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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 20th, 2023

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  • I don’t have information specific to midea, so there is some speculation, but I do have a ge unit which does outright say that the water condensate is slung across the condenser coil to boost efficiency. And yes, my ge unit got really nasty and I ended up drilling a hole in the base of the condensate pan to drain all the water.

    https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=16758

    Heat pump efficiency is limited by the temperature delta across the compressor. The larger the temperature delta, the less efficient a heat pump is. Evaporating water off the condenser coil drops the refrigerant temperature compared to air only and gives a small boost to efficiency. I don’t think it’s a big difference, but it’s enough to be worthwhile doing if you can “get it for free.” Unfortunately, a constantly cool and wet pool is a great breeding ground for mold and pathogens that you don’t want airborne.

    As for cleaning ease, I based that off of comments (on reddit I think), recommending people push midea to pay for a technician to perform the fix because taking it apart for a thorough cleaning is a hassle. So I have no firsthand experience there and I’ll defer to your judgement.


  • I don’t have one of that type, so I haven’t contacted them. I was thinking about getting a unit like that, but then found out why they weren’t in stock anywhere.

    I think the lack of drain was intentional so that the water wiuld splash up on the condenser coil. An AC unit generates a lot more water than a refrigerator though, so I think any design with a condensate basin below the condenser coil will have mold problems. The other issue is they didn’t make the unit very serviceable, so opening it up to clean out mold sounds like a huge hassle. Draining the water away will mean the units won’t be as efficient as originally designed, but mold can be a major health hazard.










  • The soil type you describe is what is usually recommended. I have a lot of clay in my soil so I planted my bushes on a slope that is too steep to mow. That seems to provide enough drainage. They did have a brief fungal infection on their second year, I treated with sulfur powder and haven’t had any problems in subsequent years. A cheap pH meter says my soil is around 5, but I don’t put a lot of confidence in its measurements.

    The flowers are also beautiful and have a pleasant aroma.




  • I’m going to stretch the definition of tree and answer with blueberry bushes. I have planted all sort of fruit trees, but in my climate it’s difficult to get high quality fruit without using pesticides. Pest pressure is significant. The blueberries on the other hand require little maintenance and they thrive even in depleted soils. I also like that the berries ripen over the span of a few weeks, so it’s not as much of a rush to pick and process everything all at once. I’m in zone 7b/8a, but there are a variety of cultivars that do well from USDA zones 3-9.





  • The stuff that is heavier than water ends up in the river delta, everything else dilutes into the ocean. Once it’s in the ocean, there’s not much humans can do about it. Promoting populations of sea grass and filter feeders like mussels can at least capture pollution in a form that settles to the seabed and improves water quality.

    There will be pockets of pollution that persist for a long time, and floodwaters could stir some of that back up, but the above poster is correct. Cleaning up a river can be as simple as stopping the sources of the pollution. A dirty river is dirty because stuff keeps getting added to it. Of course stopping sources of pollution is way easier said than done.