"Figure out what you need before you buy damn it."
Can't say I agree. It's not a perfect world. You're looking at utopia.
You're kind of putting the cart in front of the horse. In order to plan you require knowledge. I've been doing DIY projects all my life. You can read all you want on some topic, but nothing beats hands on experience. There's nothing wrong with purchasing something and then finding out later the initial plan didn't work out so well. No reason for a rant. There's lots to be said by gaining knowledge from a Piss Poor Performance. You always learn more from doing. I commend people for getting out and getting something done (or trying to) and not being a couch potato.
I hear what you are saying, and more or less agree with your sentiment, I suppose it depends to some degree on your learning style, on your project, and on your disposable income.
But in my eyes, the planning and research is a huge part of the learning process. Jumping right to the 'buy now' button on Amazon and asking for help
after is a great way to make unforced errors without necessarily learning a whole lot. On the other hand, if you learn best through doing and tinkering, and experimenting with what works and what doesn't work, and have the money to make a few poor purchases here and there, there is nothing wrong with jumping right in the deep end, seeing what works, and iterating as you go, and lots of valuable lessons/experience will probably be gained if someone is inquisitive/thoughtful through that process.
But I think what you will see if you spend considerable time in the beginner section, is that while there are some people taking the learn through doing/iterating approach, most people new members are motivated by the finished product, they are looking to do it right the first time, and often make decisions they regret when they are too quick ot purchase.
I think the point that is being lost with a lot of people responding negatively to this rant/vent is that the people venting are many of the people devoting the
most time to helping newbies. They're not people judging from the sidelines, they are the people that
do spend a lot of time offering help and helping people work through problems and system design, and it can be really frustrating to help people with the same set of
preventable problems. A substantial chunk of that time is consumed helping people work through the same few problems many of which could've been foreseen or prevented with a little presearch and system planning upfront. Nobody will get everything right the first time, but just simply approaching the project
deliberately, doing
some research, doing at least a basic energy audit, and having at least a basic plan before purchasing would cut down on a
lot of unforced errors/buyers remorse/unrealistic expectations.
In my eyes learning how to plan is at least as important as learning how to do/build, but different strokes for different folks.
