patman30

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

I'm afraid that genie is well and truly out of the bottle now.

 

No U turns possible.

Agreed, it will be hard now and they should rightfully see a lot of pushback
i expect what this is for is to bring in "medical cards" like they have in the US
first you go to the doctor next door and pay 500 baht for a card then you can buy
later they can then easily implement limits for card holders etc.
i could see them taking it a step further here, like the card is only valid for certain outlets or areas depending where you got the card

9 hours ago, CanadaSam said:

I forsee a bunch of oxygen clinics opening all over Thailand, giving you pure oxygen for 15 minutes for 50 baht or something of the sort....

Oxygen Bars

55 minutes ago, goldenbrwn1 said:

I see a few on here mentioning keeping their money off the exchanges which is right but keeping your crypto on hot wallets like MM or TW isn’t much better. I used to use ledger until they had an update which made it possible for them (or authorities) to gain access to your keys and crypto.  I use Tangem NFC cold storage and also one key , Trezor is also good but not as many options as the other 2 for storage . 👍

for cold storage, you can also skip the fancy hardware
and simply keep a list of private keys on an encrypted spreadsheet
and copy to a few USB sticks and SD cards
(obviously nothing lasts forever, of course USB/SDs will need replacing in 5-10 years)

On 11/6/2023 at 11:16 AM, cdemundo said:

thought I was in the wrong thread with some preceding posts.

 

Anyway I was wondering it this is a stand up pinball machine or a video game type replica?

Cool either way and an original gift idea

Thanks for sharing

 

full size stand up genuine stern pinball, not a digital type,
my wifes fave table is theatre of magic
but to import a pinball is a headache if you can even find an importer
and to import parts and build a replica would cost about 1m baht before any import fees
so i just went with a new collecters edition TMNT seemed fun with the spinning pizza
you can buy brand new pinballs from thailand pool tables
i think current delivery time is 8 months though, it may now be back to 4 months
they basically have all sterns new tables for order but do not expect all models/editions to be available
and do not expect to buy a collecters edition unless ordering prior to release
Premium editions are same as collectors but different artwork and not limited to 500
the pro versions are the basic version but usually miss a few features
the home versions are the cheapest and miss a lot but only a few models have home editions
Pinballs are not cheap especially here and you will also need to buy additional rubbers from US/EU too
plus any mods you may want
due to cost if you do think of purchasing a pinball be sure to checkout some pinball forums to get pinballers opinion on the table
 

Pinball, TMNT collectors edition
it was a birthdy present that she had to wait 6 months to arrive due to delays, without knowing what it was
when it arrived she did not do anything else for 3 days solid, i mean nothing else
luckily the MIL was with us so the dogs and i got some food lol

23 hours ago, MangoKorat said:

doesn't that work out more expensive

when i was looking at inverters for my own setup
a 15KW inverter (i forget the brand) was 3x the cost of my 5KW growatt inverters

On 10/30/2023 at 8:02 PM, xtrnuno41 said:

So is it environmental thought or just free "easy" power?

it is not "free"
if govs were concerned as much as yourself
we would all have cheap nuclear power

6 hours ago, Muhendis said:

I looked at NiFe batteries some time ago and the only good thing about them seems to be that they will outlive me.

Far too many negatives especially cost, for general household use.

Also another negative not mentioned is the electrolyte.

I seem to recall there is a requirement to mix up your own electrolyte.

You might like to check out what to do if battery performance decreases for any reason.

"Never happen if you take good care of them" I hear someone muttering but don't forget Murphy's law. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong..

For the domestic home user it really needs to be fit and forget.

if you look into the electrolyte it is very simple to make and not needed often
your comment about performance, well i have the same opinion when it comes to lithium
not to take manufacturers claims as 100% and performance may decrease for any reason
but one thing that is for certain is performance of lithium to point of failure will occur faster than NiFe
as for cost, NiFe work out much cheaper in the long run.
one issue to think about is yes solar sellers will be negative about NiFe (negatives that i easily addressed above)
there are not many businesses today that sell products that guarantee the customer never returns
and nobody is really talking about the general domestic house user, the grid is fine for them.

Note, i made typo in previous post, NiFe come in 1.2v not 48v hence needing 40 cells for a 48v battery

12 hours ago, MangoKorat said:

So Patman30 is recommending NIFE batteries - yet a quick search on these seems to suggest they are pretty old tech. The attractive part for me is that they last over 30 years. 

