Enough with the thinking about moving - time for actual moving

This will be spread out over a few posts in this thread as I have barely made a dent in unpacking, although I have managed to get my computer set up and connected to the internet. In case you were wondering why I wasn't posting my Connections results to the Wordle thread, this is why.

Monday 7/27 - most of my stuff is already packed; I had something like six bookcases full of books, plus a few boxes of comic books and magazines that I collect. I have a flight to Vegas booked for 7 PM, so I am hoping that they can get everything into the truck in six hours or so. Apparently, the estimates you hear about how long it takes to move assume that the people moving have done little, if any, packing of their own in advance (among other things, they probably either don't know where to get packing boxes and tape, or they figure, why should they bother paying for stuff that the movers will supply for free anyway), but considering my book collection, I did quite a bit of packing in advance. I also donated about 1/3 of my books to the local library. The movers finish up in plenty of time for me to get an Uber to the airport and catch my flight, which had one of the smoothest Vegas landings that I can remember - normally the winds push the plane around when trying to get into Harry Reid.
For various reasons, the move-in would not be until Wednesday 8/6, so I book 9 nights at Sunset Station, which is the closest hotel to my new house that doesn't want something like $200 a night.
For an outlier hotel, there didn't seem much worth playing in terms of slots/VP, but it did have a halfway-decent blackjack selection; I think there was even a $25 double deck 3-2 game at some point.

Tuesday 7/28 - I called for an Uber to drive me to the Ford dealership on Decatur just north of I-11 to pick up my new electric Mustang. For some reason, I thought the hotel's main entrance was on the south side, so when I saw that the "Uber arrival point" was on the north side, I ended up going in the opposite direction. It took a few minutes and a phone call from the driver to get me to the right spot. I will upload photos of the car at some point.

Almost forgot...when I got into my new car, I realized that I did not have my eyeglasses...as I had put them into a moving box by mistake. Fortunately, I can see well enough without them to drive.

When I went out to inspect and measure the house on my last Vegas trip at the end of June, I had just gotten off the plane in Oakland when my realtor told me that somebody had reported a water leak of some sort. I had her send someone by to see if it was still there, and they said they didn't see anything, but I had the water company turn off the water to the house just in case. I went back to the house on the 28th and manually turned the water back on; nothing appeared to be leaking. A few days later, I get an email from the water department telling me about an observed "water wastage" - water was pouring from the side of my house onto the street, which is not a good thing in a water-starved area like Vegas - and I had to get it fixed soon or start paying fines that could escalate to $1280 a day. I assume it's a problem with the outdoor watering system, which uses drip irrigation, but the controls are inside of a locked box, and the previous owners did not leave me the key. For that matter, they did not leave me anything, including things like the manuals to the oven and washer/dryer. Fortunately, it uses a generic key, which I can order from Amazon. Even better - it turns out that the box was unlocked the whole time, and the door was just stuck. I turn on the water, and hear a gushing sound; I go out to the spot in the ground where the main water line feeds the watering system, and see a manifold doing its best impression of the Caesar's fountain. It turns out that, somehow, a cap that allows/prevents access to the outgoing water line (somebody told me it's there so you can add nutrients to the water) had its top pop off; it is supposed to screw on, but it appears to be two parts, and the top part just snapped off. A quick trip to Lowe's, and...I discover that the part I got was far too big. A quick trip to Home Depot, and this cap fits fine; so far, no water leakage. The only problem is, I wonder how much of an effect leaving the water off for the better part of a month had on what few plants I have outside.

The joys of home ownership.

Best of luck on your move. Keep us updated.

After ten days or so of going through pretty much every fast food place close to Sunset Station, plus a sitdown or two (what is it with BBQ places being skimpy on the meat?), the moving van finally gets to the house. Thanks to my visit a month earlier, I have pretty much everything worked out as to what furniture goes where, so the move goes relatively fast.
Time to set things up. First thing I need to do: find my toolbox. Second thing I need to do: find the nearest Home Depot after realizing that, apparently, I left my toolbox back at my old house.
Strange - my circuit breaker box has a switch for "the hot tub," which I don't have. In fact, I specifically told my realtor to find a house without a pool or a hot tub.
I notice that the cable internet connection in the room where I want it isn't working, so I have a cable technician come out to turn on that particular jack. I then ask him about a cable plug sticking out of the wall in my kitchen; he tells me that is a satellite dish input.

