Having some friends over for New Years Eve, and I've always wanted a premium cribbage board, so I treated myself to an after Christmas treat. Maple board inlaid maple and solid metal pegs.
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- Thread starter AMOCO
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You have a Nest thermostat @shalemail , right? I had issues with mine and ultimately had to ditch it for the old one until I had my furnace replaced.
shalemail
Android Expert
I do indeed have a Nest. Luckily Rachel's uncle owns a HVAC company and he's coming over. Hopefully we can get this handled. He'll do what needs to be done.
EDIT - I know what you're talking about @lunatic59 . I had to rewire my system when I installed the Nest to bring my old system up to spec for the Nest to work right.
Yeah, the dreaded common wire, right? I went through the whole "see if your system is compatible" checklist and i got the "congratulations" reply so I pulled the trigger. I installed the thing and it worked great for a month and a half. Then all of a sudden it when crazy. The furnace either wouldn't come on, or the heat would come on and stay on and I'd come home to a 80 degree house! Did the whole support thing with Nest, got one of their authorized experts to come out and look at it at their expense. He rewired it with the common wire to the control board and tried several different variations, none of which worked and he finally said it was apparently not compatible. Told Nest the results and sent pictures of the wiring and the control board on the furnace and they said the "expert" was wrong and before they'd authorize a refund, they wanted to get another "expert-expert" out to do it correctly. I put the old thermostat back and that worked without issue until we replaced our whole HVAC system in the fall.
shalemail
Android Expert
Not that it's "funny" for you (especially at the time) but the funny thing is, I hooked mine up, it worked fine for a month, then wonky. With the help of my buddy that does HVAC for the school district we re-wired it and been fine ever since.
So just a bumpkin HVAC guy and a reasonably proficient mechanic/DIY guy got it ... but their first "expert" couldn't.
I've swapped thermostats before and they are not all that complicated, but the trouble with the Nest (and other smart thermostats) is that they require power to charge. Most of the older, or simpler programmable thermostats just use a couple of AAA batteries that last well over a year. Many HVAC systems that weren't installed with an advanced thermostat most likely don't have the common wire connected. The connector is probably on the board and the wire is in the wall so it's just a matter of figuring it out. In my case, I wasn't about to go experimenting with the furnace controls during heating season.
So just a bumpkin HVAC guy and a reasonably proficient mechanic/DIY guy got it ... but their first "expert" couldn't.
On the Nest support site you can enter your zip code and they'll show you all the Nest Experts in your area. Unfortunately my regular HVAC contractor wasn't one of them. In the list were a couple of companies I recognized by reputation and ... UGI (the gas company). Since it was Nest's nickel I figured UGI would be the best to get in for the evaluation. It was their tech who declared the device incompatible. Granted it was a "contractor grade" furnace from when the house was built, but it worked.
shalemail
Android Expert
Well I am as lucky as could be given the furnace fritzed on a 1 degree morning. Just the blower motor, her uncle is in route to get replacement ... hopefully back up and running before noon. WHEW!!
$400 bucks. All things considered ... I'll take it. (15 year old furnace I was sure it was time) He says it looks good just needed the motor. (Oh and the dead squirrel removed from the flew. yuck)
$400? coulda been $4,000! Dodged a bit of a bullet there. As for the squirrel ... I wonder how they taste smoked?
shalemail
Android Expert
$400? coulda been $4,000! Dodged a bit of a bullet there. As for the squirrel ... I wonder how they taste smoked?
Yea I was prepping for the $4000 .... believe you me. Had already picked out which card to put it on LOL.
Bet it tastes like smoked chicken.
Happy for you shalemail. The last time my furnace was down was a shot fan. Feels good to part with 400 bucks right? That's sure they way I felt.... whew!
shalemail
Android Expert
No kidding right? Never been so happy to kiss $400 bucks goodbye! Best part is, the house only got down to 60 ish and was back up to 72 by about 2. All's well that ends well.
Today? All is well and the house .... is warm.
shalemail
Android Expert
Well it was a footwear kinda weekend. I needed new boots ... only ones I have are knee high water boots I use for shoveling snow but have to wear like 3 pairs of socks to not freeze. So my wonderful wife got me a very nice new pair of boots. LL Bean Storm Chasers.
Probably the nicest boots I've ever owned.
On top of that, my cheap POS Kohl's slippers were worn to heck, and that sucks taking the dog out first thing on a 12 degree morning. Bass Pro was clearing theirs out and I got a real nice pair of $40 slippers for $20. I love a good sale!
That is all ... you may go back to your regularly scheduled web surfing. Hang 10.
Probably the nicest boots I've ever owned.
On top of that, my cheap POS Kohl's slippers were worn to heck, and that sucks taking the dog out first thing on a 12 degree morning. Bass Pro was clearing theirs out and I got a real nice pair of $40 slippers for $20. I love a good sale!
That is all ... you may go back to your regularly scheduled web surfing. Hang 10.
Can't go wrong with those boots. I make an annual pilgrimage to the LL Bean mothership in Freeport, ME. In fact, I need to replace my 15yo slippers...
shalemail
Android Expert
I forgot how nice it was to have insulated boots and only one pair of socks on. From the reviews they are very capable boots ... waterproof and good to -20 ... I should be AOK. I looked at the slippers at the Bean store and they were pretty cleaned out. Nothing left in store, only option was to order.
That's my problem, I HAVE to try on shoes before I buy them. So can't buy online. Example? I wear 10.5 in shoes (9 out of 10 times) but have 11's in the boots and needed 12's in the slippers. I mean a TWELVE? Anyway.
I have a pair of wildcats in size 11. I little more winter ready as they have clips to secure ice grips. My feet get cold if I'm ice fishing for 12 or more hours with not toe warmers in them, just socks. For normal snow cleanup I'm plenty warm.
Milo Willamson
Android Expert
Some food though, nothing too exciting, saving a lot of money to get some Batman DC animated movies pretty soon, and a new usb charger..
Since the plain rock salt wasn't cutting it in the sub-zero temps, I went and got me a 50 lb. bag of Calcium Chloride (at cost from our warehouse
). You have to be a little careful with this stuff, though as it will burn the surface of concrete and kill your grass if you use too much.
Milo Willamson
Android Expert
Since the plain rock salt wasn't cutting it in the sub-zero temps, I went and got me a 50 lb. bag of Calcium Chloride (at cost from our warehouse
Weather is like that too here in Urbana Illinois.
So yeah, it was time to trade my 2004 Mazda 3 in for something a bit more modern. I'm picking up a 2017 Mazda CX3 touring AWD with 2200 miles. The only thing wrong is the blue, it's blue. I like black cars, Henry Ford was right.
Congrats Clem. I hope it serves you as well as your last Mazda.
That's only a problem for half the year. The other half it will be "Road Salt Grey" like everyone else.
Ah, the joys of living in the northeast.
The last things I bought we're incense and Ozium.
Before that was a Pepper Steak sub & Fries.
Before that was a Pepper Steak sub & Fries.
I laid on the necessary supplies to make it through a day of basketball and football.