Construction

[JHDK]

They're building a donkey Kong ride in Nintendo land that will only be in Orlando. They have Nintendo land in japan and LA but the Orlando one's going to be the biggest. And the cool thing about the donkey Kong ride is that they're making it so the ride cars are on an arm that's above the track. So what I'm saying is the track is below you but you can't see the track. The car itself is on a metal arm that's connected to the track below and so what they can do then is put a fake track in between the car and the real track. So it'll be like you're on the donkey Kong game where the railroad track like falls off and stuff. It's going to be really neat. I hope I explained that well enough.

This is there patent:

 

[scotchandcigar]

First off scotch, do you have a generator attached to your house? You kind of seem like my aunt and uncle like you have it all together and you've got a great nice house and you guys take care of it and all that. Anyway. My aunt and uncle bought a generator that's tied directly into like the city gas line. So if a hurricane comes by their AC works they can run their oven. They can basically do everything kind of cool and I'm guessing that you might have something like that for winter storms.

I posted this in another thread, earlier this year

Back in the Construction thread, I talked about how the cost of building the house didn't leave us with the ability to have a generator. And for the first few years, power outages were far and few between. But in the past year, we've had several long outages. So a generator has moved up on our priority list.

It seems like 75% of the houses in the area have them. So it sucks to be among the few who rely on the power lines being up. And this is especially true since I work from home 100%. When I was driving into work everyday, it was inconvenient to lose power at home, but my workday wasn't affected too much. So now we're going to be seeing how we can get one installed.

About 2 weeks ago, a local company came over and gave us an estimate for a backup generator. He gave us a couple of options, we liked one, and so we got approved to finance at 0% (which we'll pay off separately). It'll get installed late summer or early fall.

 

[JHDK]

Explain to me how a 0% loan works. How does the company make any money? Isn't interest how they make money?

 

[scotchandcigar]

Explain to me how a 0% loan works. How does the company make any money? Isn't interest how they make money?

There's a finance company called synchrony bank, who provides financing for home interior stuff. We have a credit line with them from buying our kitchen appliances. I used them for the OLED TV too. Both purchases had no interest for 12 or 24 months. The generator installers use the same finance company.

The synchrony credit card is only associated with home goods; so those suppliers probably subsidize the financing - in lieu of any discounts on the products. I've done no interest with my Best Buy card too. It's an incentive to buy their merchandise.

I'm sure some people don't fully pay their balances at the end of the term, and then they get hit with 18 months of deferred interest, and the finance company gets a big payday. In the case of the generator, we already have a plan to finance it, so we're just taking advantage of free money for a while.

 

[JHDK]

You use credit to buy a TV. That's weird. Why don't you buy it out right TVs aren't that expensive like the greatest TV ever is like two grand and most normal people TVs cost like 600 bucks

 

[JHDK]

What you're describing sounds a little bit like rich people version of Rent-A-Center and isn't Rent-A-Center like a scam. I always thought it was

 

[scotchandcigar]

You use credit to buy a TV. That's weird. Why don't you buy it out right TVs aren't that expensive like the greatest TV ever is like two grand and most normal people TVs cost like 600 bucks

We bought the leftover model and it was $1,600. I made 12 payments with no interest, so why would I want to pony-up nearly 2 grand that's not just sitting around?

 

[JHDK]

We bought the leftover model and it was $1,600. I made 12 payments with no interest, so why would I want to pony-up nearly 2 grand that's not just sitting around?

Ok that makes sense But for me, I'd rather just pay it all up front and then not have to worry about another monthly bill. God knows we all have enough monthly bills.

 

[scotchandcigar]

So getting back to house talk, the plan for a backup generator is to have a 10kW Generac unit installed, running through an auxiliary transfer panel, which will house a subset of the circuits on the existing, main breaker panel. We'll be able to select 16 of the main circuits, for which we'll have automatic backup capability, as well as full Wi-Fi monitoring/control capability. By sticking with a 10kW unit, it keeps the costs down, both for installation and for usage. The other option would be to have a cut-in on the main line going to the main breaker panel. That would allow us to use all the circuits, although not simultaneously. And even then, we'd have to go up to a 20kW unit.

With the 10kW plan, we would leave out some things, such as the clothes dryer, the mini-splits (which we only use for A/C), part of the upstairs, basement, bathrooms, and outdoor lights. Things like the garage door openers may be kept or dropped. The generator will be on a concrete pad in back of the house, between the buried propane tank and where the basement meets the garage. The exhaust will point directly at the neighbors on the street behind us, who have a generator that runs its weekly test every Saturday night at 11 pm.

The installation will be paid for by the 0% interest credit account mentioned above, but that's just so we can take advantage of free money. Ultimately, we'll pay it off with the home-equity line-of-credit (HELOC) we're getting. I'll talk about that elsewhere.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I sense a neighbourly feud starting in Maine. Based upon my knowledge of Maine, which comes primarily from Stephen King novels, it may be wise to mind your ps & qs there.

 

[HecticArt]

If you don't have frequent or prolonged power outages, I think the 10kW option makes the most sense.
Generators are expensive enough that the minimum needed is the best way to go.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

If you don't have frequent or prolonged power outages, I think the 10kW option makes the most sense.
Generators are expensive enough that the minimum needed is the best way to go.

But what if he really wants to dry his clothes when the power is out? Do you not think of these things?

 

[HecticArt]

I think those things can wait.
What better excuse can you have to be lazy than, oh darn…..the power is out…. I guess I can’t do the laundry…….

 

[scotchandcigar]

But what if he really wants to dry his clothes when the power is out? Do you not think of these things?

 

[sadchild]

Heyyyyyy I just got a generator delivered to my house yesterday.



Ours is hooked into the panel and we have a manual bypass. When we lose power, we shut off the panel. Then slide a piece of metal that makes it so you CAN'T turn the panel back on, but now you CAN flick the line leading to the generator on. When power comes back, you do the reverse.

One more step in the middle of all that: When we shut the panel off, we then shut off all of the breakers we don't want the generator to send power too (like all of the electric heaters, that may be too much). Then we turn on the switch leading to the generator.

runs its weekly test every Saturday night at 11 pm.

Fuckers.

So, similar story. My in-laws have lived where they are since the mid-80s. One night their neighbor's garage light (the bulb above the garage door on the outside, pointing at the driveway) was pointed right at their bedroom. Really bright. Hard to sleep with their bedroom lit up like Vegas. Next day he talked to the neighbor, asking why the light was pointed away from the house/driveway. The neighbor said "It's too bright" My father-in-law said "I know. It's pointed right into my bedroom. If it's too bright, can you just take the bulb out?" The neighbor refused. So a while later, my father-in-law waited until the family left the house and he went and removed the bulb.

Later, the house sold and a few days later my in-laws bedroom is lit up like Vegas again. Next day he introduces himself to the new neighbors and asks why the light is pointed away from their house/driveway. The neighbor said "It's too bright" My father-in-law said "I know. It's pointed right into my bedroom. If it's too bright, can you just take the bulb out?" The neighbor refused....

 

[scotchandcigar]

Nice! (the generator). Yeah, I wanted to do something like that, but it would still need an electrician for hookup, and the Mrs. wants it to work if we're away.

So what's going to happen with the in-laws' new neighbor?

 

[sadchild]

Fortunately the two neighbors AFTER those two haven't repeated the same idiocy...

 

[scotchandcigar]

Generator has been placed, and they've brought the gas and electrical up. Next step is to connect them, and finally wire into the panel.

 

[scotchandcigar]

And now the house is getting repainted (new on left)

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

It looks like the painter on the right has stepped in some quick-paint and sunk to his waist.