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Zero-emission vehicles, their batteries & subsidies/rebates for them.- No politics regarding the subsidies!

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EJ3

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Come on, all of that has been worked out.
In Saipan the AC is always on. In my place the condensate (distilled water) was sent down a pipe, going around the outside of the home & into a cistern in the laundry room, which was covered with something like (maybe it was) cheesecloth (to keep insects out, so they can't lay there larvae forming eggs there. In the cistern it went through a charcoal filter and a UV light microbial killer thing.
We got a test kit to test the water for everything the city water systems test for. Compared to both the city water there and what was available in the 5 gal bottles that are used in those water coolers, our water from the A/C system was much better, including the PH. And, no chlorine. Enough water for 4 people with a surplus (for the neighbors), every day. Andthe city water their had salt water incursion. You did not want to swallow it when you were brushing your teeth. It also made washing your hair turn out oddly. Our solution worked great, no weird things happening because the water wasn't within specs.
 

Destination: Moon

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In Saipan the AC is always on. In my place the condensate (distilled water) was sent down a pipe, going around the outside of the home & into a cistern in the laundry room, which was covered with something like (maybe it was) cheesecloth (to keep insects out, so they can't lay there larvae forming eggs there. In the cistern it went through a charcoal filter and a UV light microbial killer thing.
We got a test kit to test the water for everything the city water systems test for. Compared to both the city water there and what was available in the 5 gal bottles that are used in those water coolers, our water from the A/C system was much better, including the PH. And, no chlorine. Enough water for 4 people with a surplus (for the neighbors), every day. Andthe city water their had salt water incursion. You did not want to swallow it when you were brushing your teeth. It also made washing your hair turn out oddly. Our solution worked great, no weird things happening because the water wasn't within specs.
The thing about water that's condensed on coils and distilled water in general is it's propensity to dissolve metals. If it's AC condensate you not be drinking it. Distilled water is a highly aggressive solvent. Especially if y heated for tea or coffee in stainless steel. I don't think there is a home test for heavy metals aside from lead and maybe arsenic. A search will turn up many things you should know
 
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EJ3

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The thing about water that's condensed on coils and distilled water in general is it's propensity to dissolve metals. If it's AC condensate you not be drinking it. Distilled water is a highly aggressive solvent. Especially if y heated for tea or coffee in stainless steel. I don't think there is a home test for heavy metals aside from lead and maybe arsenic. A search will turn up many things you should know
And what made you think that we are limited to home tests?
Also, modern piping is no longer made of leaded cast iron or usually not sweated copper either. Pex & other types of piping have supplanted those ages ago.
 

Destination: Moon

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And what made you think that we are limited to home tests?
Also, modern piping is no longer made of leaded cast iron or usually not sweated copper either. Pex & other types of piping have supplanted those ages ago.
You said your testing the water like your municipal water is tested. So that leaves out a bunch of possible problems that municipal water systems don't deal with. You'll forgive me for intruding. I spent my college education and working life in the food and food processing industry.

Cadmium, lead, iron, Aluminum, Nickel and zinc can all be leaching into the water your collecting unless the AC is specially designed to yield potable water. If it's not, it's not potable
 
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Blumlein 88

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The thing about water that's condensed on coils and distilled water in general is it's propensity to dissolve metals. If it's AC condensate you not be drinking it. Distilled water is a highly aggressive solvent. Especially if y heated for tea or coffee in stainless steel. I don't think there is a home test for heavy metals aside from lead and maybe arsenic. A search will turn up many things you should know
Drinking distilled water can also leach things out of you that you need. If you must drink distilled, stick with some good bourbon. ;)
 

EJ3

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Drinking distilled water can also leach things out of you that you need. If you must drink distilled, stick with some good bourbon. ;)
What we were doing was not to get drinking water (although some was used for that) It was primarily to get water that did not have the salt water incursion that the city water had at the time (and whatever else the city water system had in it (a very high amount of various particulates) which screwed with washing your hair or brushing your teeth.
I don't see where I wrote that we were drinking it (although I did compare it to the 5 gal bottled water) which is what most people drank there that I knew.
But, yes, distilled water is a solvent and will leach things that it touches prior to being consumed. It will also leach things out of your body. And most people who drink it, don't exclusively drink it. They are still likely getting minerals, etc from other sources that they drink & eat. Anything that a person drinks that was made with water was likely not made with distilled water.
But nowhere did I advocate drinking the distilled water that we made. If that was presumed...
 
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Tesla 'suddenly accelerates' into BC Ferries ramp, breaks in two.
tesla-crash-ferries.png;w=960
 

DonH56

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MediumRare

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EVs bad for the environment? This sort of article can be found in many places.

No offense to you, Don, but this is an embarrassingly bad article. Just two points as examples:
- Manufacturing: Yes, EVs are manufactured, but there is no comparison to other cars.
- Electricity: Aside from using out-of-date stats from 2021, again, no comparison of electricity to fossil fuels.

It makes me wonder who is promoting these hit jobs.
 

DonH56

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There are many articles pro and con EVs on the engineering sites I tend to visit. That article was from a general newsletter (not an engineering site) but the same points are raised elsewhere with more comparison data. EVs win on some things, lose on others. The overall cost of manufacture points to EVs as being "better" but it depends upon how you weigh the materials (and how/where you get them). Most of the "con" articles on engineering sites focus on the electrical infrastructure needed, i.e. the "grid", and the need to greatly increase the available power. The problem is how to do that, natch. I don't really follow, just saw the article in my inbox today.