The next day, I have a gas company serviceman come out to turn on my gas and check my appliances - and he notices that my hot water heater is leaking at the top (where the water supply enters it), so he shuts off the supply. He also notices that there is too much water in the catch surrounding the bottom to be able for the pilot to light. I also discover that, while I have a gas-powered fire table in my backyard, somebody had removed all of the piping that connects the gas line to the table; it is "just for show."
I call a plumber, highly recommended (i.e. three people on the local community page on Facebook suggested them); he shows up the next day, says that I need a new one (and since the old one is about 10 years old, I agree), and, six hours or so later, I have a new one hooked up and ready to run. While he is there, I show him my kitchen sink that isn't working; he pulls down the hot/cold handle, and water comes out. Don't look at me; before now, the only kitchen sinks I had seen either had separate hot/cold knobs or one with a left-right horizontal temperature control handle that you lifted to turn on the water.

Now, the hard part: finding places near my house where I can charge my electric car. I have an adapter that lets me use Tesla chargers, so I went to the ones on the roof of the garage at Green Valley Ranch, but (a) I have to part the car at an angle in order for the charger's hose to reach my car - according to Ford, Tesla "knows about" this issue, but unless I am at the far left charger, I have to take up two spaces, and (b) I have to jump through some hoops to get the charging to start.
Lesson learned: if you want to charge at the Walmart near Sunset and I-11 and they are full, there is an unmarked area where you are expected to line up.
I am looking into getting a high-power charger for the house; I can plug it into the existing 120V outlet, but it's rather slow.

When we were house shopping a few years ago, we saw that someone had run a high capacity extension cord from the dryer outlet to their parking spot. This might be useful in the interim, while you're considering where you want your personal fast charger installed.

I use the trickle charger on my Honda and it gives me about thirty miles when charged overnight. As I rarely drive more than 250 miles a week, it works out fine. It's a rare week when the car doesn't sit for a full day, and I'll get the range back up in the mid-250s.

Here's the latest update - it's almost as if my house is turning into a remake of The Money Pit, but then again, doesn't every house move have this happen to a degree:

While I have found a few places nearby where I can charge my car (there is a covered garage at Green Valley Ranch that has charging stations more suited to my car than the Tesla ones on the roof), I pretty much just charge my car at home for now, as I don't use it every day. Upgrading to a 240v system is on my to do list.

I also need to have my yard looked at; having the water turned off for the better part of a month looks like it took its toll on some of the plants. They're almost all desert plants, as there just isn't enough water to warrant anybody having anything closed to lawns, especially with the summer heat. In fact, there are restrictions on watering; no watering on Sundays; in summer months (May through August), no watering between 11 AM and 7 PM; in the 2-month spring and fall periods, only three days a week; in the 4-month winter period, only one day a week.

Time to do my laundry. First, my unmentionables; the washer goes through the wash cycle fine, but when it gets to the rinse cycle, it stops cold. They look clean enough, and the washer has been drained, so I just toss them in the dryer. Next, my colors, which use cold water; literally nothing happens - the detergent pod is still intact. Between the two, I assume that the problem is with the cold water feed, so just this time, I run the colors through hot water; they seem to be fine. The washer and dryer look a bit dated anyway, so I have them replaced. You got it; the same problem - it's almost certainly the cold water feed. I'm having a plumber check it out this week.

Meanwhile, on the TV side of things, I have decided to become a cordcutter and stick to what I can get on my antenna plus the streaming services for the major networks (Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+, Hulu, and I will add Fox One when the package with the new ESPN service becomes available in early October), plus Amazon Prime (mainly for the free 2-day shipping) and Max (which I can get packaged with Disney+ and Hulu). The only problem is, the locations of the antennas of Las Vegas's Fox and NBC affiliates make watching live programming on those channels impossible.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Here's the latest update - it's almost as if my house is turning into a remake of The Money Pit, but then again, doesn't every house move have this happen to a degree:

While I have found a few places nearby where I can charge my car (there is a covered garage at Green Valley Ranch that has charging stations more suited to my car than the Tesla ones on the roof), I pretty much just charge my car at home for now, as I don't use it every day. Upgrading to a 240v system is on my to do list.

