New England B.S. Thread

Electric heat pumps use a TON of energy. My electric bill easily doubled when I added mine to my house. I rarely use it in the winter now. I will when temps are above 50°F, but otherwise I find them to be huge consumers. I actually kept mine off the past month to see what the difference in kWh would be, but of course due to the storm here Nat. Grid didn't do a manual reading so they used last year's as an estimate.

When I had my HyperHeat put in I was sold on it that it would do AC and heat and be cheaper than oil. I'm apparently doing "amazing" as my system will cool 18-20°F below ambient (meaning a 98 degree day my house is 78-80°F inside independent of setpoint) and that it would be "cheaper than oil" even though my electric bill jumped $300-400/mo. My Mom's conventional AC makes her house an icebox independent of outside temperature and her electric bill is so much cheaper than mine (yes, it's a smaller house, but still).

I'm still salty.

 

For heat, I like my wood pellets.

I usually pay about $350/ton for four tons of pellets then I go through around 200 gallons of oil to help make up for the coldest days.

Before I had the pellet stove, I burned about 600 gallons of oil per winter. At current prices, the extra 400 gallons of oil work out to about the same as four tons of pellets. But, we are keeping it much warmer at the same price.

 

Used to get my pellets from Home Depot (green supreme) for $5/bag last year and would purchase 15 bags at a time. They bumped them up to $7.50/bag this year and finally bit the bullet and started to order a ton at a time for $310 locally. When we first bought our house, we solely used the pellet stove to heat and would go through 4 tons a season, but without a garage it took a full weekend and a couple extra hands to stack them all in the basement. When I did the math, oil has to be around $3 to break even on cost for our house - however like you said, the pellet stove keeps the house warmer than oil alone.

 

Honestly I don't remember, but maybe like 50-100$ of electric but I made it back lets say.

Dang Brandon.. that really sucks man.

 

I can't burn the box store pellets - way too much ash for my Quadrafire stove. Right now I am burning Wood & Sons, but I have also had good luck with Vermont Pellets. I can get the Wood & Sons about a half hour from home, so I have two tons at a time loaded on my trailer and I bring them home.

I have a garage, but I store them in the basement. I don't want to take up garage space for pellets since it would prevent me from being able to park both vehicles inside during storms. A coworker gave me an old kid's slide which I lay in the bulkhead. I send 10-12 bags down at a time then I go down and stack them. It helps a lot.

 

I use wood but the in laws use pellets and they arent in shape to move around tons of pellets. I wish I could use this slide trick. I just stack 10 bags on a dolly and bring it in.

 

Ive been using wood for 40 years cause its free an d replenishes itself!!!

 

Anyone want to own up to this?

https://www.wcvb.com/article/sos-iphone-stranded-massachusetts-travelers-colorado-rescue/46243948

 

Not quite @deanosaurus level but this cutting board for the in laws came out good for starting it christmas eve. The walnut had some great figure

 

Not for me.... I'm bored...

So, instead of quoting everyone else....

If there is no gas, or oil there, they ARE using electric heat.
With a central heat pump, you still need back up heatsource in this part of the country. And if no gas or oil. There IS an electric heating grid in the air handler. And depending on temp, it'll run WITH the heat pump. And that puppy will start running defrost cycles as well as it gets colder(it'll become an air conditioner for a set time to clear the outdoor color ice/frost).
Heat pumps are great.. if set up, and used properly. Coefficient of Performance drops significantly with temp, and pretty much below 40, time to start doing the math with regards to if that is cheaper, or traditional.

Anyway, it's still burning electricity. Albeit more efficiently 45f and above(you do reject the added heat from compression into the house as well).

Electric HW is a bugger as well.

Get me some info tomorrow, I can guide ya through it.

 

Well, you know it wasn’t one of us Ford drivers!

 

That's because your truck is still stuck at the shop being fixed With numerous engine recalls LOL J/K

 

I test drove a 3rd gen yesterday and would like to purchase it (truck A). There is one other truck i am interested in (truck B).
What would be your thoughts on negotiation tactics? I am looking at purchasing from a Kia dealer in CT (chain of 3 dealers all next to each other). Its seems they bought the Tacoma as a vehicle swap with a dealer that is local to me (Albany NY).
My current plan was to be as directly transparent as they were with me. I explained to them my schedule as i was looking at 4 trucks yesterday. He took all my information in about 3 minutes and gave me the vehicle for as long of a test drive as i liked. He did a complete walk-through with me about mechanical items, toyota tacoma specific options, and even undercarriage condition without him knowing my knowledge on the trucks. When i returned, he had a an offer sheet with trade value, every single fee, cost of vehicle, document transfer with NY, insurance transfer, ready to drive away. he didn't force any pressure or made me sit down or meet with his sales manager.
I would like to purchase from the Kia dealer. (truck A) The truck is cleaner, seems to drive better and was obviously cared for more by the previous owner. Also, this is the 17th vehicle I have looked at and the dealer experience was the best, hands down. They were very transparent, quick with my time and treated me with respect (i had my 4year daughter with and others treated this like an inconvenience).

