4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on May 7, 2022 8:52:24 GMT -8
I created a new area called "Splurges". aaplfinance.proboards.com/board/17/splurgesI'm curious of what people have bought when they splurged a little, especially when in retrospect it was well worth it, but also if it wasn't. Apple devices (Apple Watch, fancier Mac than they really "needed", etc), other fancy devices (automation, etc) or even that superstitious subject, cars. Other things fit too, like trips. Ideally when we splurge a bit, it's worth it. This is a way to spread what has been worth it, or also what hasn't.
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on May 7, 2022 9:15:38 GMT -8
We've had a few small electronics splurges that I would recommend, though it depends on the person and situation.
The first is an internet thermostat. We bought ours years before the Nest, a Honeywell from Home Depot. For us the big reason was to be able to have "vacation mode" set on it for 1-2 weeks, and then turn up the temp remotely when we were on our way home, especially in times where we had some flexibility in when we would get home. One of the first times the connection didn't work right and we had to have someone come over the bump up the temp manually. And you need to run a 24V wire to it, from your heater or separately. We haven't done any geofencing, and don't need something to try to learn our schedule to set up the defaults, and I personally don't like some of the Nest versions that try to have too few controls. But this has worked well for what we have needed.
The next is an internet accessible camera. It is easy to get too into checking it from a security standpoint. We mostly just use it to check how much snow we have, when away. Plus it does give a little more sense of security, though our Wyze one only has 12 second clips without paying a subscription or adding a SD card to it. I do wonder if it and another camera we tried before sometimes muck with the internet and wireless connection, trying to send too much data.
The third is a Roomba, or similar device. I picked a new one up for cheap maybe 2.5 years ago, and it did well. Combined with us picking up a few things, it made the place look cleaner. But it was also noisy, and it would really ram into a lot of things. My wife splurged and bought an Eufy 11S. It is very quiet, basically just making the noise a low powered RC car would make inside a house. It seems to do well, and it doesn't ram into a whole lot more stuff now, though it continues to have trouble with a few things. For instance, the bowls of food and water for our cats, but it is also taping chair legs, but with a lot less ramming force. It also doesn't have a laser thing to have it not go into a certain area (the roomba did), hence the problem with the cat dishes. I don't like some of the features they gave it, with a remote control so you can even drive it around, in thought to a mess you just made. That just seems a little silly to me, like the cartoon from years ago where the grandma is unhappy that the vacuum isn't picking up something, and grandpa just leans over and picks it up. And that was my worry with the whole robot vacuum thing, of it just really being something we didn't really need and it would make us lazy. But I'm generally happy with it and the job it does, while in our household we still have the kids get the Kirby out to clean deeper once a week, while we also have multiple levels where they have to use the normal vacuum.
Of course there are other things like trips that have been fun. But these are 3 fairly inexpensive and easy splurges that have worked out well for us.
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Post by hledgard on May 7, 2022 10:28:41 GMT -8
I give very large tips wherever I go. Mainly to those who have jobs that do not pay much and have no health insurance or retirement program. I include those who sell vegetables or food items at a nearby Farmer's Market, waiters, cleaning people, and others. If they charge $20, I pay $30 for sure.
On the larger side, I have paid off a friend's car, paid for a medical procedure for another friend, paid for eye treatment for someone else, and (the biggest) paid for a new roof for someone else.
In the queue, there is a wonderful cleaning person where I work out who really needs a new knee. No insurance.
Would never have done these things without AAPL. It is easy for me because I have made so much money that I never ever expected.
PS Many of those who bought Netflix must feel the pressure.
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ono
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Post by ono on May 7, 2022 12:24:36 GMT -8
Minor splurge. The family had Series 4 watches with aging batteries and made a jump to 7. (Plus I was short on gift ideas.)
