~~ CEB Community Thread ~~

[thewhyteboar]

Winter and summer both suck in individual and unique ways. Spring and fall shall always be the best seasons.

[Keyser_Soze]

33 minutes ago, thewhyteboar said:

Winter and summer both suck in individual and unique ways. Spring and fall shall always be the best seasons.

 

Around here Fall is hotter than summer, so I'd gladly take the summer over fall.

[GeneticBlueprint]

On 1/11/2022 at 8:11 AM, CitizenVectron said:

This accurately depicts my life:

 

 

Winter is better than summer. A response:

 

L1: There is no limit to the amount of layers you can add but there's a limit to the amount you can remove.

 

R1: If that's how much snow you're shoveling get a damn snowblower they're like $300 for a decent one.

 

L2: Yes and it's glorious.

 

R2: My colds and their symptoms always come in the spring for whatever reason.

 

L3: When I was delivering pizza in my first year at college I loved snow days because I had an AWD vehicle while all the other guys had not that. I could do 3 deliveries in the time it took for them to do one. Because I could drive normally basically.

 

R3: Yes. And?

 

L4: I guess. If you don't like snow activities. I'm more likely to be indoors in the summer to escape the damn heat.

 

R4: I don't know what a cold snap is.

 

It does suck slipping though I'll give it that.

 

I live in a weird place where it's an arid desert, but it does snow somewhat frequently in the winter. Heavy snows in the winter keep us alive in terms of water supply in the summer. So I'm grateful for every snow we get. Sadly, our winters are getting shorter and warmer and our summers are becoming longer and hotter.

[Kal-El814]

@GeneticBlueprint a cold snap is something that just happened in MA, where the temperature drops precipitously for a period of time. We were around the mid 30s for a bit, the last 2 days we were in single digits, today we’re back up to the low 30s. Perhaps @SaysWho? knows if there’s an actual definition for it, but I have no idea if the equivalent happens in the south. 

[CayceG]

So I have no idea where to put this, but I have to share this wild-ass story my mom just called and told me.

 

My grandfather celebrated his 95th birthday a couple weeks ago. He's doing great. For the past several years, he's taken up reading history books as his recreational activity. It got to where he couldn't really get around as well outside, so he wasn't doing anything around the farm like he used to. He needed something to do to not go stir-crazy in his house. So he picked up a new hobby in his 90s. We'd get him books here and there and for his birthday and Christmas. He would sit on the couch in the living room and read them until he fell asleep. He'd constantly say that he would "set there and read and fall asleep... and when the book hit the floor, I'd get woken up." Happened all the time. Put a pin in that. 

 

The other day, my grandfather's heater in his home was on the fritz and wasn't heating as well. So my mom called a local heating company to his house to look into it. When they got there and checked it out they went to my grandfather and told him "sir, by law we are not allowed to turn your heat on." TURNS OUT... his heat exchanger had a crack in it and they detected a carbon monoxide leak. Long story short from there, they replaced the heat exchanger later that night. 

 

But this had been going on for some time. My grandfather falling asleep on the couch repeatedly wasn't due to him being lulled to sleep by a good book... He was being poisoned by carbon monoxide! Since they fixed his heater, he's sat on the couch and read and hasn't fallen asleep once. 

 

My mom bought carbon monoxide detectors for his house, hers, and my brother's house now. I do not have gas service. 

My grandfather is, by all accounts, perfectly fine and chugging right along at 95 years old.  

 

This shit blew my mind. 

 

 

[Chris-]

1 hour ago, CayceG said:

So I have no idea where to put this, but I have to share this wild-ass story my mom just called and told me.

 

My grandfather celebrated his 95th birthday a couple weeks ago. He's doing great. For the past several years, he's taken up reading history books as his recreational activity. It got to where he couldn't really get around as well outside, so he wasn't doing anything around the farm like he used to. He needed something to do to not go stir-crazy in his house. So he picked up a new hobby in his 90s. We'd get him books here and there and for his birthday and Christmas. He would sit on the couch in the living room and read them until he fell asleep. He'd constantly say that he would "set there and read and fall asleep... and when the book hit the floor, I'd get woken up." Happened all the time. Put a pin in that. 

 

The other day, my grandfather's heater in his home was on the fritz and wasn't heating as well. So my mom called a local heating company to his house to look into it. When they got there and checked it out they went to my grandfather and told him "sir, by law we are not allowed to turn your heat on." TURNS OUT... his heat exchanger had a crack in it and they detected a carbon monoxide leak. Long story short from there, they replaced the heat exchanger later that night. 

 

But this had been going on for some time. My grandfather falling asleep on the couch repeatedly wasn't due to him being lulled to sleep by a good book... He was being poisoned by carbon monoxide! Since they fixed his heater, he's sat on the couch and read and hasn't fallen asleep once. 

 

My mom bought carbon monoxide detectors for his house, hers, and my brother's house now. I do not have gas service. 

