T8 Lights loosing their brightness?

[ultrarunner]

When we lived in the city, on city water, they calculated sewage use for the entire year based on your water usage in the months of Jan, Feb, and Mar. You weren't likely to be running your sprinklers or washing your cars in those months. That way, any usage the rest of the year that was over the first quarter usage amount wasn't likely to be going down the sewer, but onto your grass. I found it to be quite fair.

Remarkable... and most fair. Unfortunately it doesn't work this way here... the city portion for the pipes and the treatment fee to the water company are line items... plus there is the SF Bay Fee and Seismic fees... etc...

There was a time when the "Water" bill was of little consequence... my how things have changed... especially with tiered price and elevation fees... I know home owners using a 1000 gpd in the summer with $500+ month "Water" bills...

Easy to see if 25 gpd is $300

 

[grsthegreat]

I9

Remarkable... and most fair. Unfortunately it doesn't work this way here... the city portion for the pipes and the treatment fee to the water company are line items... plus there is the SF Bay Fee and Seismic fees... etc...

There was a time when the "Water" bill was of little consequence... my how things have changed... especially with tiered price and elevation fees... I know home owners using a 1000 gpd in the summer with $500+ month "Water" bills...

Easy to see if 25 gpd is $300

yeiks. Were on community well....$10.00/ 20,000 gal used....with usage and equip fees, we pay like $35-45 per month. Septic is sewer

 

[ultrarunner]

I learn a lot from TBN around the country/world...

Mostly I have learned the SF Bay Area is often quite different than elsewhere.

I have a lot of LED early generation... they look like the dozens of Lunar Command Modules overhead in the ceiling when they replace the PAR 100W bulbs in the can fixtures...

Thinking of going with some time of integrated retrofit lamp so the ceiling doesn't look like warts...

 

[Streetcar]

Aren't those cars really called Gondolas?

Gondola are the short sided open top cars, coal is hauled in hopper cars

 

[MossRoad]

Aren't those cars really called Gondolas?

No. A gondola car has lower sides, maybe 4', and no hopper doors underneath. You frequently see gondola cars filled with scrap metal or a couple rolls of steel, things like that.

Gondola (rail) - Wikipedia

 

[MossRoad]

Most people refer to coal cars as hopper cars.

 

[Zerk]

I learn a lot from TBN around the country/world...

Mostly I have learned the SF Bay Area is often quite different than elsewhere.

...

The men holding hands, wasn't a clue.

 

[MossRoad]

Gondola are the short sided open top cars, coal is hauled in hopper cars

What he said! :laughing:

 

[Zerk]

There is an old well right on the property line at the back corner... low output... about 400 gallons in 24 hours...??? sound like I could save a couple of thousand annually?

Speaking from my bowels. I bet CA does not let you use it.

And there in lies the conundrum...
r...

The new place has solar and as a new solar customer there is a minimum monthly meter fee that the early adopters of solar do not pay...

Having Net Metering means my production can save me as much as 25 cents per kW on generated and used power... and excess is sold back to the Utility at 2 cents per kW...

People around here complain about power when it is half that. 15 years ago was $.06. But a lot emmissions equipment and old equipment replaced.

Even if you don't use the power, you have the luxory of having it there. You pay for your car whether you drive it or not.Its not like the electricity is cause a wear and tear on the lines, that is being spared at your house.

Maybe someday the battery technology will become so good people will cut the cord. I wonder if your house would be condemned today if you did that in some areas? The real nazis are the town boards.

Maybe home generation will become a thing. But then you still have maintenace, replacement and unplanned break downs.

At the moment, my opinion its value is remote areas that you cannot get power to. As homes get more energy efficient, they become cheaper to run even with expensive utilities on the coasts.

 

[CobyRupert]

Yep. That is why utilities are or may increase meter charge. Even if you are generating enough of your power, someone has to pay for the line to your house, and for the guy to come when you call. It would be ok if they put you on the bottom of the list when a storms goes through, but they can't.

Personally I think if you can connect to the grid for reliable power, renewables are probably a waste of money. I laugh when people tell me they were told it will last for 30 years and such and such company will warranty them if it does not.

Everything breaks down, everything has to be maintained. Everything has to be replaced.
I am in favor of increase meter charge if you don't purchase enough power. I also think it should considered for electric car registration or cars that use less gas. They are still using the road. If they are not paying gas tax, they need to pay something.