Cut/paste from notes to a friend who wanted to know the improvements. (These from Mactracker app, recommended: https://mactracker.ca) The fifth generation of the Apple Watch was revealed during the 2019 Apple Special Event. It includes an always-on display with energy-saving LTPO OLED screen and low-power screen driver capable of refresh rates as low as once per second. Additional new features include International Emergency Calling enabling emergency calls in over 150 countries, a more energy-efficient S5 processor, improved ambient light sensor, doubling of storage to 32 GB, and the addition of a magnetometer, enabling a compass function. It also brought back the "Edition" tier, with a ceramic model absent from the previous generation, and a new titanium model which comes in two colors: natural and Space Black. The Apple Watch Series 6 was announced on September 15, 2020 during an Apple Special Event alongside the Apple Watch SE, and began shipping to the public on September 18. Its principal improvement over its predecessors is the inclusion of a sensor to monitor blood oxygen saturation. Additional new features include Apple S6 SiP that runs up to 20% faster than the Apple Watch Series 5, a U1 chip and UWB antennas for ultra-wideband communications, a 2.5x brighter always-on display, an always-on altimeter, faster charging that completes in under 1.5 hours, supports 5 GHz Wi-Fi, improved battery life for tracking certain workout types such as indoor and outdoor running, and improved health and fitness capabilities. Apple Watch Series 7 was announced on September 14, 2021, during an Apple Special Event. Pre-orders opened on October 8, with earliest shipping dates starting on October 15. Enhancements relative to the prior-generation Series 6 watch include a more rounded design with a slightly larger case; a display that is 70% brighter indoors and approximately 20% larger; improved durability via a crack-resistant front crystal; IP6X certification for resistance to dust; 33% faster charging via improved internal electronics and an enhanced, USB-C based fast-charging cable; support for BeiDou (China's satellite navigation system); and the availability of an on-screen keyboard that can be tapped or swiped.
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ono
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Post by ono on May 7, 2022 12:37:05 GMT -8
eBikes, with quad-piston hydraulic brakes. The eBikes = the splurge; the quad-piston brakes seemed sensible given the 70lb. bikes and speed of these.
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Post by Lstream on May 7, 2022 17:07:09 GMT -8
Well done. Your generosity and caring for others like this is very admirable.
I give up trying to put this reply in the right place. Trying to reply to Hledgard.
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on May 7, 2022 18:12:57 GMT -8
I give very large tips wherever I go. Mainly to those who have jobs that do not pay much and have no health insurance or retirement program. I include those who sell vegetables or food items at a nearby Farmer's Market, waiters, cleaning people, and others. If they charge $20, I pay $30 for sure. On the larger side, I have paid off a friend's car, paid for a medical procedure for another friend, paid for eye treatment for someone else, and (the biggest) paid for a new roof for someone else. In the queue, there is a wonderful cleaning person where I work out who really needs a new knee. No insurance. Would never have done these things without AAPL. It is easy for me because I have made so much money that I never ever expected. Wow, nice! That is amazing! Congratulations! While I suggest making sure you don't go too overboard and be that crazy guy, it sounds like your payments have been amazingly beneficial, while making both you and friends or acquaintances happy too. And more and more, I see the benefit of giving much your money to where you want during your lifetime, to make sure it gets there. Sometimes, even with best intentions, things might not work out the way you would want them to after you pass away.
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Post by eastbaybob on May 8, 2022 10:07:24 GMT -8
I guess I am more selfish than the last two people who commented but I am a good tipper. I splurge on new cars when one of us needs one. This past November I bought my wife a loaded new car with cash and and have done the same for my my son and myself. I am thinking of buying my daughter a new car before she goes off to college. My big indulgence for myself is expensive home theater equipment. I had a really good home theater system installed when we renovated our house about 15 years ago. In 2019 with dividends I did a very expensive complete upgrade to it. This year I did another big upgrade and I am planning to add some more electronics to it. It's all expensive but dividends pay for it. Dividends pay for college and grad school but thats not a splurge We all get pretty much what we need with Apple products I would like to fly first class which we don't but if we eventually get higher dividend raises than the last 4.5% I will. I prefer not to sell shares for a higher standard of living so the extras depend on dividends
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mark
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Post by mark on May 9, 2022 10:15:36 GMT -8
Well, I've had a few splurges in the last year or so. 1) Finally ordered a Tesla car. After driving it about 8000 miles, it already is the best/favorite car I've ever owned. 2) An Apple Watch Series 7 for me. I wear it 23 hours a day and will probably wear one for the rest of my life. 3) A few more Apple Watches for some of my kids (the more active ones). These are SE models and are nearly as excellent as the top-of-line one I wear.
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Post by macster on May 12, 2022 6:24:28 GMT -8
I bought a house. The federal coffers will thank me.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on May 12, 2022 7:54:45 GMT -8
I bought a house. The federal coffers will thank me. You are a brave soul. In this house buying environment the experience can be a nightmare, hopefully that wasn’t you’re experience.