My grandfather is, by all accounts, perfectly fine and chugging right along at 95 years old.  

 

This shit blew my mind. 

 

 

 

Jesus fucking Christ lmao

[CayceG]

2 minutes ago, Chris- said:

 

Jesus fucking Christ lmao

 

RIGHT?

 

I was laughing on the phone when mom was telling me. Like, this could have been horrifically tragic, but it's actually astounding that it WASN'T. All you can do is laugh... (and install CO detectors).

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

4 minutes ago, CayceG said:

 

RIGHT?

 

I was laughing on the phone when mom was telling me. Like, this could have been horrifically tragic, but it's actually astounding that it WASN'T. All you can do is laugh... (and install CO detectors).

Glad your grandpa is ok. That said, Uninstall all gas appliances! (Thread below)

 

[CayceG]

Yeah, I've always been wary of gas specifically because of the explosive and silent natures of the way they can MURDER YOU. 

 

 

[Jason]

Good thing grandpa isn't a smoker. 

[Keyser_Soze]

I lived with a gas range for most of my life. I have an electric now but damage already done, whatever it might be. 🌹

[GeneticBlueprint]

That is scary Cayce! And funny? And cool? And amazing? All at once. I'm glad he's okay though.

[CayceG]

14 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

That is scary Cayce! And funny? And cool? And amazing? All at once. I'm glad he's okay though.

 

All of these. 

 

He's 95 and has really just lived a full life.

But he also fell recently! I literally JUST remembered that. AND he's had dizzy spells. I wonder if those things really happen again now that this is fixed. 

[Guest]

What a story, man. I’ve only lived in all electric houses and gas appliances have always kinda creeped me out!

[CitizenVectron]

1 hour ago, CayceG said:

Yeah, I've always been wary of gas specifically because of the explosive and silent natures of the way they can MURDER YOU. 

 

 

 

In my province (and for much/most of Canada) homes are heated by natural gas furnaces, typically high efficiency. Explosions are incredibly rare, I would guess fires from electric heat would be higher per capita. Electric heat has some advantages, but it's also quite a bit more expensive to use, and I believe less effective in extreme cold.

 

However, electric heat makes sense in many places. I'm not a fan of gas stoves/ovens, and they are actually more rare in Canada!

 

Edit - also, CO detectors are important to have! They are code in my province, and our house has three (one upstairs, and then two in the basement, outside the utility room and outside a spare bedroom). 

 

Edit 2 - looks like gas is typically 2x to 5x cheaper than electric heat, depending on the source of power generation. In warm climates that wouldn't make too much of a difference, but here (where we just had a cold snap of -40 for two weeks) it makes a huge difference. While having ductwork takes up extra space in the walls with forced air heating compared to electric strips...it also means you have A/C for every room if you have an A/C as well. 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

Of course it’s nominally cheaper you’re not paying upfront with the externalities. 

[Guest]

In Houston we have so much AC we practically have two ACs for each room. Gimme allll the AC!

 

Our heating is done with a geo thermal heat pump

 

Ground source heat pump - Wikipedia

EN.M.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

 

[CitizenVectron]

3 hours ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Of course it’s nominally cheaper you’re not paying upfront with the externalities. 

 

What do you mean?

 

2 hours ago, sblfilms said:

In Houston we have so much AC we practically have two ACs for each room. Gimme allll the AC!

 

Our heating is done with a geo thermal heat pump

 

Ground source heat pump - Wikipedia

EN.M.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

 

 

I wish that heat pumps were more viable here. I've heard of a few people installing them, but they barely work below -15C or -20C which makes them unreliable in our climate. The people that install them typically also have a secondary heating unit (electrical) that is unused until those temps...but that's very expensive to have/maintain for the few weeks a year you'll need it. Mind you, if you don't have it as a backup then you'll have major structural damage almost guaranteed.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

What do you mean?

 

 

I wish that heat pumps were more viable here. I've heard of a few people installing them, but they barely work below -15C or -20C which makes them unreliable in our climate. The people that install them typically also have a secondary heating unit (electrical) that is unused until those temps...but that's very expensive to have/maintain for the few weeks a year you'll need it. Mind you, if you don't have it as a backup then you'll have major structural damage almost guaranteed.

Oh yeah, the frozen tundra you live in wouldn’t work. Our typical “cold snaps” here are like low 30s F, so geo thermal heating is very efficient. We do have straight electrical heat strips that the system can use to get to temp really quickly and then maintain with the geo thermal.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

56 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

What do you mean?

 

 

I wish that heat pumps were more viable here. I've heard of a few people installing them, but they barely work below -15C or -20C which makes them unreliable in our climate. The people that install them typically also have a secondary heating unit (electrical) that is unused until those temps...but that's very expensive to have/maintain for the few weeks a year you'll need it. Mind you, if you don't have it as a backup then you'll have major structural damage almost guaranteed.

