Keystone State Thread

We have no power at the cabin at all. This will be the primary source. Solar captured into battery and managed by some sort of controller/inverter. My portable Honda generator can be used as back-up to either charge the system if there is snow or clouds for days or we can run direct off the generator as well.
As weird as this sounds, the primary issue at the cabin is condensation/mold. It is super-insulated and has a concrete floor. It stays pretty cool inside until you open it up and the outside humid air hits. You can watch the floor and other flat surfaces turn to wet. Some area rugs have mitigated this quite a bit but I am working towards a small dehumidifier, on a timer, to address this issue. I had a small solar-direct gable fan that actually made this worse as it was drawing outside air into the cool interior whenever the sun was shining. Obviously it was not running to draw in but the air has to come from somewhere!
Also, all of our lighting is Aladdin oil and we cannot run these in the Summer as they throw a lot of heat.

 

Can never have enough tools!

 

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/gridmonitor/dashboard/electric_overview/US48/US48

There's this, idk if that's what you're looking for.

 

it is private unfortunately. sorry.

 

I had to go out about an hour ago and got caught in a real downpour. The wiper blades were on as fast as they could go and the window was still covered. The temp dropped about 10 or 12 degrees as a result.

 

https://dataminer2.pjm.com/feed/inst_load

 

If you need any help with the battery system let me know. I've been teaching battery design, application and sizing in stationary (non automotive) applications for nearly 10 years.

 

Good afternoon pa peeps. It was a rough start for me this morning had some bad sushi last night. Just gave me more of a stomach ache and a bad headache. Feeling alot better now. In other news I'll take winter back its nasty out here today feels worse then yesterday.

 

Oh boy, like the temp drop but not the storms. Hope u don't loose power. Drive safe TW.

 

The sun is trying to kill me today.

 

Can't get the office temp below 81 today. It is an upstairs room and the heat soak from the attic is intense. It often continues to get hotter after the sun goes down as the heat continues to transfer through the ceiling. Downstairs spaces are holding up fine with just the portable units and fans. Not sure if the house fan is giving me any relief or just drawing my cool air from the house and into the attic.

 

Regarding the house fan , assuming it's in the attic, do u have any vent louvers in the attic to pull in fresh air?

 

It is a "whole house" fan. In the ceiling of the upstairs hallway drawing air from inside the house into the attic. The soffits are vented and the roof has a ridge vent.
I would like to go back to the old-fashioned gable fan on a thermostat. Maybe when we re-side the house.

 

Oh I know what ya got. Yea probably just suckjng ur cold ac air out the roof.

 

Is that rain or humidity?

 

My parents’ house has two central A/C units, a 2.5-ton for the first floor and a 2-ton for the second floor, both matched with gas furnaces; The upstairs is kept at 67 in the summer and 65-66 in the winter. The first floor is kept at 68-70 in the summer and 66 to 68 in the winter (sometimes 70 if it is really cold outside and I want to take the chill off).

I’ve never lived in a house where we had window units; My dad was in the Navy and we moved a lot. I’ve lived in four houses with no central air since I was born, but three were in Northern California and one was in Washington on Whidbey Island so we didn’t need any A/C period.

I am currently saving up to buy a house and would be willing to buy a place with no central air (and use window units until I could afford to put it in) if the price was right, and if I liked the house and the area it was in.

Last year, found a nice 3-bedroom townhouse in Norristown with central A/C for like $120K; But, Norristown…

 

Also, my biggest grievance about windows unit is installing them in the spring and taking them out in the fall; It is often a 2-person job…

I’ve never lived in a house with window units, but plenty of my friends do; My friend and former boss used to live in this old place that was built in the 1920s and did not have central air. My former boss is an attractive woman (this is important later). I was helping her install a window A/C in one of the bedrooms, and we lost our grip. The house was tiny and there was a lot of furniture in that room, so we were already wedged in there.

We lost our grip on the A/C unit, and it fell backwards; We stopped A/C unit from crashing to the ground, but it pinned my left wrist right between my friend’s breasts, like right in the cleavage. Keep in mind that this was my boss at the time, and my wrist was stuck between her boobs! To make matters worse, I felt a fart coming on. My boss knew I didn’t intend to get my wrist stuck in her cleavage by a heavy air-conditioner, but if I’d cut one in that tiny space she would have killed me.

We were able to gain control of the A/C unit, and thankfully I was able to hold the fart in until I could release it safely without any women present.

 

Also, the small 1920s house where my boss used to live not only has a new furnace, but the landlord decided to install central air after my boss moved out…