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Post by macster on May 12, 2022 8:24:36 GMT -8
I bought a house. The federal coffers will thank me. You are a brave soul. In this house buying environment the experience can be a nightmare, hopefully that wasn’t you’re experience. Found the home I wanted, been looking for years. I don’t expect home prices to drop in this inflationary period nor a bubble collapse but only the time traveler watcher’s know for sure. 😵💫 My cash offer was chosen over many others. It will tighten with higher interest rates but there is high demand and not enough desirable homes in my area.
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bud777
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Post by bud777 on Jun 5, 2022 3:52:06 GMT -8
Since the tone of this thread is more about good things we have done than actual splurges, I have to thank Apple for allowing me to take care of a friend. Nah, I just can't tell it. I will comment on the Roomba, I bought one for my wife for Christmas years ago. After 50 years of marriage, I know her pretty well and, I don't know, is there a word for people who control control freaks? I knew she would not be happy with a vacuum that did its own thing, so I told her it was voice-controlled. We turned it on and it took off and she was saying "turn left, turn right". It of course only obeyed randomly. I explained that it took a little while to learn her voice. She was happy as a lark until my grins gave it away. I think the Roomba must have crawled into a closet and died, I haven't seen it for years.
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mark
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Post by mark on Jun 14, 2022 15:03:40 GMT -8
Since the tone of this thread is more about good things we have done than actual splurges, I have to thank Apple for allowing me to take care of a friend. Nah, I just can't tell it. I will comment on the Roomba, I bought one for my wife for Christmas years ago. After 50 years of marriage, I know her pretty well and, I don't know, is there a word for people who control control freaks? I knew she would not be happy with a vacuum that did its own thing, so I told her it was voice-controlled. We turned it on and it took off and she was saying "turn left, turn right". It of course only obeyed randomly. I explained that it took a little while to learn her voice. She was happy as a lark until my grins gave it away. I think the Roomba must have crawled into a closet and died, I haven't seen it for years. That's hilarious! Hey, I mentioned you over the weekend to a friend while talking about their very low-rate mortgage that they are thankful to have locked in a while back. I told them about how you took a mortgage at 2.XX% and put the money into Apple stock paying a similar dividend of 2.XX% at the time, and using the dividend income to pay the interest, and getting the remainder of the capital gains "free" as the stock went up.
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 14, 2022 21:39:00 GMT -8
Has anyone splurged on solar?
It really doesn't make sense for us yet. Our heating is with wood or NG, and we don't have AC. As such, our monthly bill is around $70. After watching a YouTuber who used 18k kW/year, it looks like we are around 6k.
Our roof isn't right. We have trees that take out the afternoon sun. And snow falling off a 2nd story roof into the driveway and walkway isn't fun, especially since we can get a lot.
But this is a splurge, and I "need" a covered car port for the truck anyways. So while the video had him doing it himself for around $28k, "saving" $12k on installation, our 1/3rd or 1/2 sized system would probably have a total cost exceeding $50k, and on up to $200k if just adding a 2nd garage. Or more.
Still, at times it is tempting, even without an EV, though a passive solar breezeway might make more sense while also bringing in more light. But without the extra garage bays that would be nice.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 15, 2022 2:18:03 GMT -8
I think that extra garage space is always a plus. It can be used for so many different purposes such as a workshop or equipment storage. I’ve been considering an emergency generator or maybe a battery backup for the house. Just something to consider, although it may not fall into the splurge category right now. The 5 best home batteries: Top battery backup systems
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mark
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Post by mark on Jun 15, 2022 6:39:29 GMT -8
I periodically get a quote from Tesla (and others) for solar installation. Minimum has been $35k. Tesla fancy tiles with some batteries comes to $90k. It's just not worth it. My electric bill is $100 (winter)-$300 (summer) so it just doesn't make sense yet.
Also, I figure for it to be most useful to me, I would need a heck of a lot of batteries to store power to charge my EVs at night. That would raise the cost to well over $100k. One Powerwall is only about 13 kWh, so that is just over 15% battery charge for my Tesla. I would need 3 or 4 of them to make it really useful for all scenarios.
