Featured on "Home Gadget Geeks" Episode #533 "Paul Braren with an Insteon Departure, the EV Decider and Heat Pumps for the Win – HGG533"

Posted by Paul Braren on May 6 2022 (updated on May 7 2022) in
  • Efficiency
  • Podcasts
  • Storage
  • Tesla

    • Thank you again Jim, for you being you, and for inviting me again! Always fun to catch up, here's some ideas, just in case you'd like to explore any of these a little further.

    Jim’s Podcast episode and video announcement post:

    Insteon

    InsteOFF.
    Follow-up on Insteon, which was a "tech success" that I mentioned last time I was on Home Gadget Geeks in July of 2020 episode 451 called "Paul Braren with Tech Challenges and Successes"

    Here's what just happened:

    Heat Pumps for EVs and for homes?

    High Temperature AWHP (Air to Water Heat Pump) to replace my gas furnace? I have baseboard heat, very common here in New England. This means natural gas is combusted in my basement to heat water, and an electric pump recirculates that water throughout my basement, first floor, and second floor zones as needed. Like my home, it's 27 years old, so I'm starting to shop around as I look to replace it.

    Wondering why heat pumps are a big deal? Well, oil independence is one very good reason, as is the move to sustainable living. But even bigger is cost. While the up front cost may be a bit more than just getting another gas boiler, long term, it should cost a bit less to heat my home with an AWHP than it did on gas, even here where electric rates are among the highest in the US.

    So much to talk about, kind of relates to Jim's recent Kara Water water-from-air episode. See also always amazing Technology Connections' Why Heat Pumps are Immensely Important Right Now.

    EVs

    Talk a bit more about range anxiety and automated driver assist systems, as discussed on Jon Biggs with Health and Fitness Tech Tracking – HGG530, at this spot, where Jon mentions long trips in his Model Y.

    See also my very relevant article with videos about this very topic:

    tesla-tips-boston-snow-nyc-traffic

    which highlights how much stress is reduced in heavy traffic both from the ADAS, and from the increased range at slower speeds.

    as well as my closely related article:

    evdecider

    which highlights the many challenges that face many folks across the US that live nowhere near a dealership that has EVs at sticker price, or nowhere near a Tesla Service Center.

    Many new EVs, I've got a partial list of the newest ones listed here, long story short, fast charging speeds matter greatly for road trips.

    Health

    Apple Watch, Virgin Pulse workplace challenge.

    See also Apple's Set up Cardio Fitness Levels which is about VO2 max, something I've just started to keep an eye on as I try to exercise more regularly.

    Also mention meal kits like Freshly, Home Chef, and RealEats, contrasting them with one another, and with cooking it yourself.

    Video

    May 5 2022 - The Average Guy TV - Paul Braren with an Insteon Departure, the EV Decider and Heat Pumps for the Win – HGG533

    See also at TinkerTry

    All Home Gadget Geeks appearances, in reverse-chronological order:

    TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here, not my employer's.

    Paul Braren, MCSE in 1998, VCP #2681 in 2005, vExpert 2014 to 2024, Veeam Vanguard Emeritus, 2015 to 2019.

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    After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop selling them in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. So far, Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh looking a little better for 2024. More cores, but still just PCIe Gen4 and DDR4. Looking ahead, I'm glad it's Pat Gelsinger at Intel's helm. I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when Pat was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.

    Easily update VMware ESXi at TinkerTry.com/easy-update-to-latest-esxi