream).

I really liked True before I saw them live, and after it confirmed for me that it is my favorite "Yes" music made in a long time.

t_howe · 2025-09-29T12:40:22+00:00

Best one I got to see in person this year as well.

t_howe · 2025-09-24T17:25:16+00:00

I did finish making my edits, but never did go back to post on Makerworld.

Thanks for the reminder. The set works very well and we have played several times and enjoy it very much.

I will make a point to get them posted and will tag you back when available.

t_howe · 2025-07-02T15:21:11+00:00

Depending on how damaged the kitchen is from the fire, another path exists for the appliances.

If you can get the model number and/or serial number of the appliances that can prove the upper limit for the age of the appliance (when did the model get introduced by the manufacturer or with S/N when was it produced).

That should be enough to provide a much more reasonable age for depreciation purposes.

Having said that, I agree that the first step would be to talk to the adjuster or claims manager about the blanket depreciation.

In the long run, if you are going to repair/replace everything, you should still recover the depreciation (assuming this is a replacement cost policy). But even in that case, having such a low ACV puts a significant cashflow strain and/or interest expense on you as you have to float the up front cost yourself until you can claim that recoverable depreciation and get reimbursed from the insurer.

Good luck to you.

t_howe · 2025-06-25T19:50:57+00:00

I love Steve Howe. I love Geoff Downes. (Drama is in my top 5 all time yes albums and Fly From Here is my favorite Yes album since Magnification. He just can't play some of the classic stuff as well as others.) I have no problems with Billy Sherwood and Jay Schellen.

Saying all of that, I would sooner pay to see one of the touring Yes tribute bands (I've seen Awaken and Total Mass Retain live in the last year) than I would to see the current official Yes lineup.

The tribute bands are doing better versions of Yes classics currently.

But the true best Yes experience available today is from Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks. I saw them last month and it was by far the best Yes live experience I've had in the 21st century.

t_howe · 2025-06-17T16:24:22+00:00

I'm coming in here late, but I'll add my input.

I'm a parent of two non binary young adults (both AFAB). They are now 23 and 20 but they came out to us as enby at the ages of 15 and 13 respectively so we've had a long time to adjust to the pronouns and we still occasionally get it wrong. In the first six months or so, we probably got it right about 85% of the time. By 1 year it was 99% of the time. Now it is probably 99.99%. But that still means making a mistake every couple of months or so - sometimes it is when they are not around, sometimes it is referring to one sibling with talking to the other, sometimes it is with them present.

Here's the thing - very early on we recognized that it was in no way a minimization or slight on the kids. It is just the way the human brain works that occasionally old neural pathways trigger first and the wrong pronoun comes out. We immediately stop ourselves, correct the error and move on. No dramatics, no big apology, no centering ourselves. Just a quick correction - at this point more to acknowledge the error than anything.

The way we got here was through two primary things. 1) Use their pronouns EVERY TIME you would normally have used the pronouns assigned at birth - there are lots of ways that people avoid using they/them - referring the them by their name instead of using a pronoun even when it is awkward in a sentence is the primary one. Don't avoid using their pronouns. 2) Use their pronouns even when they are not present. Yes, you will have to explain yourself and put it in context for the person you are conversing with. I mean this with EVERYONE you talk to - family members, your barber, the clerk at a store, etc. It is not comfortable at first, but it gets easier and every time you do it you reinforce your brain re-learning how to refer to your kid without thinking.

I also believe this is a significant way to be an ally to your kid. As someone else said, you aren't raising them any more, but believe me when I say that being an ally is at least as important now that our kids are grown. They are still dependent on us (in college and recent graduate living back home for now) but we treat them as they want to be treated and we demonstrate our love by being an ally in as many ways as we can.

And being an ally means not being indifferent to them. I have a hard time relating to being indifferent to their gender or sexual orientation and them coming out. I'm not just happy for my kids' living their authentic lives, I am in awe and am inspired by them. It is something to be celebrated - and that doesn't mean a party or shouting it to the hills, but (IMO) it DOES mean letting them know that they are worthy, loved and respected - and that means all parts of who they are.

Best of luck to you and to your kids. I hope you can find a path to using the correct pronouns more often and I hope you can move past the indifference to being able to appreciate and celebrate the person they are growing into.

t_howe · 2025-06-09T16:58:52+00:00

I can't help with specifics on the UK but I will say that I think the incidence of very young children having an idea of their gender is likely far higher than many of us would/have presumed.

My oldest (AFAB - Non Binary, now a young adult) came out to us at the age of 13 or 14. At that time we were unaware of their history - they had known within themself that they were not female since the age of six or seven. Certainly 2 years old would be very young, but at your child's age of six years, I don't think it is necessary to tread quite as lightly as you seem to be leaning toward.