I saw an article about the danger of EV's weight due to the large (heavy) batteries needed for extended range. That is something I had not thought about, how much heavier an EV is (or can be) compared to a gas vehicle. One proposed solution was a small battery for local trips, with a simple swap to a large battery for longer trips.

Skimming this thread, I am clearly among the lunatic lone-wolf fringe by being skeptical. Our house has copper plumbing, solar panels were prohibitively expensive when we got a quote a couple of years ago, switching from natural gas to electricity would significantly (hugely) raise our heating bill (plus electricity is not terribly reliable at our house), and an EV does not meet my needs though I have coworkers who love theirs.

Out - Don
 

Blumlein 88

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EVs bad for the environment? This sort of article can be found in many places.

That is a poor article. Has section on tire and brake related pollution. Okay maybe EVs are heavier and use more tires. OTOH, they do regen braking and have much less pollution from that. Is one overall much better than the other? I don't happen to know, but neither do they, they just throw it out there.

Then this about the author:
Katie is a Staff Writer at MUO with experience in content writing in travel and mental health.
 

DonH56

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Blumlein 88

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MediumRare

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There are many articles pro and con EVs on the engineering sites I tend to visit. That article was from a general newsletter (not an engineering site) but the same points are raised elsewhere with more comparison data. EVs win on some things, lose on others. The overall cost of manufacture points to EVs as being "better" but it depends upon how you weigh the materials (and how/where you get them). Most of the "con" articles on engineering sites focus on the electrical infrastructure needed, i.e. the "grid", and the need to greatly increase the available power. The problem is how to do that, natch. I don't really follow, just saw the article in my inbox today.

I saw an article about the danger of EV's weight due to the large (heavy) batteries needed for extended range. That is something I had not thought about, how much heavier an EV is (or can be) compared to a gas vehicle. One proposed solution was a small battery for local trips, with a simple swap to a large battery for longer trips.

Skimming this thread, I am clearly among the lunatic lone-wolf fringe by being skeptical. Our house has copper plumbing, solar panels were prohibitively expensive when we got a quote a couple of years ago, switching from natural gas to electricity would significantly (hugely) raise our heating bill (plus electricity is not terribly reliable at our house), and an EV does not meet my needs though I have coworkers who love theirs.

Out - Don
Sure, the grid needs to grow about 20% over the next 15 years. With normal development plus a bit extra, that’s not even remotely a major hurdle. Just normal course of business. But consider the huge development otherwise required to expand the fossil fuel industry. The Keystone XL pipeline is just one example, but innumerable other developments including offshore drilling rigs, refineries, fracking, etc., never seem to be discussed in an apples-to-apples way. Then there’s a nuclear option - even more complex, expensive, and impossibly time-consuming. Especially considering the equivalent of literally 100s of nuclear plants worth of wind, solar, and battery projects are being developed in the US already.

BTW, I use nat gas for heat because heat pumps are not ready for colder climates. They’re getting close, will be a few more years, tho. Solar should now generate about a 10% IRR IF your area is not too shady.
 

blueone

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BTW, I use nat gas for heat because heat pumps are not ready for colder climates. They’re getting close, will be a few more years, tho. Solar should now generate about a 10% IRR IF your area is not too shady.
A differing view on cold climate heat pumps:


Personally, I can't stand heat pumps. Their blowers are intended to operate continuously, and the blower noise is completely unacceptable. (Figure high 40s db to low 50s db.) The variable-speed units are better, but they're far from silent. In our area the electric utility company has a program where they modify your AC system to work that way too, the blower runs 24/7 during the summer months. No way.

We have whole-house natural gas fueled radiant heat, and it's amazingly efficient and effective. And completely silent, just what an audiophile wants.
 
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MediumRare

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Regarding the prior discussion of feedstock for battery recylcing. Recall, folks were wondering the chicken and egg of how to set up recycling before there are a large volume of EV batteries to recycle.
1676991730496
 

j_j

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A differing view on cold climate heat pumps:


Personally, I can't stand heat pumps. Their blowers are intended to operate continuously, and the blower noise is completely unacceptable. (Figure high 40s db to low 50s db.) The variable-speed units are better, but they're far from silent. In our area the electric utility company has a program where they modify your AC system to work that way too, the blower runs 24/7 during the summer months. No way.

We have whole-house natural gas fueled radiant heat, and it's amazingly efficient and effective. And completely silent, just what an audiophile wants.


Well, we have heat pumps. It was down to 20 F last night, and the heat pumps were doing fine. The ductless units are very, very quiet unless they are running full tilt, which they usually only do in the heat of summer, AND they are 1/3 the cost of natural gas heating with our rates outside Seattle.

I will say I would stick with ground storage heat pumps if I lived in Minneapolis or Bismarck, but air-fed units do fine here.
 

blueone

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Well, we have heat pumps. It was down to 20 F last night, and the heat pumps were doing fine. The ductless units are very, very quiet unless they are running full tilt, which they usually only do in the heat of summer, AND they are 1/3 the cost of natural gas heating with our rates outside Seattle.
I'm curious... how do you know the heat pumps are 1/3 the cost of heating with natural gas?
 
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