Blaat1234

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Eh, good thing factory chicken is a thing of the past in The Netherlands, it's okay vs decent vs good.

Rondeel is decent: https://youtu.be/zwleQLKU-UI?si=kh7T6b_bV0HMXjzO

Label Rouge (France) is good: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aHlCEIAOpEk

Yeah sure it's €4 to €5 per 10 eggs instead of €2.50 but there's a big difference in quality. You get watery whites, tasteless yolks and paper thin shells with the cheapest eggs. Same for chickens, the Label Rouge ones are really small at 1.5 kg in comparison to faster growing ones.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

That contradicts statements on https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/ex-bank-ceo-gets-24-years-after-falling-for-crypto-scam-causing-bank-collapse/

Victims may never fully recover losses, DOJ says

In the community, people are still struggling to recover, Mitchell told NBC News, noting that some people lost up to 80 percent of their retirement savings. For at least one woman, retirement is impossible now, Mitchell said, and for another local woman, it has become difficult to pay for her 93-year-old mother's nursing home.

US Attorney Kate E. Brubacher said that it's hard to say when or if victims will be made whole again.

But it seems like they didn't let it fail completely and transferred all assets and most liabilities to Dream First Bank? That would be nice for the granny with more than 250K in the account.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Plenty of people lost most of their retirement savings - FDIC only goes up to 250k which isn't enough for super frugal FIRE. And definitely not enough when you get old and medical bills are crazy high in Murica.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago

Here's a link to a consumer review org that actually tested it with standardized loads and measured drying times. They don't work, takes just as long and cost the same in electricity.

https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/laundry-and-cleaning/dryers/articles/dryer-ball-review

It's sad that nowadays most "reviews" are just going by feelz and not by numbers. The placebo is strong with this category.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

A double espresso from 16g of beans is less than 40ml and stronger than a bigger lungo from a nespresso pod (~7g coffee).

Smaller cups tend to be stronger. That same double espresso with 130g ice and 100ml milk and blend until ice is crushed makes a pretty strong frappuccino.

From espresso to lungo / americano to Starbucks recreations, they all basically use the same dose but wildly varying cup size.

Cup to mug of the same strength filter coffee makes a difference though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

The expected return part is the main tax on billionaires. With capital gain you can hold on forever and never get taxed, and if you die you completely skip capital gains tax with inheritance. Effective tax rate is near zero. This trick obviously only works for people who don't need their invested money, buy and never ever sell.

Compare that to NL's tax. Invested? You pay 6.17% x 32% = 1.97% on your investment account, immediately, no deferral possible, year after year. And the rate went up to 36% in 2024 to reduce passive income's rate advantage over income from work.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

The 200% seasonal efficiency is a bit off, Nordic models, measured with the "colder" European climate zone, get 300%+ and have guaranteed output at -25C / -13F. Example model from Mitsubishi:

It's worse than 5.5x or 4.3x in warmer areas but the right model air source heat pumps work fine down to pretty damned cold. Norway and Sweden have a ton of them as they spend a ton of energy on heating and this saves homeowners a ton of money every year.

Best models optimized for average climate now reach 5.5x or better in the green, moderate zone, SCOP of 4.3 is actually pretty terrible but this one is built to be ice proof.

Example latest bestest heat pump with 6+ seasonal COP:

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

We have two main models here, one with a sizable compressor enough to heat a whole home (7-20 kW heat) and a water tank on the side which doesn't need resistive backup, or smaller, hybrid models that have a few hundred W compressor and maybe 1-3 kW heat output. The latter are almost all backed up by a gas boiler in a hybrid setup, usually uses zero gas until you run it dry - then the 25ish kW gas powered furnace can provide enough power to quickly fill a bath or send tons of hot water to a rain shower.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Efficient with money means you get more of that world and environment as savings per dollar.

Would you choose paying €4000 to replace 600 kWh of heat pump boiler hot water with solar boiler, or 4000 kWh of basically a whole home's energy usage including hot water?

The solar boiler doesn't even heat well during all seasons, mine still uses gas to back it up at least half the days.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

[citation required]

Unsubsidized PV is around €1 to €1.5 per Wp, IKEA offers 4200 Wp for €4321 right now. That saves at least €800 off my power bill.

A solar boiler starts at €2500 at minimum and easily goes up to €4000. It saves me €250 per year in gas. Or I could get a heat pump boiler for €1500 and save 80% of the €250.

Thermal solar was a thing when PV was stupid expensive but it makes no sense in ROI now, with PV you can power your hot water, home heat and everything else for about the same price as 2-3 solar heat collectors and a boiler.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Powered solar heat pumps sanitize themselves once a week if temperature doesn't reach 70C at least once. Same for heat pump boilers, they are usually set to 50C but goes up to 70C weekly.

On solar, there is always a downstream heater that can heat cold water to 60C+ and must be set at least that high for legionella. My setup is like that, unpowered solar tank for free heat if available, and gas boosts it up to safe temperature and does all the work in the winter.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

What crazy ass compressor needs 220V 30A? Here in Netherlands heat pump is standard as new gas connections are banned for environmental reason, and most homes heat water and the whole house on 7 kW heat, 1.5 kW electric, or about 7A on 240V.

The backup element which only runs at extreme cold outside is a few kW yes but for hot water we just let it run dry and the tap gets colder, no big deal.

Dedicated hot water only boilers have a 300-700W compressor and sometimes a 1.5 kW backup coil. If electrical connection is an issue, just look for a pure compressor driven boiler.

 

My first try after watching a few videos on YouTube. Tiny bread with 100g of a week old starter fed a day ago, 200g flour and too much water for me to handle well, it went a bit pancake-y. Turned out fine, lots of big air pockets, can't wait to bake more.

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