I also need to have my yard looked at; having the water turned off for the better part of a month looks like it took its toll on some of the plants. They're almost all desert plants, as there just isn't enough water to warrant anybody having anything closed to lawns, especially with the summer heat. In fact, there are restrictions on watering; no watering on Sundays; in summer months (May through August), no watering between 11 AM and 7 PM; in the 2-month spring and fall periods, only three days a week; in the 4-month winter period, only one day a week.

Time to do my laundry. First, my unmentionables; the washer goes through the wash cycle fine, but when it gets to the rinse cycle, it stops cold. They look clean enough, and the washer has been drained, so I just toss them in the dryer. Next, my colors, which use cold water; literally nothing happens - the detergent pod is still intact. Between the two, I assume that the problem is with the cold water feed, so just this time, I run the colors through hot water; they seem to be fine. The washer and dryer look a bit dated anyway, so I have them replaced. You got it; the same problem - it's almost certainly the cold water feed. I'm having a plumber check it out this week.

Meanwhile, on the TV side of things, I have decided to become a cordcutter and stick to what I can get on my antenna plus the streaming services for the major networks (Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+, Hulu, and I will add Fox One when the package with the new ESPN service becomes available in early October), plus Amazon Prime (mainly for the free 2-day shipping) and Max (which I can get packaged with Disney+ and Hulu). The only problem is, the locations of the antennas of Las Vegas's Fox and NBC affiliates make watching live programming on those channels impossible.
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The home inspector didn't catch the water problem?.

The guy who inspected my place ran a cycle on the dishwasher and washing machine. They even asked me to put a back siphon on the outside spigot, close a small gap around the pipes under the sink in the drywall, replace the microwave airduct and filters and a bunch ot other small stuff I felt totally unessisary. The dumbest one was that they wanted a better drain stop in the bathtub.

Quote: AxelWolf

The home inspector didn't catch the water problem?.

No - the water was turned off when it was inspected. Had it been turned on I would have received a nasty letter from the water department concerning that leak in the sprinkler system caused by the broken cap that I mentioned earlier.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Quote: AxelWolf

The home inspector didn't catch the water problem?.

No - the water was turned off when it was inspected. Had it been turned on I would have received a nasty letter from the water department concerning that leak in the sprinkler system caused by the broken cap that I mentioned earlier.
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Next time, be sure the water is turned on for the day. I'm sorry to say but it sounds like your inspection was a waste of money and I hope you didn't buy the proverbial money pit. The good thing is houses in your part of Vegas were built by rock solid developers so you should have good bones, at a minimum.

Quote: billryan

Next time, be sure the water is turned on for the day. I'm sorry to say but it sounds like your inspection was a waste of money and I hope you didn't buy the proverbial money pit. The good thing is houses in your part of Vegas were built by rock solid developers so you should have good bones, at a minimum.
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Actually, the inspection caught a number of things - for example, there was a faulty light switch in the master bathroom.

And just as I was about to say, "I may have exaggerated a little about it being a money pit," the plumber I called in to see what was wrong with the cold water feed to my washing machine tells me that the reason there is no water is, it doesn't look like it is connected to the water supply. (I have no idea how the previous owners washed their clothes, unless it was entirely with hot water, and even then, that means that none of the rinse cycles worked.) I will see if I can get an insurance company to cover the repairs on this one.

The best of luck. Hopefully, you have a contingency budget for these things, and it's more of a pain in the ass situation than anything serious.

[duplicate]

How are you with tools? PEX plumbing is now the standard and it is very easy to do. Last place I bought had a bunch of plumbing problems, so I bought a set of PEX tools (basically a crimper and a cutter) and between that and the dirt-cheap PEX tubing and reasonably cheap fittings, did it all for about $200. You will need to apply hand and upper body strength comparable to changing a tire to use the PEX tools.

Quote: billryan

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Quote: AxelWolf

The home inspector didn't catch the water problem?.

