The first one I had was Ricar when the house was being built. They came out about 4 times. It would work when they left, but still never enough power. Then I would have trouble with the hoses not going in or coming out. Then I got electrolux to come out and they put in all new ports or outlets, and new hoses. Still not enough power and the same with the hose problems. They did do a few things in the attic with the pipes. Now I have Drainvac which is the high powered unit I got the electrician to install. Great suction power but hoses still get stuff in the pipes. If I only had clear pipes I could see where the blockage is. We have a call into the head people at the original company that installed the pipes. It was a Hide A Hose system. We are hoping they will recommend someone who really knows how the install and service them. I have almost 9k in this system now and still not happy. My sister built a new house the same time and did not want it. She has a rainbow somebody gave her. She is laughing all the time about what I am going thru. I never had any trouble before until I got Hide a Hose.

So after incentives, the solar hot water is about $3k on the new house. Last house there was an additional utility incentive and price was less so it was about $1500. At that price, even with NG availability, payback is 5 year range. New house is all electric so payback is still less than 10 years. My payback goals are 15-20 years. Solar PV is right about there - I just don't have a great roof for it. We may get a group buy where the goal is 10 year payback and even with my east roof, it maybe worth it. ES certification with blower door test does not have a requirement for smoke test I guess. Maybe if it fails, then it does. For me - I just got the pat on the back. The only problem with that $2k incentive is proof. My current house uses less than 1/2 the energy of code houses but I bet I couldn't prove that before it was done. I will have to check into it but I'm not sure the new house could ever make the cut because of the huge east windows with minimal overhang in a cooling climate. If they don't take those things into consideration, then 50% should be possible and solar hot water would put me over that. The overhangs are limited by things outside of my control - but there are wind issues that also limit overhangs. The governing body counts the overhang as footprint and has significant restrictions. Now an awning can come later....

Hi, I agree with the other two posters in that turning off the main breaker will probablly intiate a fail over sequence and test the generator. I was just wondering how your in-laws knew that the generator system did not kick in? Usually people know that there was a power failure because all their clocks are blinking, typicaly the one in the kitchen oven and microwaves. A 5 second or more power backout will reset all the clocks. Note most generator systems will only kick in after a 5 second or more power outage. This stops them powering up if it is just a momentary blackout. Once the generator decides that it is worth powering up. It usually takes 20-60 seconds for the power to come online. During this time of course all your clocks have been reset. The other thing worth noting is that often high power consumption items, such as electric ovens are usually not on a power backup circuit. This is to avoid overloading the generator. However with $US 60,000 I would sort of expect that that everything would be on the backup circuit. Just my 2 cents. warmest regards, Mike.

First, GMO's (or GEO's if you prefer) have NOTHING to do with soil amendments or fertilizers so let's just leave them out of the discussion. They are not pertinent and as they are so misunderstood by the general public (see above), any discussion here will only confuse the soil testing issue further. And let's also be careful not to get hung up on terminology. It is pretty unusual to encounter a "dead" soil - depleted, yes....dead, no. A dead soil is one where nothing grows. Nothing!! Heavily cropped agricultural soils are often depleted - lacking an appropriately populous and diverse soil biology, nutrient deficient and lacking in OM - but are rarely dead. And it is not just the application of synthetic/manufactured fertilizers that are to blame but also the frequent tilling and the lack of replenishment of organic matter. And allowing the soils to remain fallow periodically, so that rainfall leaches any lingering nutrients. btw, fertilizer companies are not in the business of doing soil tests. ANY reputable soil testing lab will make recommendations for nutrient adjustments based on your soil test - it is up to the gardener how and with what one addresses those adjustments: smaller quantities of fast acting, easy to access and relatively inexpensive synthetic ferts and amendments or significantly larger quantities of more expensive, slower acting organic inputs. FWIW, it is quite possible to maintain a healthy soil environment while using synthetic ferts. Just do not apply unless necessary and do not apply more than is necessary. And replenish OM by routine mulching at the very least. And the exact same advice is given when using organic ferts - apply only when necessary and do not apply more than is necessary. Over-application of even organically sourced fertilizers can create imbalances and wreak havoc with the soil biology as well. After more than 30 years of teaching soils classes and advising and consulting on home gardening issues, I can state with some assurance that annual or routine soil tests are seldom called for for a home gardening situation (cropping on a large scale or farming is a very different situation). Once a baseline test has been done and any deficiencies addressed, moderate application of a balanced fertilizer, either synthetic or organic - when deemed necessary - will not create any substantial alterations in the soil chemistry or throw things out of balance. And if you routinely apply OM in the form of a properly 'finished', diverse ingredient compost (as in a mulch or topdressing), then the instances of needing or requiring a supplemental fertilizer application are virtually non-existent. In 25 years of gardening the same plot of land, I can think of only once or twice I used a recognized "fertilizer" (organic or not). But I did mulch routinely with compost, which supplied or resupplied any necessary nutrients that were deficient or lacking, not to mention stimulating an active soil biology. My garden was lush and profuse, without any serious insect or disease problems and hosted a vibrant soil biology. New gardeners have a tendency to overlook soil qualities altogether or over-think them. The more you known about soils and understand how plants access and process nutrients the less one needs to focus on soil tests and fertilizing. It becomes more of an experiential thing and far less a factor of outside (soil test) input.