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 15, 2022 7:18:49 GMT -8
I think that extra garage space is always a plus. It can be used for so many different purposes such as a workshop or equipment storage. I’ve been considering an emergency generator or maybe a battery backup for the house. Just something to consider, although it may not fall into the splurge category right now. The 5 best home batteries: Top battery backup systemsYep, our garage has been adopted as a temporary shop for 2 years now. Along with that problem, there's wanting to spray paint, and sawdust. It can really make a mess of the place, though temporary plastic walls can help, and there are things out there to make that easier. Our house came prewired with a zoned switch box and a big honda generator. But since we do a lot of our heating with wood, we just haven't needed it, though have considered firing it up on the occasional 6-12 hour outages. If all you need is something to get by with, powering up the fridge, some lights, and the heater, lots of portable options work. The Honda 2000i series is a primo small one that can be linked for larger tasks. But there are clones too, for a lot less. I picked one up at Costco, as we were thinking about getting a camper. But the wired in systems are nice, using NG and automatically kicking in. A few years back the power went out for half the town (often does here in an outage) after we left our house but before getting to a friend's house, 3 minutes away. We had no idea the power was "out", and it wasn't until a couple hours in that we heard about it. There was a little noise outside that I thought was a neighbors generator or compressor. It turns out they had just installed the same generator as their neighbor, so it was both of them running. But that "no hassle" splurge was something like $40-$50k installed. We can handle the occasional 6-12 hour outages. But with the PG&E sparked wildfires, the threat is now the power company cutting power when the winds are high and things are dry. PG&E has done this for fairly metropolitan areas, cutting power for days, long enough for food to go bad. NVEnergy has threatened it, but didn't end up cutting our power. All places have been doing heavy trimming around lines, but that's tough with 140' trees, even if cut 30' back. If elective outages become a common thing, that $40-50k will look worth it. Until then, my big generator is sitting there under a bunch of stuff, waiting to be dug out and rolled out if needed for a longer outage.
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 15, 2022 7:48:08 GMT -8
I periodically get a quote from Tesla (and others) for solar installation. Minimum has been $35k. Tesla fancy tiles with some batteries comes to $90k. It's just not worth it. My electric bill is $100 (winter)-$300 (summer) so it just doesn't make sense yet. Also, I figure for it to be most useful to me, I would need a heck of a lot of batteries to store power to charge my EVs at night. That would raise the cost to well over $100k. One Powerwall is only about 13 kWh, so that is just over 15% battery charge for my Tesla. I would need 3 or 4 of them to make it really useful for all scenarios. Yea, I think you have to decide what it is you want, what is important to you. A standalone capable system, even if still tied to the grid, is nice to think about. But I can see just being tied to the grid and using the grid as your battery, though the downside would be not having large amounts of energy if it's nighttime or there are bad solar conditions, and the power goes out. In most cases that tradeoff seems doable. In a multi-day emergency, after big storm and with cloudy skies, it wouldn't be ideal. But if that is rare, or you could mitigate it with a backup generator, it might be the option. We don't normally have multi-day outages, but the west shore was without power for 7-10 days a couple years ago after a huge winter storm took out the lines and made the road impassible. Hunker down! At the same time, if the roads are shut down, you're not doing much driving anyways.
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mark
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Post by mark on Jun 15, 2022 17:46:08 GMT -8
I periodically get a quote from Tesla (and others) for solar installation. Minimum has been $35k. Tesla fancy tiles with some batteries comes to $90k. It's just not worth it. My electric bill is $100 (winter)-$300 (summer) so it just doesn't make sense yet. Also, I figure for it to be most useful to me, I would need a heck of a lot of batteries to store power to charge my EVs at night. That would raise the cost to well over $100k. One Powerwall is only about 13 kWh, so that is just over 15% battery charge for my Tesla. I would need 3 or 4 of them to make it really useful for all scenarios. Yea, I think you have to decide what it is you want, what is important to you. A standalone capable system, even if still tied to the grid, is nice to think about. But I can see just being tied to the grid and using the grid as your battery, though the downside would be not having large amounts of energy if it's nighttime or there are bad solar conditions, and the power goes out. I did some research today and I apparently can use the grid as my battery. BUT, when home solar becomes more popular, and it will become more popular as energy costs go up, we may reach a certain tipping point at which you can't use the grid as a battery anymore. I'm not sure if it will be a political constraint, a technical constraint, an economic constraint, or a combination of these. Longest outage I've had was about a week after Hurricane Wilma passed through in 2005. I bought a generator as insurance, and so far it has worked well for us. The generator is still in the original box in the garage, never been tested, never been started, never been fueled. That generator has provided me with almost perfectly reliable electricity for 17 years, the longest outage has been less than an hour since I purchased that generator. 🤣
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 15, 2022 18:11:22 GMT -8
Longest outage I've had was about a week after Hurricane Wilma passed through in 2005. I bought a generator as insurance, and so far it has worked well for us. The generator is still in the original box in the garage, never been tested, never been started, never been fueled. That generator has provided me with almost perfectly reliable electricity for 17 years, the longest outage has been less than an hour since I purchased that generator. 🤣 If only all insurance was that easy!
