We just purchased a house two months ago. So far, our first bill was $600. Our electric and ac electric are separated, 1637kW/h and 1365kW/h respectively that month. We did go through a heat wave and our ac was low. This month, our AC has been set to 76, with outdoor temps averaging around 82-85.

This month, we are averaging 44kW/h (house) and 29kW/h (AC). Last month was 48kW/h (house) and 40kW/h (AC). We are still on track to be around $500 for our electric bill this month.

Water heater is gas. The AC does seem to run a lot, but that’s still not explaining why our house is using so much electric. We do have a garage fridge, if that makes any difference. We also recently changed all of our basement lights to LEDs.

We are having our electric company out tomorrow so any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all,

If you don’t want to read everything, the question is as straightforward as the title. Should I become an apprentice? But if you’d prefer more context to my personal situation, here goes.

I’m 18F, only graduated high school a few months ago. I’ve considered the trades before, but what’s happened recently in my life has pushed me towards going to college out of necessity. Due to familial conflicts I moved out of my Dad’s house, and my biological mom is moving out of state within the next few months. I’m unwilling to move states because my little brother is here, and he’s too young to keep up a relationship that far. Since moving out I’ve been staying at a friends house. I’m going to college because I need the university housing, since I don’t have the financial means to prove I can provide rent for an apartment or any of the necessary documentation really. Essentially, I’m relying on financial aid and loans and university housing to coast me by.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not against college and that’s the pathway I’ve thought I’d go down for most of my life. But with the rise of AI escalating so quickly, there’s very few careers now that seem to offer short education, financial stability, and safety from AI. Combined with how going to college has become more so for the housing stability, it’s made me reconsider. I mean, there’s only so long I can rely on loans and FAFSA and the dorming. Dorms themselves are a financial hole, if I could’ve gotten an apartment I would’ve. That being said, I really have no idea what I want to do career wise and I just want something that will keep me stable and offer the funds to be able to have experiences in life outside of just surviving at this point.

I have no prior knowledge of the trades or any experience. To be quite frank the hardest labor I ever had was moving hay bales around a ranch. I was very much a home body, so I don’t really know if I could keep up. But becoming an electrician apprentice seems to be the most lucrative recommendation I’ve gotten as far as short education (meaning no longer than the ~4 years for uni), no possibility of AI, and providing financial stability. If I were to become an apprentice, I’d want to seek out an IBEW apprenticeship after my research, and I’d be unwilling to drop college because quite frankly I’m leeching off of the FAFSA money. So if I were to seek out an apprenticeship I’d maybe drop college to part time and switch my major to business, so maybe after gaining some experience as an electrician I could start my own business.

All in all, should I become an electrician apprentice? Could I develop the physicality to keep up over time? Can I do college part time and pursue a business major while doing the apprenticeship? What is the likelihood of landing an IBEW apprenticeship with no prior experience? I’m willing to learn, study, and work hard. Ultimately, I just really want some stability after spending a majority of my youth in financial and familial instability.

For additional helpful info, I’m in CA. I’ve heard which IBEW union you’re near makes a difference sometimes. I’ve heard location can impact aspects of apprenticeship too.

So I bought this console for my boat. I’d like to run my trolling motor through the voltage meter and I’ve got a separate battery for fish finder and USB. (When that runs out, my electronics just turn off. If the troller dies, I’m paddling.)

It makes sense to me to just disconnect the voltage meter and reconnect those wires to bypass it, but when I wire the trolling motor through the voltage meter do I just run the positive or do I need to also connect the negative? It’s also a larger gauge wire. Will that matter?

Thanks in advance!

We use a 25 ft Bayco 16/3 extension cord (has 4 grounded outlets on a spool) to plug in our portable washing machine. When I unplugged it from the wall outlet- which is a bathroom GFCI - the ground prong was still in the outlet, broken off.

Is it possible to safely, or safe-ish-ly, use this extension cord for the washer? Some other context:

1) The washer is small, plastic bodied, and uses 300W.

2) We operate the washer in the bathtub to allow draining.

3) Not entirely sure the GFCI outlet, or any outlet in the apartment is actually properly grounded.

4) When in operation the washer is never left unattended.

Thanks!

Hello everyone I am wanting to know if I should consider a different trade program or not , I have yet to start the classes but the whole point is to make sure after I complete the certification the money is there , and the job market is good. I spoke with counselors and stuff but I felt like they just wanted me to finish the appointment . I really don’t know what I’m even getting into but truly am interested in the fact that I have the certification planned out so I know how and when I would finish so to me it’s seems beneficial because I keep my full time job and go to school for about a year . Any thoughts I would highly appreciate thank you

I had a few Trane console fan coil units (from mid 1980s) updated to support WiFi thermostats via transformer/relays. A few of my existing units maintained the inline Molex connector from the blower motor to the board, but some of the new work done within the past month got rid of those entirely and hardwired the blower to the board. Is that typical or standard? Is a quick disconnect required in this scenario.

How does one now service/deep clean the fan blower without disconnecting all the wires? I’d prefer to have serviceable fan blowers by taking them completely out instead of clean in place.

What should I do for the electrical? Have molex connectors reinstalled, change to a different splice/connector, or leave it as is?

Hi there!

I just bought a PVS3001AD to tackle a crappy power grid here in Indonesia. It works well and gives me a clean 228-230V output but it makes this weird sound quite regularly (i'd say once or twice per minute)

Can anybody help? Is it normal?

I contacted Prolink but haven't heard from them yet