 

However, a quick Google on NIFE batteries seems to rule them out:

 

https://www.rpc.com.au/solar-news/disadvantages-of-nickel-iron-batteries.html

 

Thoughts anyone?

most of those disadvantages are non issues
and that article is from a company selling solar systems with tesla powerwall batteries
of course products they do not sell are not as good as ones they do sell in their opinion
1. Cost, yes they cost more upfront but last much longer
2. Efficiency, yes they are not as energy dense, so will be bigger, yes they have self discharge of 1% a day which is not an issue if charging daily, Yes they come in 1.2v meaning you need a lot more cells for your battery again meaning you need more space
3. Ventilation, Yes they release hydrogen, easily resolved with good ventilation, not an issue for a new build that can ensure ventilation is part of the design

4. Compatibility, Of course you need to ensure all working parts are compatible.
5. Size and weight, yes they are big and heavy, again not an issue with new house build if designed to accomodate
6. Maintenance, Yes they require topping up weekly, but this ensures they work for 50 years, there are guides to make auto refillers online and some products coming to market to automate this for you.

for cost comparison, you can find 48v 1200ah NiFe batteries for $450/each
for 40 cells this would equal $18,000, which is ~652,000 THB (before shipping)
i recently purchased a 48v 300ah lithium battery for 81,000 THB
so 4 of these today would cost 324,000 THB

12 hours ago, MangoKorat said:

Thanks for that - so a plan is emerging.

 

There is no way I would ever go for a flat roof but a single pitch modern design with a low-ish angle sounds like its the way to go. I think that would provide ample space for my requirements and also sufficient access room for maintenance. If I go for that, I may completely change the house design that I have in mind

 

If I install a 10kw system knowing that I might want to upgrade it to say 15kw in the future - are there measures I can put in place when installing the original system that would make an upgrade easier.

 

This my sound crazy - remember I have little knowledge but what I'm thinking is - would fitting an inverter that will cope with 15kw be OK with just 10kw? So a bigger inverter from the start?

 

 

for 10KW system
you would most likely run 2 x 5KW inverters parralel
you can run upto 6 inverters like this
so adding another inverter and panels later is not a big issue

you can get 10KW and 15KW inverters
but if that one inverter has an issue all your power is gone
using multiple inverters, if one has a fault you still have the others for some power while the faulty one gets fixed or replaced

16 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

No one gives a monkey's about your "Ignore" list announcement that has no effect, whatsoever, on anyone, except you.

thanks for joining

3 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

If you get free money from the government and you pay VAT, you just get less money from the government. You still pay nothing as you havened earned anything.

i never said the receiver of funds have paid
i said "it has been paid for"

my ignore list getting full of 🤡

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

You are perfectly free to believe that the VAT paid by professional scroungers comes close to a lifetime of NI and income tax, plus VAT.

Social security benefits come from income tax so if you have never paid income tax they are effectively free.

i never said it was
but your statement said "those that NEVER pay"
you were not specific to a single tax.
i was also not referring to "benefits" i said "anything"

another 🤡 on the ignore list

1 minute ago, sandyf said:

It is free to those that never pay, others have to pay for them.

As i said
"it has been paid for"

we all pay at some point or another.......VAT

if coming for 3 months to see how you would like retirement here
Then bring nothing
as if you retire here you will likely not be flying home every 3 months to restock
come here and actually see what it is like here without the little luxuries from home
That said, if you are a tea drinker, a few boxes of your favourite tea in your case wouldn't go amiss
i had a friend years ago bring me literally 10 years supply of tea bags, this was before they were easily available here.

compare current bill to old bills for rate and usage
knock off the main breaker and check the meter has stopped spinning
if that is fine
knock off all breakers
and bring them back on 1 at a time, checking the meter after each one.
my previous house used to be 5-8000/month so its not completely unusual
is the house owned by an individual or company?

13 hours ago, MangoKorat said:

I don't have a budget as yet.  When I decide on the type/size of system - that will form my budget.  The only thing I know is that I will definitely be going solar but just what that system might be, I am undecided.  I could install a complete system that will produce all my electricity or it is possible that I will only install a system that will produce enough electricity to take care of the additional airconditioning that I will inevitably use.

 

I would state that despite spending the majority of my working life in the motor trade, I went to university late in life moved into construction.  Whilst I leave the ins and outs of electricity etc. to professionals, I have a basic understanding of all aspects of construction.

