Home Improvement Thread

Postby **RonnieFranchise** » Mon Jul 04, 2022 5:20 pm

Not home but AC fixing itself related. ‘09 Subaru AC quit working last summer, decided not to fix it. Old car and damn it my parents lived without AC in their cars.

This summer, works great. Thought maybe it was some fluke back in May but been working 2 months now.

Weird but I’ll take it.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Jul 04, 2022 5:21 pm

After recharging the AC, it’s blowing 55 instead of 62, and my wife is already complaining about how cold it is sitting on the side of the couch closest to the vent.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:09 am

Just got my home/auto insurance renewals. Minimal increase for auto, but $100 (annual) increase for home.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 11:24 am

Speaking of homes, I looked into adding remote arming/disarming functionality to my DSC alarm, but apparently it would require a cell module that would run $13/month. Not worth it for me.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 2:18 pm

For those of you who recently replaced their AC, did you go with a variable speed unit, or a simple 1/2 stage blower? I want a variable speed unit, but it looks like if I go that route, I lose the ability to truly maximize the effectiveness of it by keeping my ecobee. Lennox actually requires you to use their own thermostat for those units.

Postby **skullman80** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 3:00 pm

For those of you who recently replaced their AC, did you go with a variable speed unit, or a simple 1/2 stage blower? I want a variable speed unit, but it looks like if I go that route, I lose the ability to truly maximize the effectiveness of it by keeping my ecobee. Lennox actually requires you to use their own thermostat for those units.

Our new furnace and A/C are both Lennox units. We have a variable speed motor and the furnace is a 2 stage model, the A/C is just a one stage unit. We kept our ecobee (I have sensors to balance things because of where the actual tstat is in the house).

Because I didn't care all that much about controlling the two stages through the ecobee and wanted to keep it, it's basically set up two run stage 1 for like 10 minutes or maybe a bit longer via the control board then switch to stage 2 after that if the desired temp is not reached.

I'm sure we lose some functionality but so far so good in the winter with the furnace and the A/C has been good too. Our old unit was also oversized so having a properly sized unit has helped the unit not just run full blast for 10 minutes and shut off, but run longer more natural cycles and have more overall comfort. So even with the A/C being one stage the variable speed motor and the staging set on the control board still help it run better/smoother cycles which helps with the humidity.

I can dig up model numbers, but I'm pretty sure the below are our furnace and A/C...

https://www.lennox.com/products/heating ... ces/el296v (furnace)

https://www.lennox.com/products/heating ... rs/el16xc1 (A/C)

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 3:14 pm

Interesting, I did look at both of those units, and the next models up. I'm trying to determine whether or not having a truly variable motor will work for my application, comparing it with how I have ecobee setup. ecobee can only do start/stops, so you do lose out on the efficiency of a continuously running unit, but I'm not sure how much that is.

Postby **skullman80** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 3:24 pm

Interesting, I did look at both of those units, and the next models up. I'm trying to determine whether or not having a truly variable motor will work for my application, comparing it with how I have ecobee setup. ecobee can only do start/stops, so you do lose out on the efficiency of a continuously running unit, but I'm not sure how much that is.

Yeah I'm not sure. We seem to be using less electric so far this summer even with the heat wave this early in june, but prices have gone up...so yeah.

I've been happy with both units so far, but only had them since February, and didn't have alot of time to do tons of research since our Furnace died on us all together when it was super cold out. We replaced both since the A/C unit was also old, and we were told it was best to have two of the same type/brand of units for the motor/condenser etc to work the best.

They did offer to install the Lennox tstat, but I kept the ecobee with the caveats I mentioned above both because I like it and I'm used to it, and because of the sensor setup I have.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:55 pm

We went variable speed but used the American Standard thermostat, which was pretty robust with programming features and usage info. Not sure if it compares to Ecobee though.

New house has a Carrier 14 seer single stage unit (ugh) with a Honeywell programmable thermostat that supposedly works with the home automation software that hasn't been installed yet. Variable speed was great for our electric bills, fwiw.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:58 pm

Our electric bills really aren’t bad. My main concern is a single thermostat being used to determine temps in multiple floors. I don’t see remote sensors for any of these mfr thermostats, so I don’t know if it’ll be as effective. I guess I could just set the ‘sleep’ setting to a lower temp knowing that it’ll be the correct temp upstairs, but that’s kinda hacky and may not always work.

Postby **LITT** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 9:00 am

so the talk about paint sprayers earlier has pushed me to start looking in to sprayers - any recommendations on airless vs HVLP?

Postby **count2infinity** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 9:05 am

Recommendations for remodeling a basement? Our basement is finished, but it's just so uncomfortable and dark down there that I just don't want to go down.

I'm pretty handy. I can do quite a bit of stuff myself. I'm half thinking what I do is rip out all the drywall and flooring. Pretty much go down to the studs. I want to get the walls resealed as I don't think it was water sealed when it was built. Then hire an electrician to put in lighting and run wires/cables. Hire someone to do drywall as that's not something I'm fully comfortable doing, and then do the rest myself. Flooring, paint, finishing, etc.

Anything I'm missing?

Postby **meow** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 9:10 am

That’s exactly what I’d do. I don’t like doing big scale electrical and it would take me six months to do drywall that a pro would do in two days.

Postby **Morkle** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 9:13 am

I have the "I want to buy a new house" bug, and I hate it. I LOVE where I live currently, but I still have it. Annoying.

Postby **CBear3** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 9:21 am

That’s exactly what I’d do. I don’t like doing big scale electrical and it would take me six months to do drywall that a pro would do in two days.

Yeah, if there's one thing I've learned in the last two weeks its that I would never make it on a drywall crew.

Postby **Joegap** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 10:45 am

Speaking of finished basements.. My basement is currently finished with this basement paneling that almost feels like cubicle walls(was there when we moved in). My cat has scratched a few of the panels to the point where it needs replaced.. Should I just switch to drywall? My dad was of the opinion that the paneling is superior

Postby **count2infinity** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 10:56 am

Our lower half of our basement has wood-like (not even sure it's actually wood) paneling. The drywall on the top is like a brownish beige color. There aren't many lights. For the ceiling they decided to go with plywood instead of drywall. Floor looks as though it's just cheap linoleum tiles glued to the cement underneath. It's so bad. I just want to rip all of it out and start fresh.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 11:01 am

Pussies. Drywall is super fun.

Postby **CBear3** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:09 pm

Fine, then come on out and fix all my tape bubbles. I did a nice 20 foot job.

Postby **CBear3** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:13 pm

so the talk about paint sprayers earlier has pushed me to start looking in to sprayers - any recommendations on airless vs HVLP?

Depends on what you're painting from the little research I did.

Postby **LITT** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:21 pm

mostly walls and wood/furniture

Postby **CBear3** » Fri Jul 08, 2022 4:18 pm

HVLP seems to shin when doing cabinetry or nooks and crannies or complex surfaces. Airless seems to be great for large flat surfaces you'd typically just roller.
We have about 900 sq ft of living space in the basement and it took me roughly an hour with X5 mac suggested. It also showed me I'm a hack, but it was literally my first time spraying interior paint. I can't imagine how many nights it would have taken me to roller it. The amount of overspray though resigned me to the fact that I won't be using it to repaint my kids walls unless I tarp or move every single thing.

Postby **skullman80** » Sat Jul 09, 2022 9:40 pm

Wife decided at 630pm she wanted to paint our kitchen.

Coat one is done lol.

Postby **skullman80** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 12:27 am

And finished at 12:30 am lol

Postby **NTP66** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 6:31 am

Your wife is a crazy person, skull.