So how is the guy who puts solar panels on his house that supplies 87% of his power (-ignore net metering, let's say he has energy storage means), but wants to keeps a supplemental utility connection for the balance of 13% differ from a customer who replaces all their incandescent lamps with CFL's or LED's and cuts their energy usage (and bill) to 13% ?

The problem is with the market model. Not with energy efficiency or self-reliance.

I don't know, somehow it seems un-American to get penalized for doing things better. :confused3:

 

[Ford850]

Most people refer to coal cars as hopper cars.

We've always called them coal cars. I guess that comes from a lifetime of sitting at train crossings, seeing the many thousands of these hopper cars slowly cross in front of me and heaped with coal.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Do you know for certain that they are hauling coal? Maybe it's silica sand (fracking) that is big business around here...or grain.

In my area, coal is hauled in open cars, where you can see the coal. Sand is hauled in closed hopper type cars. Most of the local coal is now shipped overseas. Natural gas power plants are replacing coal fired.

 

[dnw64]

There is an old well right on the property line at the back corner... low output... about 400 gallons in 24 hours...??? sound like I could save a couple of thousand annually?

My uncle has a very low output well and would often run out.

He built a cistern in his basement that holds maybe 500 gallons and put his submersible pump on a timer to run X minutes per Y minutes (don't remember the numbers, but it would vary based on individual circumstances).

Primary power for the pump was controlled by a float in the cistern, so the pump would only run if the level was below the preset. Then he has a shallow well pump to supply house pressure.

He has never run out since.

Unless you regularly use more than 400 gallons a day, a similar setup should work fine for you if you want to put the time and effort in. Saving a couple thousand annually adds up - in 10 years that's $20 grand, well worth the time and effort if you ask me.

However, you do have to have a place for the cistern, and assuming that someday you will sell the place, some people will likely be put off by an unconventional system such as that.

 

[MossRoad]

We've always called them coal cars. I guess that comes from a lifetime of sitting at train crossings, seeing the many thousands of these hopper cars slowly cross in front of me and heaped with coal.

My father got me into the habit of counting the number of engines and train cars while sitting at crossings. Still do it to this day.

 

[ultrarunner]

My uncle has a very low output well and would often run out.

He built a cistern in his basement that holds maybe 500 gallons and put his submersible pump on a timer to run X minutes per Y minutes (don't remember the numbers, but it would vary based on individual circumstances).

Primary power for the pump was controlled by a float in the cistern, so the pump would only run if the level was below the preset. Then he has a shallow well pump to supply house pressure.

He has never run out since.

Unless you regularly use more than 400 gallons a day, a similar setup should work fine for you if you want to put the time and effort in. Saving a couple thousand annually adds up - in 10 years that's $20 grand, well worth the time and effort if you ask me.

However, you do have to have a place for the cistern, and assuming that someday you will sell the place, some people will likely be put off by an unconventional system such as that.

Although it was not said by the Water Company representative... I am sure they would find a way to assess sewer charges if I was on well water since I am connected to the city sewer system...

The house at the end of the block is septic... one of the very very few... it was built in 1950 and a 1000 feet from the line...

Here is a kicker... one of the Docs at work bought horse property... in the city... he paid 7 years for city sewer but had no city sewer... there was a problem and the plumber came out and discovered it... his wife took on the fight and it took about a year and hearing to refund 3 years of charges... statute of limitations is why they did not get all their money back...

Plenty of strange things that make one shake your head...

 

[ArlyA]

Gee whiz, most of of US coal production does not go overseas. There are coal fired plants all across the Midwest. I can't speak about other portions of the US.

From How much coal does the U.S. export and import? | American Geosciences Institute

In the third quarter of 2018, the U.S. exported 29.1 million short tons of coal (15% of total production)

 

[ultrarunner]

My father got me into the habit of counting the number of engines and train cars while sitting at crossings. Still do it to this day.

Speaking of South Bend... the mayor was here yesterday campaigning for President... here being the SF Bay Area... he did not speak about coal... I think the focus was it is time for the next generation to have a say in politics and the country's future.

 

[Streetcar]

Moss
Do you know where the coal that is headed east is coming from
All of our coal in Ohio comes from the East

 

[Industrial Toys]

Has anybody seen the string of locomotives, dare I say a thousand, in the desert, surplus to current requirements?

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Moss
Do you know where the coal that is headed east is coming from
All of our coal in Ohio comes from the East

Only one coal mine operating in my home county of east ohio, used to be several.