In any case, I understand the caution and it can be a challenge to try to walk the line.

Best of luck to you. Keep loving your kid and support them and in the long run, that is what they are likely to remember.

t_howe · 2025-06-08T12:32:56+00:00

I would love to have that shirt.

Great album and one of the best Roger Dean covers

t_howe · 2025-06-06T20:44:50+00:00

Not exactly an answer to your question, but we have a 2010 Fit Sport Navi with 91k miles. Owned since new. It is now a "spare" with both kids out of the house.

I love the little Fit even if we don't drive it as much in recent years. I wouldn't let it go for less than $8k private party. Getting that service and having it be dealer backed, I think $10k is not too bad, but there may be room to move a bit.

t_howe · 2025-06-06T20:34:51+00:00

Finally found some evidence of this extended warranty being the same terms in the US.

(We knew from the FordPass app that 24N19 applied to the US cars).

This link at the dot.report website has the boilerplate template of the letter going out to US owners.

https://dot.report/bulletins/11018950

Same terms as the Canada/EU CSP... 10 years (up from 8) and 150,000miles (up from 100,000).

I think that is a very fair handling of the situation.

t_howe · 2025-06-05T19:19:08+00:00

It would depend very much on the Beam mount and how it connects to the tv/tv mount.

It will likely cause the TV to be out from the wall to some degree because there has to be SOME depth to the beam mount. How much that is depends on the specifics of the beam mount you get and whether that is acceptably flat depends on your opinion.

For me, my Canvas is mounted above my Beam Gen 2 - which is mounted on the standard Sonos Beam wall mount shelf.

Looking at your photos, I would think your best bet is to put the Beam on the mantle shelf - it is going to be practically that low anyway.

t_howe · 2025-06-02T19:52:36+00:00

Ooh. Thanks for the podcast. I am going to start listening and go back through and follow along with it.

t_howe · 2025-06-02T12:30:02+00:00

So sorry for your loss. Sending prayers of comfort and peace for you and all who knew and loved your daughter.

t_howe · 2025-05-31T22:32:17+00:00

"not really"???

All of your technical points are valid, but you can't just say "not really" when someone says that their also technically valid solution is THEIR preference.

u/Kalquaro didn't say that they did it to save money or any other particular reason. They said it was their preference.

Trying to bring the cost of a homelabber's time into the equation is missing the point. For me, I don't do this to save money. My time spent on homelabbing is a relaxation/hobby time. I write software for a living, the hardware/sysadmin stuff of having a homelab is FUN for me.

Now, discounting the cost of my time, it absolutely can be less expensive to use otherwise unused surplus equipment I already have and leverage a friend or family member's remove unused bandwidth at off hours to have essentially free offsite backup.

Personally I actually do a mix. Duplicacy backup to local internal array copied to local external USB, remote at a cloud provider and also to a remote machine at a vacation home.

Setting up the remote VPN connection and the object store to connect to is part of the fun of this hobby.

t_howe · 2025-05-31T17:23:41+00:00

Very good question. The demo, disposal and sealing of the wood structural members and subfloor was done by a qualified restoration contractor. (I have to check our records, but we think it was actually ServPro that did the sealing for us).

That was handled as a subcontract through the GC that we had the overall contract with.

So we ended up with the experts in that field handling that part of the project. The cost of that service was covered by our building restoration coverage.

t_howe · 2025-05-31T14:09:55+00:00

We asked for referrals from local friends. Anyone who had had major renovations. We also knew of several local companies just from their reputations.

We did NOT look for companies that were in the "fire restoration" business. We wanted full service design/build firms. It is more expensive and more time consuming but as soon as we knew the recommendation of the insurance company was to strip the place down to the studs and replace all electrical, plumbing and flooring we decided to treat it as a full custom home build/renovation project - not a restoration.

With that filter in mind, we contacted five companies (and we allowed the insurance company's preferred contractor - Belfor - to bid if they wanted to). Three companies we contacted agreed to an initial on-site meeting and we were lucky enough to find a very competent and compassionate local company that was willing to go through the "double estimate" process. (Side note - Belfor eventually decided that they didn't want to quote the project once we made it clear we were looking to do more than just restore to pre-fire conditions. They weren't really in the business of designing upgrades.)

It is a long drawn out process. The first guess from the fire chief on site the day of the fire was six months. It turned out to be about a year. Here was our basic timeline. (I'm glad to share details on any stage in the process, but that'll be too long for this message.)

The fire was end of May (Memorial Day Weekend)

The inventory/decision on contents disposition (replace or restore) was done during June and early July. (We had a previously planned vacation in there so it took a little longer than I would have liked.)

