Future: DC yes, AC no?

Quote: Nareed

No. It charges the tablet as well as ever.
So I need to see how many amps this charger claims to have, then buy one with more.

This one is more expensive than most, but gets very good reviews. Each channel has 2.4 Amps and it works for Apple and Android

SCOSCHE USBC242M 12 Watts per port (24W/4.8A total output) USB Car Charger- The FASTEST CHARGE RATE for Apple and Android Devices-Retail
List Price: $24.99 Price: $11.99 & FREE Shipping on orders over $49
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E1UWA4O/ref=twister_B016D24YG4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Quote: Pacomartin

This one is more expensive than most, but gets very good reviews.

Thanks, but for that price I could get two batteries instead. They take longer to charge, but they do charge the phone rather well.

But if current trends continue, pretty soon we'll need a second engine in each car just to charge the phone. I can see the ads now:

New Thundercougarfalconbird gives 250 miles and 10 minutes of talk time per gallon!


It's farfetched, yet the other day I caught an ad for a car which began the list of features by saying how large the touchscreen is. Touchscreen? We're worried about that now in cars?? Isn't that why we have pocket-computers-that-can-make-phone-calls?

Quote: Nareed

Isn't that why we have pocket-computers-that-can-make-phone-calls?

There's an ep of Modern Family from 2009
where Phil gets an iPod for his bday and is
all excited by what it can do. That was only
7 years ago, it's seems so funny that he's
excited. It's like my wife's grandma telling
her how excited they all were in 1911 when
they had the first car in their town.

Quote: Evenbob

There's an ep of Modern Family from 2009 where Phil gets an iPod for his bday and is all excited by what it can do.

The first iPod was released October 23, 2001
The first iPhone was released on June 29, 2007;
The first iPad was released April 3, 2010 (WiFi with cellular 27 days later)

March 31, 2010 Modern Family (episode 19) iPad release day falls on Phil's birthday...

14–25 April 2010 Eyjafjallajökull spewed volcanic ash cloud.

17 April 2010 Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg used iPad to run country remotely from JFK

So don't say iPod.

Quote: Pacomartin

March 31, 2010 Modern Family (episode 19) iPad release day falls on Phil's birthday...
.

Ipad, Ifone, ipod, it's all icrap to
me. My point was, it's all so common
just a few years later, the episode
is already ironic. The way they all
stood around and ooh'd and ahh'd
at the thing at the end. Like it was
the first push button phone they
ever saw or something.

There's one in season 6 where a
Skype session is done with Phil on
a remote controlled robot with wheels.
In a few years that will be passe also
and probably silly. In another an
entire episode is done on mobile
devices and there's not one live
scene. The editing for that must
have been fun.

Quote: Pacomartin

17 April 2010 Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg used iPad to run country remotely from JFK

A slight exaggeration. I mean, I'm sure he had a staff along, so probably the secretary was running the ipad. Next, I'm also sure there's a Norwegian consulate or a UN delegation in NYC, which perforce has office equipment and ready links to the government back home. Third, heads of state travel often; they have protocols and systems in place for "running the country" from abroad as needed.

Most likely he was stuck at JFK that day waiting for a flight or for his plane or something.

Now, if you'd said he used a Nexus tablet, I'd be nodding along :)

Quote: Nareed

636 kWh. There's an additional charge of about $5 US.

A 1986-era 18 cubic ft. fridge uses 1400 kWh a year, while a modern energy-efficient model uses only 350 kWh.
So the refrigerator is 1-3 kWh per day.
My computer uses 1.5 kWh per day

How many electrical cooking appliances do you have? Toaster-oven, microwave, breadmaker. How about dehumidifiers, pumps and fans? Stereos, clocks, etc. How many lightbulbs.

I wonder how many circuits you have? A single circuit operating at full capacity could deliver 36 kWh per day, and you are using 10 kWh on average.
What is the amperage to your home. I think you might have 40 or 60 Amp service like Americans did in the 1940s.

Quote: DRich

Our rates in Las Vegas are similar to California. We pay about $0.11 kwh. We used about 3100 kwh this past month and it will probably be near double that this month because of the high temperatures. Although we use so much, we do not turn our thermostat below 78F. The two air-conditioner units are running about 80% of the day now just to keep it at 78F.

Just got my electric bill for June. It was 4,337kwh for $583.47 (includes fees and taxes). That is the largest June bill that I have had. It may be time to start looking at building my own power source.

Quote: DRich

Just got my electric bill for June. It was 4,337kwh for $583.47 (includes fees and taxes). That is the largest June bill that I have had. It may be time to start looking at building my own power source.

The largest bill we've had was 4,602kWh for February 2013 but it was only $348.68 in Pennsylvania. Rates were much lower in 2013. So either your customer charge has increased by a lot or your rate is going up way over $0.11 kwh.


I can't see how you can save money building your own power source. The initial investment is way too high. The only thing that seems to work is geothermal systems, and they take a long time to pay off.

Quote: DRich

Just got my electric bill for June. It was 4,337kwh for $583.47 (includes fees and taxes)..

The central air in my wife's house went out
a few years ago. So instead of paying
thousands for a whole new system,
she got window units and only runs
the ones in the parts of the house
she spends 90% of her time in. It's
amazing how much of your house
you cool that you spend no time in.

She cools her bedroom, the living room
and kitchen. She cut her summer bill
in half. She keeps the other bedroom
doors closed and the dining room benefits
some from the 12,500btu window unit
in the living room. She only walks thru
the dining room to get to the kitchen, so
it doesn't matter.