No - the water was turned off when it was inspected. Had it been turned on I would have received a nasty letter from the water department concerning that leak in the sprinkler system caused by the broken cap that I mentioned earlier.
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Next time, be sure the water is turned on for the day. I'm sorry to say but it sounds like your inspection was a waste of money and I hope you didn't buy the proverbial money pit. The good thing is houses in your part of Vegas were built by rock solid developers so you should have good bones, at a minimum.
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As best I understand residential lending (I'm in commercial lending which is different) ...

The home inspectors are for the lender's benefit, not the buyer's, and won't generally look for things that aren't potential hazards to the asset. That would explain the light switch but it doesn't explain the domestic water being noted or the leak in the water heater, as water can be highly damaging. Perhaps he/she was simply told domestic water was off? Perhaps only the landscape water was off but the domestic water was on?

Lenders rely on your insurance (which you're required to buy) for any casualty, and on your own maintenance to keep the home's systems working. You can get a warranty but those aren't worth the paper they're printed on and I don't buy them any more. I went through the process once to get a replacement washing machine and while they eventually replaced it, it was bottom-of-the-line, took about 6 weeks, and cost me about $300 in visit fees. I could have gotten a much better new one in a few days for ~$600.

If you want a home inspection done with you in mind, you have to hire it yourself. They'll do a good job and find all sorts of damage and deferred maintenance, but whether or not you can get the Seller to pay for it is another matter. As a Seller, I never did; "as is" means "as is." Buyers invariably wait until minutes before their money goes hard and threaten the contract if I didn't allow for repairs, but I only lost 1 contract that way.

The best thing your own inspector can let you know is whether or not you should terminate the contract before you close, which can be worth the $600 or so to hire them, depending on how comfortable you are with home systems. Also, generally speaking, if the home is newer (<15 years or so), the only thing you really need to watch out for is water infiltration which is less of a problem here in the desert. Supply leaks should be evident as realtors should not let the supply lines be shut off.

My last piece of advice: I'm not a fan of the big HVAC/plumbing companies like Bumble Breeze, Sierra, or Goettl. I can name at least 3 occasions where they recommended work that did not need doing or did not properly make a fix. I found other providers who were VERY good, priced right (not cheap), and things work when they're done. My $0.02.

I've always hired my own inspector but it's been for cash sales. I thought the price included insurance for things he missed,but I've never had an issue.

That makes sense, no lender means no lender's inspection. But I thought an engineering report (for lack of a better term) always included language saying, to the effect of, we could have missed something because we didn't tear the walls out. I haven't heard of an engr report including insurance ... is that a residential thing?

Quote: ThatDonGuy

And just as I was about to say, "I may have exaggerated a little about it being a money pit," the plumber I called in to see what was wrong with the cold water feed to my washing machine tells me that the reason there is no water is, it doesn't look like it is connected to the water supply. (I have no idea how the previous owners washed their clothes, unless it was entirely with hot water, and even then, that means that none of the rinse cycles worked.) I will see if I can get an insurance company to cover the repairs on this one.
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It turns out that it was connected to the main water supply - but, for some strange reason, the part that connected it to the main supply was blocked for some reason. It has been fixed, and the washer appears to work normally now.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Quote: ThatDonGuy

And just as I was about to say, "I may have exaggerated a little about it being a money pit," the plumber I called in to see what was wrong with the cold water feed to my washing machine tells me that the reason there is no water is, it doesn't look like it is connected to the water supply. (I have no idea how the previous owners washed their clothes, unless it was entirely with hot water, and even then, that means that none of the rinse cycles worked.) I will see if I can get an insurance company to cover the repairs on this one.
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It turns out that it was connected to the main water supply - but, for some strange reason, the part that connected it to the main supply was blocked for some reason. It has been fixed, and the washer appears to work normally now.
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Fantastic. It sounds like you dodged a major expense.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Quote: ThatDonGuy

And just as I was about to say, "I may have exaggerated a little about it being a money pit," the plumber I called in to see what was wrong with the cold water feed to my washing machine tells me that the reason there is no water is, it doesn't look like it is connected to the water supply. (I have no idea how the previous owners washed their clothes, unless it was entirely with hot water, and even then, that means that none of the rinse cycles worked.) I will see if I can get an insurance company to cover the repairs on this one.
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It turns out that it was connected to the main water supply - but, for some strange reason, the part that connected it to the main supply was blocked for some reason. It has been fixed, and the washer appears to work normally now.
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Is the water softener working properly?