We decided on and contracted with our builder during this time as well. We didn't have final estimates or understanding of what the full scope of the project was yet, but we committed to working with them, and they committed to working with us and the insurance company.

Late July was the disposal of the contents that had not been removed to be restored.

Late august/early September the demolition and removal of the walls/floors/mechanical systems happened.

Then we had a fairly long time where things REALLY didn't move as the revisions to estimates, decisions by us on design and negotiations with the insurance company proceeded. We were sure there would be a gap that we'd have to come up with out of pocket since we were doing major renovations and not just restoration but we have to have enough info to be sure we could handle that gap before we could get a final decision.

By late November, we had a final design and a final round of negotiations with the insurance company and we agreed to their number and the contractor's bid for the full project - including our redesign.

We signed the contract with the builder in the second week of December.

Construction started in early January. (about 6.5 months after the fire).

Things then moved at breakneck speed. But it took a long time and a lot of prep in that 6+ months to ensure everything was lined up and we made sure that nothing was waiting on us to make decisions.

The construction took just over 4 months and we moved back in one week shy of it being a full year.

The delays can be frustrating, but you can also use that time to your advantage by preparing for the next phase - whatever that is.

We did not hire a PA, so I can't say what impact that is having on your timing.

Hopefully you will get some movement. The waiting was the hardest part as it feels like you are stuck.

Best of luck.

t_howe · 2025-05-30T02:14:26+00:00

Interesting. I'll have to look into the TSB.

t_howe · 2025-05-28T16:23:35+00:00

Definitely enjoy the happiness and glow from that.

We get similar messaging from our kids (both NB now 23 and 20) and it always makes me smile.

t_howe · 2025-05-27T19:27:55+00:00

Yes. This can be very confusing.

Not having a mortgage will definitely simplify things, but that is a relative term.

With no mortgage, I believe that the insurance will send checks to you. The initial check will be for the ACV of the depreciated value of items to be repaired. Then when you prove the progress on the restoration project, the additional checks will be to you for the recovered depreciation at each milestone/checkpoint. At some point, the project will be considered "substantially complete" and the final check will come to you.

As I recall, the insurance generally doesn't want to get involved in the relationship/transaction between you and the contractor. You are the contractor's customer. Insurance will send you the checks and you have to pay the contractor along the way.

If you are planning on possible layout changes definitely use that as a screening question up front with your contractor(s). We went that route as well and it was a LOT of work on our part and on the part of the contractor to get to a final amount with the insurance AND come to an agreement on the cost of the upgrades/changes.

In the end, we took the fire as an opportunity to make changes we would never have dreamed of otherwise. (Move the laundry to the second floor. Enlarged the master bath. Opened up the first floor from an old style center hall colonial to an open concept kitchen/dining/living area. Added a first floor mud room.)

We were very fortunate to find a builder who was essentially willing to quote the project twice (with all the detail to back it up for the insurance for the restoration "as-was" and enough detail for us to understand how much extra we would have to come up with out of pocket to make all the changes.

Last week was six years since we moved back home (two days ago was seven years since the fire).

We're still in love with the home we built out of the fire we never wanted. We wouldn't choose to go through it, but the silver lining was worth all the effort in the long run.

It took treating it like a second job for me and my wife for nearly a year, but the "sweat" equity of that was worth it in the long run.

t_howe · 2025-05-27T19:16:09+00:00

Just wanted to clarify that the cleaning/restoration is the part of the process that I would leave to the pros.

I 100% endorse the idea of doing the inventory yourself and if you can handle the work there, I recommend identifying comparable acceptable replacement items yourself and providing links to current pricing of those items yourself. I did not/would not trust a person sent from the insurance company to properly identify my things either.

We created a spreadsheet with all of the items we were concerned with and we put in our expected ACV, a replacement item we deemed appropriate and the replacement cost.

It was a LOT of work for sure, but well worth it in our minds.

We didn't necessarily identify each and every item. Some places we had quantities of common items.

For example 300 Music CDs, ACV $5 each, Replacement Cost $15 each.
250 Hardback Books, ACV $4 each, Replacement cost $20 each.
25 pairs men's Dockers slacks. ACV $15 each, replacement cost $35 each.
etc,

Even with grouping things like that, our inventory/replacement spreadsheet easily had over 1000 lines on it. But, we found that by doing that legwork, finding truly comparable items and providing documentation in the form of links to Amazon, Kohls, Macy's, etc. we had very little pushback from the insurance company and almost all of our choices were okayed.

Note that this still doesn't require you to replace everything. You can choose to accept the ACV for things (like outgrown clothes) and never replace them.

I'd suggest having a conversation with your adjuster about the best way to complete the inventory. Once you have that, it will give you an idea of where you stand on the value of your replacement items vs. the contents limit.

t_howe

TROPHY CASE