The cost of nat gas does not consider the cost to the individual or society with regard to pollution. It may not close the gap entirely but it’s advantage is lessened when you add in the costs due to lung and heart issues and climate change. 

[CitizenVectron]

1 hour ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

The cost of nat gas does not consider the cost to the individual or society with regard to pollution. It may not close the gap entirely but it’s advantage is lessened when you add in the costs due to lung and heart issues and climate change. 

 

For sure. The issue is (like many of these things), how do you raise the cost of home heating by 5x or 10x to move to greener alternatives? Fortunately most of Canada is renewable (I think about 2/3rds), but heating is still an issue that needs to be addressed. 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

56 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

For sure. The issue is (like many of these things), how do you raise the cost of home heating by 5x or 10x to move to greener alternatives? Fortunately most of Canada is renewable (I think about 2/3rds), but heating is still an issue that needs to be addressed. 

Good old fashioned subsidies phased out based upon household income. Longer term need Funding for greater efficiency into electric furnaces and water heaters. Nat gas isn’t the biggest fish to fry so this should be a longer term issue to tackle (relative to other climate and pollution issues) but still something to consider. 

 

Building dense housing can also help manage costs due to shared internal walls. (Folks dense housing and communities can change so much in this world)

[CitizenVectron]

19 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Good old fashioned subsidies phased out based upon household income. Longer term need Funding for greater efficiency into electric furnaces and water heaters. Nat gas isn’t the biggest fish to fry so this should be a longer term issue to tackle (relative to other climate and pollution issues) but still something to consider. 

 

Building dense housing can also help manage costs due to shared internal walls. (Folks dense housing and communities can change so much in this world)

 

We just bought our house this year (built in 1964, detached bungalow with finished basement) and while we love it, it's certainly not well-insulated. We will likely need to re-do the siding in 2-5 years and we are planning to hopefully re-do the insulation at the same time. It's pretty costly for all that, however (likely $30,000-$50,000), which will suck.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, CitizenVectron said:

 

We just bought our house this year (built in 1964, detached bungalow with finished basement) and while we love it, it's certainly not well-insulated. We will likely need to re-do the siding in 2-5 years and we are planning to hopefully re-do the insulation at the same time. It's pretty costly for all that, however (likely $30,000-$50,000), which will suck.

Do they do spray foam insulation in your region? We had our roof deck sprayed when we rebuilt our whole roof structure. Even if the dead of summer when it is regularly upper 90Fs/low 100Fs, it’s never above 80F in the attic anymore, so the savings on electricity paid back the difference between using traditional fiberglass insulation in the ceiling (probably $3000 for the whole house) and the foam ($4500) very quickly for us. Not really familiar with how foam performs for cold, but incredible for hot climates.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

I’d be shocked if they didn’t have spray insulation because of its high r values it’s a great insulator

[Jason]

27 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

I’d be shocked if they didn’t have spray insulation because of its high r values it’s a great insulator

 

They probably have it but call it Spume with Cheese. 

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

I’d be shocked if they didn’t have spray insulation because of its high r values it’s a great insulator

Really incredible the R value per inch, and the relative cost is so close that it is hard to justify using fiberglass insulation anymore. Also better for indoor air quality.

[CitizenVectron]

Yes we have spray foam!

[Anathema-]

I need some of that, my closet and pantry that share the same outside wall clearly have no real insulation. It's pretty neat having a chill pantry but I know it'll be a different story in the summer. 

[Jason]

 

[Jason]

I had to call Microsoft about the Elite controller I ordered not arriving 3 days in a row and this phone support woman was starting half of her sentences with "here's the thing". She was using it as basically "here's something important you need to know" but it of course sounded like she had bad news for me every time it came out. I was strangling the air in front of me by the third time.

 

E.g. she put me on hold for a couple of minutes when I first explained the problem and gave her the order and tracking information and then when she comes back on the line she starts "here's the thing" which sure fucking sounds like she's about to tell me to just keep waiting but it was actually a lead-in to telling me she has to escalate the problem to a higher support tier.

[Nokra]

@Commissar SFLUFAN I'm curious, have you read Kurt Andersen's newer book, "Evil Geniuses"? I know you were a big proponent of his earlier book, Fantasyland, which I read at your recommendation and very much enjoyed. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

3 minutes ago, Nokra said:

@Commissar SFLUFAN I'm curious, have you read Kurt Andersen's newer book, "Evil Geniuses"? I know you were a big proponent of his earlier book, Fantasyland, which I read at your recommendation and very much enjoyed. 

 

I have not yet, but those that have highly recommend it

[Keyser_Soze]

@thewhyteboar What do you think of this Korean eye bag trend? It makes me think I could be a very beautiful person over there

[thewhyteboar]

18 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

@thewhyteboar What do you think of this Korean eye bag trend? It makes me think I could be a very beautiful person over there

I'm unaware of it!