Quote: Dieter

Is the water softener working properly?
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No - in fact, it is not working at all - but the problem was not caused by a hard water-based clog. That was my first thought.

I am looking into whether to replace it with another softener or a "home filtration system." I have heard pros and cons about both.

Meanwhile, it appears that I dodged a bit of a bullet with my DMV appointment, as the recent hacking incident is making it impossible to register cars, although I did get the dealer's form that I needed weeks ago; it is getting a DMV appointment that is the hard part.

Right now, my "to do" list consists of:
(a) Finding a doctor that takes my insurance and is accepting new patients - they all seem to be on the other side of Vegas from where I live, but there's nothing new about that; I used to have to drive quite a bit from my previous house to my doctor; I just want one that doesn't make me show up for, say, a 9:00 appointment but then doesn't actually see me until 11:00 (and twice now, my insurance website's list of doctors has sent me to hospitals where the doctors have admitting privileges instead of their offices);
(b) Repair / replace the furnace, and figure out how to replace the furnace filters if the thing is in the attic;
(c) Consider getting a 220V home charger for my car, which would require an electrician to install;
(d) I could use a new refrigerator, but that's on the back burner for now.

In 2017, there was some sort of issue with the Vegas DMV, and they were giving out appointments almost a month out. I drove down to Laughlin and was able to walk in and get my license and auto transferred. I knew people who went to Parumph at the same time.
They wouldn't take appointments but allowed walk-ins.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

...<SNIP>..

(b) Repair / replace the furnace, and figure out how to replace the furnace filters if the thing is in the attic;

...

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When there is HVAC equipment located in an attic (or rooftop mounted) the air filter will most commonly be located at the return air intake(s), rather than where the systems mechanicals are. It will most often be readily accessible from inside the living space without going to the attic (or roof), by simply removing the register (secured by a few screws) that covers the opening to the return-air duct. In that case, the return air opening will often (though not always) be located on the ceiling somewhere, or else high on an interior wall in your living area.

If that is what you have, I would expect it to be clearly larger than the more numerous & smaller registers covering the multiple openings of the ducts that are transmitting air coming FROM the HVAC system, instead of the one (or two) going back TO it. I've had multiple properties, both single-family & multi-unit places, constructed with that kind of arrangement, and it's something that's quite common in the desert, where basements (and the excavations of rock-hard desert soil they require) are relatively UN-common in residential construction.

I suggenst getting a routine "tune-up" service from an HVAC contractor, and have them demonstrate what you need to know. They will also note what specific equipment (stuff like brand & model number(s) etc) you have to better facilitate any future repair call needs, as well as the age and condition and estimated lifespan of your A/C & heating mechanicals. (Though a few may try to use it as a "sales opportunity" for stuff you don't need. Sorry I can't make a recommendation - the contractors I've done business with don't operate in the LV valley.)

My building in Bisbee had two swamp coolers mounted on the roof, but the filters were located at waist-level in a hallway.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

(c) Consider getting a 220V home charger for my car, which would require an electrician to install;

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That might not be worth it. I have a plug-in hybrid myself, with about 25 miles in electric range, do you have something like that too? Mine takes about 2:20 to charge at a public charger (like the free ones at Station casinos or Silverton) and about 7 hours at a typical 110 VAC outlet. So that can be done at home while you sleep without any special hookup. And I did the calculations and at the local electric rates, the cost of charging on my own dime equates to around $2/gallon gas. With gas available around $3/gal. it's hard for me to get too arsed about charging, worth an extension cord but not an electrician. Assuming you have the same kind of rig.

My all electric charges about 35 miles overnight, a little less when the heat is ridiculous. Once in a while, I won't use the car for 48 hours and it will max out at 280.
Honda would have given me $500 towards a fast charger, and TEP gives $800 meter credit for most owners, but not on shared meters. There are a number of free chargers around the city, but they are not convenient for me. The local library gives a half-hour free charge, but you have to park, go inside, show your id, and they check to make sure you didn't already get a freebie that day.

Quote: AutomaticMonkey

Quote: ThatDonGuy

(c) Consider getting a 220V home charger for my car, which would require an electrician to install;

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That might not be worth it. I have a plug-in hybrid myself, with about 25 miles in electric range, do you have something like that too?
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No - mine is entirely electric.

