Recent content on Tim Graettinger
Every week I update a series of charts that help my wife and me monitor the health and performance of our solar panels. Each visual answers a different question, and together they’ve changed how we think about our system. Find out what those questions are and what insights we’ve gained.
100 MWh of solar power in four years … in Pittsburgh? Who’d a thunk it? But after tracking every day of production during that time, I finally stepped back and asked: What does that number actually mean? Turns out, the stories behind it might be more interesting than the milestone.
If you lose power in cold weather, you might double your stay-at-home time window by retreating to your basement. If you think an outage is likely, pre-heating can buy you a lot more time, too. See how I broke down our data from a recent outage.
Why bother with notes? Before you adopt a system or write a line of code, I think you need a clear point of view on your purpose. Here’s mine: my web of notes manifesto.
Now, I can SEE my digital mind — thanks to a Python script that turns my notes, etc. into an interactive web graph. In this post, you’ll get a close-up look at it, plus some insights into how my ideas and artifacts actually connect. Spoiler alert: they’re NOT a hierarchy of folders within folders within folders.
Radon, schmadon. I never thought about it — until a big rainstorm flooded our basement. During the cleanup, a good friend asked, ‘While you’re at it, have you ever checked your radon level?’ That little question led to remediation, a radon monitor, a weather station, and some surprisingly simple rules connecting the weather outside and the radon level inside.
Ever since I joined Toastmasters, I’ve read a LOT of books about public speaking. These are the five I keep coming back to. They’ve helped me become a MUCH better speaker. They’ll help you, too.
Ever make a chart and feel like it’s just… off? It’s supposed to tell a story — but doesn’t. I fixed mine using a process I call “addition by negative subtraction”.
Replacing your Windows 10 laptop can cost north of $800. If you use it for yourself — to write, code, or connect with friends while you hang out at Starbucks — switching to Linux might be right for you. Curious? Learn what worked, what didn’t, and why I’m not going back…
Did you grow up in a home where laundry dried on a clothesline? I did. Since we’re trying to conserve energy, we’re doing it again. I wondered if it’s worth it - and the answer surprised me.
Ever wanted to be a citizen scientist? I started with a simple rain gauge. Eight years and 1,387 rain days later, here’s what I’ve learned…
If you had an in-house, personal, AI librarian, what would you do? Here’s what I did…
Charts of our household radon levels, including the following: year-to-date integrated radon, monthly radon by year, monthly radon heatmap, weekly radon average, daily radon distribution (violin) by month, and overall daily radon histogram.
Charts of our local rainfall, including the following: year-to-date cumulative rainfall, monthly rainfall by year, weekly rainfall, and daily rainfall.
Charts of our solar panel production, including the following: our cumulative production over time, year-to-date production, monthly production by year, and daily production (recent months)
Charts of our local weather, including the following for the dew point and feels-like temperature: weekly range and average, monthly heatmap, monthly-by-year chart, and daily violin by month
Tired of the lackluster book recommendations you get from GoodReads or Amazon? Suppose you could converse with someone who really know books, who knows your likes and dislikes. You can create your own, personal, custom GPT today to fill this role.
Suppose you could consult with your bookshelves. That’s the idea behind Marian, my personal AI librarian, a custom GPT I built around my preferences and reading history.
I’ve been tracking radon levels in our home for 9 months. Collaborating with Data Analyst GPT to analyze them was actually fun…
Not long ago, I found myself thinking about our old Netflix DVD ratings. I wondered what I could do with them that would be cool…
A recent power outage exposed a weak link in our emergency setup — not enough usable extension cords. I designed and built a custom set for powering our home from our Jackery. Here’s how I tailored them to our layout.
When the power went out this time, we were ready. Sort of…
The power went out and stayed out… for three days. How do you prepare for the next time?…
We lost water to the house. What do you do next when you’re in a drought?…
Our Toastmasters Club needed a new home. But where?…
Can our solar system power our house AND an electric vehicle?…
Suppose I told you that deep insights about your data can come from seeing what’s not there?…
Hi and welcome!! Thanks for stopping by – I’m glad you’re here. My name is Tim Graettinger. I’m a data scientist by profession, a writer by habit, and a lifelong student. I like data. I like to collect it, explore it, visualize it, model it… you name it. And I write code to do all of it. Data helps me ask better questions and think more clearly. It offers me a…
If you’re doing projects like those you see here — or if you have similar interests — let’s get in touch. Here are a few ways we can connect: Email : tim [at] timgraettinger [dot] com Tell me what you’re working on — or just say hi. Whether it’s feedback on an article, a shared interest, or a conversation you’d like to start, please reach out. LinkedIn Occasional…
Last updated: August 16, 2026 What I’m working on Building new visualizations of the indoor/outdoor environmental data that I capture. My current focus is on the weather data (temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc.) that I collect via my Tempest weather station . Doing my first-ever podcast with my friend, Paul. It’s called “Nip It in the Bud! An Andy Griffith Show…