I recently bought a solar powered battery pack which will charge USB devices. However, normally the pack itself would be charged from a USB power source since the solar charging takes too long. Solar Might be helpful when camping with no electric.

I didn't have the pack with me when I recently took my wife's car to the dealer. I was going to wait for it but they said they needed it another day. I had an iphone and an iPad with me. I called my wife and told her to come get me (50 min trip) and I waited.

Long story short, she got lost and I was almost out of battery before I called someone to pick me up and take me to her. Next time I will take the battery pack.

Cost originally was about $12,000 but that included the two wells, and ductwork for forced air. At a 20 year life, that's $600/yr for the furnace. (No maintenance was needed). Installed in 1992. House is about 2,300 sq ft.

Temp is 72 in winter, 74 in summer. Turned down 4 deg at night. Furnace also pre-heats our hot water but I'm not sure how much. Never considered it good enough to to be a bonus.

How-some-ever, in 2013, when I replaced the furnace (a control board went out I think and replacement was recommended) with discounts and government tax breaks, it only cost about $4,000 to replace. I keep monthly records of the bills. NOTE: in this area they give a 30% break on electric cost for a geothermal furnace and the furnace is on a separate meter. Current electric rate is $.108/kWh with $.03/kWh off for the furnace.

BTW, whereas a normal oil or gas furnace can do 85-95% efficiency at best, I have read that a geothermal furnace can do 400% since it is transferring heat from the ground.

$300/month? My figures are for a whole year. Less than $600 for heat/AC

I'm sure there is some type of antifreeze in your water. Mine does. But no biggie if there is a leak.

[quote=fetzler]Because you live in a cold location heat pumps are out.[/uquote]

Not so! I live in northern MI. And I believe my latitude (45 deg). Is higher than Jerry's.

I have Waterfurnace brand heat pump which is a closed loop system thru two wells. It also has a built in electric aux-heater which goes on when it gets to about 20 deg.

Yet my heat AND A/C bills for the last 7 years are:

$265. $210. $377. $502. $595. $544. $578

I used to burn wood when it got really cold to add to the furnace but haven't for the last 4years which explains the higher amounts. I'm on my 2nd Waterfurnace. First one lasted 20 years.

I use a lot of Insteon devices but also use a Universal Devices ISY994 controller which is programmable and does a nice job. I tried Zwave once but didn't like it at all. Will probably stick with the Insteon I have for the foreseeable future.

However, the ISY994 requires an Insteon PLM so that may not be a solution. Universal Devices is trying to source the PLMs.

https://www.universal-devices.com/store/

Yes, after all the dust has settled. But if most of the vehicles were gas powered, a lot of them wouldn't need to be refueled. EVs, not so much.

A lot of gas can be hauled by one truck. Electricity cannot. I agree with most of what you say but I don't think this country is ready for the EVs YET. But the politicians are pushing it waaay too early.

Great... what does it matter as long as it hold images? An SD card isn't a hard drive either but makes for a good backup.

Well, he asked for a "viewable hard drive". I would imagine you could store a lot of pictures on one of the devices.

Plus the fact that most neighborhoods don't have the electrical infrastructure to allow more than 3 EVs

Well, think about this? A few weeks ago there was a huge pileup of cars and trucks in PA in snow and cold weather. I am sure traffic was backed up for miles. Now image if all those miles of cars were electric, and soon their occupants would be freezing in their "dead" electric cars much less what a job it would be to haul them all to the nearest charging station.

No one is thinking this through.

There are "photo frames" which would suit you well. My wife currently has such on her wall. You slip a memory card in a slot and it will display the photos. This one must be 10 years old so I am sure there are better stuff out there now.

An example:
https://smile.amazon.com/Skyzoo-Digital-Photo-Frame-Remotely/dp/B09H3ZMNHK/ref=sr_1_3?crid=OISLRYRZ9GOV&keywords=photo%2Bframe%2Belectronic&qid=1650123362&sprefix=Photo%2Bframe%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-3&th=1

Father O'Malley rose from his bed one morning It was a fine spring day in his new west Texas mission parish. He walked to the window of his bedroom to get a deep breath of the beautiful day outside.

He then noticed there was a jackass lying dead in the middle of his front lawn. He promptly called the local police station.

The conversation went like this:
"Good morning. This is Sergeant Jones. How might I help you?”
"And the best of the day te yerself. This is Father O'Malley at St. Ann's Catholic Church. There's a jackass lying dead in me front lawn and would ye be so kind as to send a couple o'yer lads to take care of the matter ?"
Sergeant Jones, considering himself to be quite a wit and recognizing the foreign accent, thought he would have a little fun with the Good Father, replied, "Well now Father, it was always my impression that you people took care of the last rites !”

There was dead silence on the line for a long moment………
Father O'Malley then replied, "Aye, 'tis certainly true, but we are also obliged to notify the next of kin first, which is the reason for me call.

An old Doberman starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a young lion heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old Doberman thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep shit now! Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.

Just as the lion is about to leap, the old Doberman exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious lion! I wonder, if there are any more around here?

Hearing this, the young lion halts his attack in mid-stride, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!," says the lion, "That was close! That old Doberman nearly had me!

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the lion. So, off he goes.

The squirrel soon catches up with the lion, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the lion. The young lion is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old Doberman sees the lion coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet.

Just when they get close enough to hear, the old Doberman says, "Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another lion!



Moral of This Story

Don't mess with the old dogs. Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! Bull Shit and brilliance only come with age and experience.

If you don't send this to two 'old' goats right away, there will be two fewer people laughing in the world.

Of course, I am in no way insinuating that you are old, just 'youthfully challenged.