The totally off-topic thread

[JohnK]

Daughter happy. Wife content.

Good times. Another Chang and off to sleep.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

We had an all electric townhouse in Canberra and in winter our power bills were always about $1500 for three months, in summer less but not a lot under $1000. The house was not well designed as it was all open plan and over 4 levels. Cannot believe the difference at this place (double glazing etc), hardly ever need the heating and bills around $300 for three months.

ours is around $5,000 for 3 months in winter (elec and gas). . We have double glazing and insulated everything, but we really need to bite the bullet and move from our family home into something suitable for 2 people. Just can't quite bring ourselves to do it yet.

 

[amaroo]

ours is around $5,000 for 3 months in winter (elec and gas). . We have double glazing and insulated everything, but we really need to bite the bullet and move from our family home into something suitable for 2 people. Just can't quite bring ourselves to do it yet.

That is a big number!

IIRC our power bill was a credit for around $350 for the qtr. Gas is LPG (bottle), and cost ~ $100/ year ... not including the BBQ.

 

[straitman]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Don't forget that Daylight Saving Time starts tonight in the progressive states.

If you're flying tomorrow morning do ensure your timepiece moves forward at 0200 hours.

We forgot :!:

 

[love_the_life]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

ours is around $5,000 for 3 months in winter (elec and gas). . We have double glazing and insulated everything, but we really need to bite the bullet and move from our family home into something suitable for 2 people. Just can't quite bring ourselves to do it yet.

Good lord, do you heat the whole house or can you turn off areas? While you still have the dogs it would be hard to move.

 

[beefarmer]

That is a big number!

IIRC our power bill was a credit for around $350 for the qtr. Gas is LPG (bottle), and cost ~ $100/ year ... not including the BBQ.

I am assuming you have solar panels. If so, can you give us an idea of cost and return on investment. Chinese or german panels, battery storage etc.

IF not, does anyone have any handy hints for solar or is best to wait till Tesla develop better batteries?

 

[amaroo]

I am assuming you have solar panels. If so, can you give us an idea of cost and return on investment. Chinese or german panels, battery storage etc.

IF not, does anyone have any handy hints for solar or is best to wait till Tesla develop better batteries?

Cost installed (4 years ago) around $13,500 .... system paid for itself in 2.5 years. The ROI is excellent due to generous 44c + 8c / KW FIT therefore, I sell every KW I can. The Gov sponsored 44c FIT is good for another 12 years

Inverter - SMA
Panels - REC

 

[beefarmer]

Cost installed (4 years ago) around $13,500 .... system paid for itself in 2.5 years. The ROI is excellent due to generous 44c + 8c / KW FIT therefore, I sell every KW I can. The Gov sponsored 44c FIT is good for another 12 years

Inverter - SMA
Panels - REC

I will be looking into this in the near future. However I believe in Victoria the FIT is much much lower, however I have been told that that is not what it's all about anyway.
More homework to follow.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Good lord, do you heat the whole house or can you turn off areas? While you still have the dogs it would be hard to move.

we just love our house, but in hindsight it is more suited to Queensland than Canberra . It is very open plan and the design means we have around a 5m ceiling over the family room and yes we pretty much have to heat the whole house.

We have an upstairs and a downstairs central heater and since the kids have left we have closed all the doors upstairs and turned off that heater, so that has given some savings, but we still have to heat the upstairs family room as it is a sort of mezzanine level and effectively you have to heat both. It was good when the kids were little, as you could be downstairs in the kitchen or family room and still hear what they were doing upstairs. However really not good for heating a space for two people! The other energy soak is the indoor pool - chews up heaps in both heating and the dehumidifier. I would just drain the stupid thing and turn everything off but Mr FM claims he still swims.

And yes the dogs are a big issue - we take them for a walk pretty much everyday in the reserve. In summer I am quite happy here - we pretty much never use air conditioning because of the high ceilings and there are roof Windows, so I can vent the heat that collects there, but in winter it is quite painful

 

[cove]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Power bills drop a lot once your children go out into their own places. Their behaviour certainly changes with electricity use as soon as they get to start paying that bill themselves.
Solar can be a winner and also there are big savings in switching to LED lights.
Battery storage is still not a winner but it is showing good promise for the next couple of years with so many working on the technology.

 

[love_the_life]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Those mezzanine levels are real killers when it comes to heating. Ours was a townhouse so not nearly as big as your place but it was all open and on 4 different levels so I know what you mean.

 

[cove]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

We have 2 mezzanines in our home and I miss dropping towels down on the little folks below.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Those mezzanine levels are real killers when it comes to heating. Ours was a townhouse so not nearly as big as your place but it was all open and on 4 different levels so I know what you mean.

yes - it looked so beautiful and it all went to our head and we just didn't think of later implications. It was fine when the kids were at home and everything was being used but it is just so wasteful now! We were concerned about energy implications so double glazed all the windows, insulated everything we could and have floor to ceiling ultra insulated curtains, LED lights, but it doesn't help when you are heating a large area.

Warning to anyone planning to build - don't let your architect sweep you away with beauty

We didn't install solar panels when we should have - just too busy at the time to look into it but Mr FM plans to reasses once the storage battery technology looks more viable.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

We have 2 mezzanines in our home and I miss dropping towels down on the little folks below.

I used to do that too - not just towels either - all the washing used to go over the rail, with a quick glance to make sure I didn't hit dogs or kids

 

[Foreigner]

The revered Thai king is seriously ill:

King of Thailand is gravely ill

 

[Cruiser Elite]

So Cruiserette and I are wandering around Calgary looking for somewhere to nosh up and spotted this dodgy establishment:



Ah ........ no thanks - might keep lookin' if that's ok?

And then we stumbled on Dr Ralph's business HQ:



C'mon Ralphy - just joshin' with ya!

 

[suze2000]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Warning to anyone planning to build - don't let your architect sweep you away with beauty

Really $5000 per quarter in Winter? I know it's cold in Canberra, but...!

For that money, you might be able to solve your problem with underfloor heating. It would still be expensive, but at least the heat would be coming from where you need it (ie, the ground floor).

I live in a wooden Edwardian in MEL. There are holes in the floorboards where I can see daylight through and our power bill (without the solar) would be about $600 +$400 for gas in winter. Summer the gas drops to about $100. One of the best things about this house is that the living room is not open plan. Heating it is easy with the door closed, even with the holes in the floor and the high ceilings. I can't help thinking that big open-plan spaces (while beautiful) are ridiculously impractical in that regard. We did not expect this benefit when we moved in, we were thinking of opening up the spaces, but not anymore. I think the house would be pretty intolerable with no heating at all though - it gets damp in here if (say) we go on holidays and turn it down too far. Not bad damp, but damp enough.

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

I have heard that that big white building on top of the hill emits a lot of hot air. Should be warmer there!

 

[Denali]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

I was reading an article and saw a name that I havent thought of since high school. A bit of googling and I find out this guy has been a director at CSIRO, Nokia ect and is a leader in the field in this country.

Well done for a boy from the bad side of the western suburbs, who lived in a caravan park off the highway. But he was brilliant way back then and you could just tell he was a cut above the rest.

 

[TomVexille]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Wow, apparently we're doing well only paying $225 in electricity for the quarter during winter. Gas was about $100/month during the same period. I mean this is a old house that refuses to stay warm, but it is little.