There are some (apparently) free chargers near me - I live about 6 miles from Green Valley Ranch, which has four ChargePoint chargers in one of its parking structures (there is also a row of Tesla ones, which I can use with an adapter the dealership gave me, on the roof, but I don't think those are free) - but aren't the free ones slow? With my current 120v setup, I can get about 2/3 of a full charge in 36 hours, but that includes the slowdown after it gets to 80% full.

Meanwhile...I finally found a doctor that took my insurance. The main problem was, my insurance provider (Federal Blue Cross/Blue Shield) has a list of doctors, but (a) just about every doctor in the area is shown as working at a clinic, or no longer works at the listed address, and a separate list of companies that take the insurance, but for the most part, those doctors aren't on the list, which makes it harder to find them. The bad news is, the earliest available appointment is in 2 months; I'll have to see if I can talk my old doctor into renewing my prescriptions in the meantime.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Quote: AutomaticMonkey

Quote: ThatDonGuy

(c) Consider getting a 220V home charger for my car, which would require an electrician to install;

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That might not be worth it. I have a plug-in hybrid myself, with about 25 miles in electric range, do you have something like that too?
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No - mine is entirely electric.

There are some (apparently) free chargers near me - I live about 6 miles from Green Valley Ranch, which has four ChargePoint chargers in one of its parking structures (there is also a row of Tesla ones, which I can use with an adapter the dealership gave me, on the roof, but I don't think those are free) - but aren't the free ones slow? With my current 120v setup, I can get about 2/3 of a full charge in 36 hours, but that includes the slowdown after it gets to 80% full.
...
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Ah, very different thing then. Those ChargePoints will give you 6 KW of charging and your 110V rig is giving you about 1.5 KW. So they'll work 4 times faster. There are higher powered free ChargePoints available and I think they are at the Fashion Show Mall on the Strip. That doesn't help me because the hybrid type of battery arrangement can't charge that fast; these batteries can only charge at 20% of the discharge rate. But you have much more battery so you can probably charge at the rate a Tesla does.

I was under 10% when I stopped at the Walmart in Casa Grande. Hooked up and went to Taco Bell for a sit-down lunch. When I got back about twenty minutes later, I had more than enough to get me the 75 miles back home.I stop charging once it hits 80%. Having a 240-mile range instead of 300 miles isn't worth the time as the charge turns to a trickle after 80%.
The absolute pleasure in EVs is trying to get a tire repaired or buy a new one. The new Honda EVs don't come with spares, and to get a rated tire mounted on a rim to act as a spare is almost $700.

Quote: billryan

I was under 10% when I stopped at the Walmart in Casa Grande. Hooked up and went to Taco Bell for a sit-down lunch. When I got back about twenty minutes later, I had more than enough to get me the 75 miles back home.I stop charging once it hits 80%. Having a 240-mile range instead of 300 miles isn't worth the time as the charge turns to a trickle after 80%.
The absolute pleasure in EVs is trying to get a tire repaired or buy a new one. The new Honda EVs don't come with spares, and to get a rated tire mounted on a rim to act as a spare is almost $700.
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Sadly, many new cars are not coming with spare tires. I believe Honda has free roadside assistance for three years. I have only used it once on my CRV but it was no hassle at all.

Quote: DRich

Quote: billryan

I was under 10% when I stopped at the Walmart in Casa Grande. Hooked up and went to Taco Bell for a sit-down lunch. When I got back about twenty minutes later, I had more than enough to get me the 75 miles back home.I stop charging once it hits 80%. Having a 240-mile range instead of 300 miles isn't worth the time as the charge turns to a trickle after 80%.
The absolute pleasure in EVs is trying to get a tire repaired or buy a new one. The new Honda EVs don't come with spares, and to get a rated tire mounted on a rim to act as a spare is almost $700.
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Sadly, many new cars are not coming with spare tires. I believe Honda has free roadside assistance for three years. I have only used it once on my CRV but it was no hassle at all.
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I have that, but I'm not sure what good it is if you get a flat tire far from home. Will they drive you home and then take the car to a shop?
Honda did provide a can of Fix-A-Flat.