Thank you for meeting with me yesterday. I appreciate you being very upfront with me and prompt with having truck ready, providing an uninhibited test drive, and having a complete cost breakdown prepared for me when i returned. Please let me know what your best offer is. For transparency, this is the other truck i am looking at.
https://www.toyotaofsaratogasprings.com/inventory/3TYCZ5AN7MT008999/? (TRUCK B) stocknum=R095610A&atc_ownerid=57517509&utm_source=autotrader.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=autotrader_listings
year (2021), mileage (within 800 miles), owner history, options, etc are all nearly identical.
Price $1,600 cheaper, trade offer is $1,400 more, and the truck is toyota CPO. Is there anywhere you can bring the cost closer, whether you can offer more on trade in or a reduction in asking price?
Thank you,

What are your thoughts on this level of transparency as a negotiation tactic? I feel like this is a catch more flies with honey situation. They were very respectful and upfront with me and i would like to return the same mentality.

 

What I might do in this case is come up with a number that you're comfortable with (there's a $3,000 delta to work with) say for example $2,250 between reduction and trade. State in the email that you see there's a $3,000 delta between the dealerships, you'd much prefer to go with this dealership over the competitor, if you can work the numbers to be $2,500 more between trade and price reduction you'd come down today and sign.

They might try and push you down say $250 which would bring you to the number you actually want. Give them enough wiggle room they think they've "won" without feeling bad about it. When we bought my wife's Jeep they were asking about payment, etc. I was very polite and said all I care about is OTD price, everything seems reasonable and we sign today if the OTD price was $XX,XXX (about $500 less than my actual figure). They came back at my actual figure and I asked for a few small accessories and it was a very pleasant transaction.

This may or may not work, but I've had luck doing that.

 

I agree with this. I wouldn't send them the other dealership's website. I'd tell them another dealer has a better deal by approximately $3k through a better trade and a lower initial cost and see how they counter.

In my opinion, there are a few outcomes you need to prepare yourself for, as Mike noted. They won't come down $3k, but say they come down $2k or $1k. Are you prepared to make that deal? If not, are you prepared to go with Truck B? Say they don't come down at all, are you prepared to go with Truck B or are you set on Truck A and just want to see if you can make a better deal for yourself?

 

It's looking like some upper control arms are going to be in my future. Recommendations? Ran camburg balljoint ucas for 80k miles

 

I appreciate the feedback. I am looking for a price reduction but ultimately would buy truck A as is. After looking at the carfax this morning, its has been for sale since 10/21/2023

 

Many, many years ago I sold Toyotas and used cars at a dealership and as a salesperson was lied to everyday by customers. My experience taught me that there are good sales people and bad sales people and probably everything in between the two. The same goes for customers. I never felt that I had to lie about the process or product and I appreciated when customers gave me the same respect. I do not see any issue with your approach. In fact I would applaud it. You have the facts on your side in regards to your situation and you have nothing to lose. You have said here that you would buy the truck for what they are asking so anything that you get for additional discounts at this point is extra money in your pocket. Negotiate and see where it gets you. By letting the dealer know that you are being honest about your situation and that you are willing to BUY once they earn your business they should work with you to make it happen. You gain credibility by linking the truck at the other dealership as they can see that you are being straightforward with them. If you have the paperwork that shows the offer you received at the other dealership that lists what they were giving you for a trade in value I would show them that also. It is good news that the truck has been on the lot for more than two months as they will be more motivated to sell. I would also encourage you to be willing to walk away, or at least indicate that you are willing to do so. The vast majority of customers who leave the dealership without buying something never return and dealers know that. Being willing to walk away is the BEST way to get the best deal. Most times you will get the best price when either you walk away physically, verbally, or both. If you are on the phone then you simply say that you need some time to think about it. Good luck. I am interested in hearing how things turn out.

 

The walking away thing is a good point. Another strategy could also be, once all your cards are on the table about the other truck, tell them, look, if you get to XXX, it's a deal and I'll put a deposit down. Sometimes the plain and simple, if A then B approach works as well.

 

Agreed. Nothing wrong with a little give and take. And nothing wrong with indicating you are willing to put down a deposit. From what you have told me it seems they are not into playing games with you so you may not have to provide that level of commitment in order to seal the deal. In most cases the "deposit" to show that you are a "serious buyer" is really a ploy on the dealer's part to have control on how long you have to stay at the dealership and negotiate. Often a dealer will keep the keys to your trade in after they "appraise it" for a similar reason. You are not driving away until they give the keys back. I could tell you a couple stories about how holding the keys of a trade in worked for me when I was on the sales floor.