whyrat

joined 1 year ago
[–] whyrat 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I've been looking into this (along with some other options like tankless) since my water heater is the next major appliances due for replacement.

Depending on the efficiency of your HVAC and water heater; it might still be cheaper to heat twice (water heater makes water hot & inside air cold; then HVAC makes inside air hot & outside cold). If your efficiency at the HVAC stage is more than double (most modern heat pumps give 3x to 4x efficiency; that's both in the water heater and HVAC). It gets a bit complicated; but the short answer is when it's efficient enough the switch between modes for the hot water heater might not be necessary.

Longer answer; is you need to know the difference in performance of the water heater. Ex. your heating costs go from $10/mo with heat pump to $20/mo with electric element (obviously if gas is the alternate heat source that adds another conversion...). If the marginal increase in HVAC cost is less than that $10/mo difference, there's no need to switch the hot water heater between modes!

Undecided (you tube channel) has a few videos covering the basics that are worth a watch if you're starting to look into the topic, but since you've already been doing research, maybe it's all material you know? Quick link: https://www.instagram.com/undecidedmf/p/C4IrcBOsT_p/

Edit adding a better link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abGiNL9IT54&vl=en

[–] whyrat 3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Yes, it's for a water heater being inside with sufficient ventilation. If your water heater is currently in a garage or separate area the benefits change.

I'm in Texas, and over 90% of the houses I've seen have the water heater in a closet somewhere inside. Some older builds have it in an attached garage. But if that is the case, there's a good reason to move it when you next replace it, as the garage gets much colder in the winter, costing more to heat the water!

[–] whyrat 19 points 2 weeks ago

Given he put tariffs in place his prior term, good chance he actually does it again.

Things that can be done via executive order are highly likely ... Because one of his staff will draft it and he'll sign based on what they tell him it's about.

Some lackey: "this is that tariff thing".

Actual EO: contains whatever

[–] whyrat 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Lathe of Heaven and Left Hand of Darkness I read before. I highly recommend both.

I'm also planning on re-starting the Wizard of Earthsea books, which (given the amount of time I have to read) will take me 2-3 months to get through all of them (6?).

[–] whyrat 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Picked up some books by Ursula K LeGuin. I read parts of the Earthsea series a long time ago, picking up some of her other stuff because it all gets high praise.

[–] whyrat 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Tariffs that went on long enough would force manufacturing to be done in the US. And wages would have to rise

When the tariff is on final consumer products, these are two opposing forces. Higher wages mean companies would more likely save money by paying the tariffs. Higher tariffs mean companies are more likely to purchase domestically.

But if the tariffs are on precursor products (e.g. steel, lumber, oil, etc ...) rather than final consumer goods: the tariffs make it more expensive for domestic manufacturing. The US manufacturer has to pay the tariffs to use the materials they need to produce their final product, and have to pass those costs on. That means there's less margin for wages.

[–] whyrat 11 points 1 month ago (3 children)

There's been a recession start in every single republican presidential term of my life. I'm over 40. Each of Reagan's terms. HW Bush. Each of the second Bush (these were the worst, dot-com crash and the great recession starting in 2007/8). And then the great Covid bungling. As you point out: if they implement their agenda it's likely to happen again.

There has never been a recession start during a democratic president in my lifetime (although Biden's term came close).

The opposition needs to be ready to jump on this and yell from the figurative rooftops so conservatives can't spin it away. And it needs to be most heavily broadcast where the electorate shifted to the right this election. The fact that people generally think republicans are better for the economy is a severe failure on the part of the democrats.

[–] whyrat 6 points 1 month ago

It's a knife, what looks like a fork, and (by process of elimination) the other must be a spoon!

[–] whyrat 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

Cruz's margin (and how different it was from polling) is a shock! This was a systematic miss, I'm curious to learn the root cause once someone investigates that difference... What significant portion of the electorate was missed?

[–] whyrat 189 points 1 month ago (17 children)

Hopefully they actually vote.

[–] whyrat 27 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I feel like we heard this same sentiment 4 years ago, and yet here we are.

[–] whyrat 7 points 1 month ago

Also use a towel or cloth on top of the rubber band so it's gentler on your hand / skin.

Why it works: this fixes the problem of poor friction; metal doesn't grip well against skin (especially if your hand is wet or oily). The rubber band grips well against the metal of the lid and your skin (or towel).

 

America's Test Kitchen has some good videos on cooking technique. This one covers food (mostly meat) sticking to metal pans, how to prevent it and some cases when there are advantages to allow sticking.

290
submitted 2 months ago by whyrat to c/cat
 
3
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by whyrat to c/economics
 

May CPI release

view more: next ›