Quote: billryan

Quote: DRich

Quote: billryan

I was under 10% when I stopped at the Walmart in Casa Grande. Hooked up and went to Taco Bell for a sit-down lunch. When I got back about twenty minutes later, I had more than enough to get me the 75 miles back home.I stop charging once it hits 80%. Having a 240-mile range instead of 300 miles isn't worth the time as the charge turns to a trickle after 80%.
The absolute pleasure in EVs is trying to get a tire repaired or buy a new one. The new Honda EVs don't come with spares, and to get a rated tire mounted on a rim to act as a spare is almost $700.
link to original post

Sadly, many new cars are not coming with spare tires. I believe Honda has free roadside assistance for three years. I have only used it once on my CRV but it was no hassle at all.
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I have that, but I'm not sure what good it is if you get a flat tire far from home. Will they drive you home and then take the car to a shop?
Honda did provide a can of Fix-A-Flat.
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It's always good to have a plug kit. That's a Walmart item. First you find the nail or the screw and use your Leatherman tool (which of course you are not traveling without!) to get it out of there. Then there's a procedure- you use the rasp they give you with the plug kit to ream out the hole to a uniform size, you put a plug into this device with a hole at the end, looks like a big sewing machine needle, put the rubber cement in the hole of the tire and on the plug, and drive the plug into the hole with the tool, only halfway, and pull the tool out while the plug stays in place. The amount of force you need to make it go in will make you confident that it will stay in. Then you can reinflate with the Fix-A-Flat or if you have a pump or compressor with you use that. I've already had to do that since coming to the city and I've done it many times in the past. Good thing to be able to do. Saves a lot of money.

Quote: billryan

I have that, but I'm not sure what good it is if you get a flat tire far from home. Will they drive you home and then take the car to a shop?
Honda did provide a can of Fix-A-Flat.
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They will tow it to a shop for free but I don't know if they take you home or not.

"24-Hour Emergency Towing
Honda Roadside Assistance will arrange to transport your vehicle to the
nearest Honda dealer in the event of a mechanical disablement that renders
it inoperative. Your vehicle must be accessible to our dispatched transport
unit (as determined by our local facility) to receive this service."

I have a plug in hybrid I guess you would call it. I charge using an 120v extension cord(probably not recommended by the manufacturer) that goes over the sidewalk to my parking spot. I get about 35 miles of range. I often drive 100+ miles a day back to back. An all electric vehicle would never work for me because 250 miles range is still not enough for me and then it would take literally 2 days for it to charge. I almost never use a public charger and I’m certainly never going to pay to use one. Some casinos have chargers. Of course the Teslas always take up all the spots. Or the charger is broken. Or a giant gas suv likes to park there and take up 2 spots. I don’t even bother really. I just use gas. I talked to my neighbor who recently got a Tesla. Her townhouse is situated farther from her parking spot so she isn’t able to charge at home. She said she charges at various public places. As it’s a Tesla she can get 50 or 100 miles in 20 or so minutes. I guess there’s a whole rate structure with the public chargers dependent on time of day and demand and she said sometimes the rates are up to 50 cents a kwhr. I think residential rates are around 15 cents right now. So for me that’s totally not worth it, I’ll just use gas.

Many cars these days don’t have spares, it’s not an EV thing. I have gotten a few flats over the years. Thankfully none were too inconvenient or left me stranded. The fix a flat is kind of useless. That only works if the hole is very small and not in the sidewall. In which case you can usually just fill it with air and it will hold enough until you can get somewhere. It is kind of interesting that after 100+ years of cars there really hasn’t been a better tire solution invented.

I've had my electric Honda since early December, and there has been only one day when the car's range was a problem. Rather than backtrack twenty miles to the closest charger, I decided to push the limits and go on to the next one. I made it, but there was a whole lot of unnecessary stress as I didn't think we'd make it.
Tucson has a couple of dozen free chargers, as do most cities. I've never needed one. A 250-mile range works great for me, and I suspect it would work for the vast majority of drivers. I don't know what apartment dwellers do about plugging in the cars, but that is not my problem.