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 16, 2022 1:52:53 GMT -8
I live in a rural county where the main source of tax revenue is a coal fired power plant. It has four generation units and one has already been taken our of commission with plans to close the rest. The county government is in a panic over the replacement of this revenue. As the supply side starts to be reduced and the demand side is increased (electric vehicles) brownouts/ blackouts will become more common and the need to be self sufficient is more necessary. So at some point that generator will be very very valuable. Today’s splurge may become tomorrow’s necessity.
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mark
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Post by mark on Jun 16, 2022 6:17:18 GMT -8
I live in a rural county where the main source of tax revenue is a coal fired power plant. It has four generation units and one has already been taken our of commission with plans to close the rest. The county government is in a panic over the replacement of this revenue. As the supply side starts to be reduced and the demand side is increased (electric vehicles) brownouts/ blackouts will become more common and the need to be self sufficient is more necessary. So at some point that generator will be very very valuable. Today’s splurge may become tomorrow’s necessity. What are they replacing the coal plants with? I assume natural gas, but maybe they invested in solar and/or wind solutions?
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 16, 2022 8:45:53 GMT -8
The best that I can tell, they’re planning on closing the plant down. The Southern Company has been installing fields of solar panels but I doubt that it will be sufficient to replace this one facility. Especially so if you continue to increase the demand on the power grid. I guess It’s a wait and see thing.
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mark
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Post by mark on Jun 17, 2022 10:25:44 GMT -8
The best that I can tell, they’re planning on closing the plant down. The Southern Company has been installing fields of solar panels but I doubt that it will be sufficient to replace this one facility. Especially so if you continue to increase the demand on the power grid. I guess It’s a wait and see thing. That's ... odd. Usually shutting down power plants is a thing decided WELL in advance, to leave enough time to plan and construct their replacement. In fact, I've seen cases where they decide on a strategy, then begin construction of the new facility, and then piece by piece shut down the old while bringing the new online. That way, any issues with the new one doesn't leave you high and dry for a period of time while making the new one work. In your case, they would shut down ONE of the generation units, and turn on ONE of the new ones (usually gas fired) and test it out for a while. Then once everything works properly for a period of time, they would start shutting down additional older units and turn on new ones as necessary. Replacing with solar means that they STILL need gas fired units to supply the nighttime load, of course. Of course, if that utility is completely shutting down and switching all the customers with a different utility, that's a different situation. Maybe that's what they decided to do?
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 18, 2022 2:33:44 GMT -8
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4aapl
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Post by 4aapl on Jun 18, 2022 8:28:34 GMT -8
FWIW, when browsing at Costco yesterday while our car was having service, I walked most of the isles. Along with a few different normal sized generators (a tri-fuel one goes on sale next week, 7500 watts with gasoline, lower with propane or NG), they had a whole house 22kW one, with transfer switch, for $5200. I'm sure there's a variety of other costs, including electrical, a cement pad, and permitting. But that should still be under $10k total I would guess.
A few have talked about home automation at times. I do like our thermostat as far as being able to adjust it remotely when we are away on a longer trip, and some call the cameras home automation. I've considered the garage door ad-on kit, but with a keypad it hasn't been too important. I personally don't need lights that I can change the color of to a specific hue. We don't get much summer rain, but a fancy sprinkler controller could adjust for heat, like this week where we had some above average temps, and then a few days of much lower temps and a chance of snow. Back to the lights, having them on a timer could be handy if we are gone for a bit, but so could a couple shades that are powered and on timers.
One of the few "home automation" things from Mac Addict roughly 25 years ago was a sensor in your driveway to notice when a car pulls up, but these days a properly adjusted camera with motion detection can do that and more. One of ours is set a little high so it still gets every car that passes by, but it was interesting in the winter to see the snowplow come by at 4am.
If you've added some home automation, what do you like the best. Or likewise, what do you just not use?
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 19, 2022 2:13:26 GMT -8
I have the Chamberlain My-Q opener, which I think is great as I can check to confirm that I really did remember to close the garage door when I left the house. It also can tell me how long ago the door was opened or closed by someone else. My smart Honeywell thermostat is great because of the obvious reasons of convenience, along with the Orbit sprinkler control. I dislike the companies that require you to provide more information then is necessary for their product to work and I always use a guest account on my wifi network from fear of a back door. I liked the old days of, I give you money and you give me product and that’s it, we’re done. If I like your product I’ll be back again and I’ll tell others. Simple.
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