 

I'm sure we've all heard the stories about Westerners moving to Thailand and building a house for 1 million baht.  Well that may well be possible but that depends entirely on the level of fitments you require and the quality of them.  For example, I installed a Western kitchen and UPVC windows and doors in my current house. The cost of those two items alone was over 500k and the kitchen was far from the top of the range.  I've seen some of these 1 million baht houses and I would not want to live in one.  Therefore, I need to firstly decide on my requirements and in terms of solar, decide on what type of system I want. That will form my initial costing and I will then look at ways of 'trimming' that cost, if necessary as I always did when project managing in construction. I am aware that I could easily spend 5 or 6 million baht constructing the house I want but I won't.  My initial thoughts are a target for the build of 2.5 million but I'm flexible both ways on that - 'flexibility' though, has an uncanny way of usually meaning more :-).

 

I am also trying to make sure that whatever system I choose, will not be a burden to those I leave behind.  To that end, I think an easily switchable PEA connection is vital as from my experience, Thai people very qiuckly 'revert to type' once a Westerner is out of the picture.  In other words, should the solar stop working for whatever reason, I very much doubt it will be fixed or that cash would be available to fix it.  Electricity will though, always be needed. That it is unlikely to be fixed is not really a criticism - how would you be able to replace a set of batteries for example, on a salary of 15,000 per month? Cost is undoubtedly the main reason why very few Thai's install any meaningful solar systems.

funny you mention 1 million baht house
as i recently built a house for 1m, but then spent another 1m on solar, well, landscaping etc. lol
although this was not by choice due to the restricted movement nonsense of past few years i had to buy my land and build blind
so built a cheap house with intention of building new after a few years
as you have the budget, you could have a very very decent solar system that will last many years (NiFe batteries being the expensive part)
i too have concerns about solar being fixed in future which is why i plan to buy many replacement parts and store them
and why i will upgrade to NiFe batteries knowing they will never need replacing
for the same reason i want to build next house with shipping containers or box culverts to reduce maintenance costs in future
and so i can do all the interior work myself, including electrics.

5 minutes ago, george said:

One thing: The water heater in the bathroom has an earth cable, will try to locate the rod outside, if any. 

rods are cheap, if you cannot find from the water heater
just grab one and some cable and make your own earthed power strip
PITA i know but solves your problem

3 hours ago, sirineou said:

I see these systems advertised , and I am wondering if they are using law quality components to achieve the low price. So my question is, what should I me looking at.

-I have read that there are new solar panels with increased efficiency. How do I know I am not getting dated solar cell panel technology?

-How do you know you are getting a quality inverter?

-Is the inverter seized for a particular usage, and should you be looking for an oversized one to cover increases if future demand?

-I see these batteries for sale at Do home, They say "Hybrid" . I know what hybrid means but hoe does that relate to those batteries?

 - what kind of battery should I be looking for. 

I have been thinking for our farm house that does not so far have electric , Electric is not too far away but so far PEA wants close to 300k bht to bring it to us and my thinking is , if I would pay 300k I might as well pay 300k for sollar, 

 

imo don't buy batteries or inverters that are not branded, you at least want a company to put their name on it
300k can get you a decent system, depending on how much you use
yes inverters are sized, check the specs for how many panels you can use with inverter, volts and amps (don't assume based on watts)
 

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

All will be cheaper in future to replace.

there is no guarantee of this
and with inflation it will be the opposite imo
hence, why i always advise NiFe batteries
they may be more upfront now, but you are covered for 50 years at least
i do also plan to buy and store panels and inverters
for inverters my concern is needing to replace only 1 and company has moved on to newer incompatible models

one other thing i have mentioned in another thread
depending on your daytime usage, it maybe beneficial to have a few panels angled west
this would be for off grid mostly
but what this will do is give you more sun at the end of the day so you start discharging your battery later
meaning the battery is needed for less time
you cannot really know this beforehand though,
but as you are doing work yourself it may be wise to plan for this so you could adjust a few panels if desired

7 hours ago, TimeMachine said:

I would install just the most basic backup off grid 2 panel 200ah lead acid battery system to run a fan and light for when the power goes out

some of us need more than just a fan and a light
i have off grid solar as i need power 24/7 and i do not want a smart meter near me.
i can not depend on an unreliable power supply from the grid.

for a fan and light you do not even need a solar panel, just the battery or a UPS which you could keep charged from grid