Quote: Sandybestdog

I have a plug in hybrid I guess you would call it. I charge using an 120v extension cord(probably not recommended by the manufacturer) that goes over the sidewalk to my parking spot. I get about 35 miles of range. I often drive 100+ miles a day back to back. An all electric vehicle would never work for me because 250 miles range is still not enough for me and then it would take literally 2 days for it to charge. I almost never use a public charger and I’m certainly never going to pay to use one. Some casinos have chargers. Of course the Teslas always take up all the spots. Or the charger is broken. Or a giant gas suv likes to park there and take up 2 spots. I don’t even bother really. I just use gas. I talked to my neighbor who recently got a Tesla. Her townhouse is situated farther from her parking spot so she isn’t able to charge at home. She said she charges at various public places. As it’s a Tesla she can get 50 or 100 miles in 20 or so minutes. I guess there’s a whole rate structure with the public chargers dependent on time of day and demand and she said sometimes the rates are up to 50 cents a kwhr. I think residential rates are around 15 cents right now. So for me that’s totally not worth it, I’ll just use gas.

Many cars these days don’t have spares, it’s not an EV thing. I have gotten a few flats over the years. Thankfully none were too inconvenient or left me stranded. The fix a flat is kind of useless. That only works if the hole is very small and not in the sidewall. In which case you can usually just fill it with air and it will hold enough until you can get somewhere. It is kind of interesting that after 100+ years of cars there really hasn’t been a better tire solution invented.
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Why is it okay to use public gas tanks but not public chargers? Do you get better mileage with gas than with electricity? I don't know how hybrids work.

I don’t use any gas when I’m on electric for about 35 miles. Then when it switches to gas I get about 35 mpg. I think it takes about 12 kwhr’s of electricity to charge it. So a little less than $2 to charge. I think with current gas prices electricity is about half the price. It certainly makes more sense when gas was 4 and $5. Public chargers that offer what’s called level 2 charging (240v) usually charge a dollar or $1.50 an hour to charge. Sometimes they charge per kwhr maybe around 30 or 40 cents. It still takes 4 hours to charge. So for me I just use gas when I’m out and recharge when I get home.

Quote: Sandybestdog

I don’t use any gas when I’m on electric for about 35 miles. Then when it switches to gas I get about 35 mpg. I think it takes about 12 kwhr’s of electricity to charge it. So a little less than $2 to charge. I think with current gas prices electricity is about half the price. It certainly makes more sense when gas was 4 and $5. Public chargers that offer what’s called level 2 charging (240v) usually charge a dollar or $1.50 an hour to charge. Sometimes they charge per kwhr maybe around 30 or 40 cents. It still takes 4 hours to charge. So for me I just use gas when I’m out and recharge when I get home.
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I've never seen a car on a public charger for four hours.

Quote: billryan

Quote: Sandybestdog

I don’t use any gas when I’m on electric for about 35 miles. Then when it switches to gas I get about 35 mpg. I think it takes about 12 kwhr’s of electricity to charge it. So a little less than $2 to charge. I think with current gas prices electricity is about half the price. It certainly makes more sense when gas was 4 and $5. Public chargers that offer what’s called level 2 charging (240v) usually charge a dollar or $1.50 an hour to charge. Sometimes they charge per kwhr maybe around 30 or 40 cents. It still takes 4 hours to charge. So for me I just use gas when I’m out and recharge when I get home.
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I've never seen a car on a public charger for four hours.
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The kind you would charge at over the road wouldn't take 4 hours, but the free ones they have at casinos are limited to 6 KW because they're just 208 VAC, 30A lines like you would plug an electric dryer into. You can charge a Tesla or similar electric-only car at those but that's an overnight thing, at least.

That's what I use at my house. Honda offers $500 to install a better charger, but since I live in a mobile home, I would have to upgrade my entire electrical system. I was told I'd need a dedicated 50 amp and had to pay to run it from down the block. It involved obtaining permits, and because of the house's age, the entire project had to be approved by a master electrician or a similar professional.
I took the $300 credits for public charging, but have not used them yet. They sell adapters to hook up to Tesla chargers but the hoses only work on the end chargers unless you take up two spaces.

Quote: petrnovicki

How is it going now?

I've been a little busy with other things, like pointing out people who make fairly innocuous posts to various threads because they think it's the easy way to get to the 10 posts they need to start posting spam links here.