Am I missing something?
My starting region I can only level up 2 settlements which gives me two buildings. In order to meet one food need I need minimum 2 commoner buildings.
I can make buildings to produce equipment instead but I feel like Im still running into a limit here anyways with just two settlements that can build commoner buildings?
Water in the GTA and general questions on hardness
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I am in the GTA and my water here (Oshawa) comes from Lake Ontario.
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I am wondering what solutions other people use for water hardness. I was looking at getting a BWT equalizer and some Oscar filters to put into the reservoir. I believe water is around 125 ppm.
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Also a general question on water. What is the difference between tds and total hardness and am I concerned with both or just TDS and the ppm readings?
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For anyone in Ontario using bottled water do you have recommendations? I was going to pick some up while I wait for an aqualizer.
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Lastly, any recommendations for alternatives for the BWT jug filters? Its about 150 cad on amazon so wondering if there are other cheaper alternatives.
New to machines looking for recommendations
I am looking to buy my first machine after years of using a moka pot and standalone breville milk frother. I do enjoy espresso on its own and would like a machine so I can have good quality shots at home or in milk based drinks. I work from home so I would get alot of use out of the machine.
After doing some research I am looking at the breville barista express for price and convenience, or the gaggia classic paired with a d54 grinder. The breville is around 750-800 CAD and the gaggia with the grinder I can get for about 1000. Could spend a little more to upgrade to the d64 which I was also considering. The gaggia it seems may be better built and last longer. People also seem to recommend standalone grinders.
One thing I can't quite figure out is how neccessary the dual boiler, or conversely, how frustrating a single boiler is for milk based drinks. Its hard to justify dropping 2400 on a breville dual boiler when I can get the other options for less than half that. I have a latte every morning.
It seems the gaggia takes up to a minute to heat up for frothing after brewing which seems fine. My only real concern with single boiler is if its too slow and things cool while you're waiting/frothing, or if it's generally just annoyingly slow.
I could afford a dual boiler and could spend up to 3000 CAD but it's hard to justify when there are seemingly good options for alot less.
In terms of use, I like to have 1 or two milk based drinks a day and would probably brew a couple more shots throughout the day. On weekends my girlfriend is here so I'd do back to back drinks in the morning. I see the gaggia needs to temperature surf and have looked into PID kits for those.
I do enjoy good espresso but I'm not a connoisseur so the breville does appeal to me as it simplifies the entire process. I dont know whether I will get into measuring and weighing everything or timing the extraction process to really fine tune things. Honestly if I can bang out a good shot I'll be happy.
Again unsure altogether whether a dual boiler is necessary. I couls afford it though so if its something where Id inevitably upgrade in a few years Id rather spend that money now. This is also why thw gaggia is appealing as it seems a bit more of a longterm purchase.