Winter Storms, Summer Heat, and our 3rd World Electric System

Hmmmmm

Just saw a conflicting winter forecast showing Texas as warmer than normal this winter.

This sort of conflicting information leads one to believe there is no consensus and/or the weather and climate scientists don’t know WTF they’re talking about…
 
Chop said:
Hmmmmm

Just saw a conflicting winter forecast showing Texas as warmer than normal this winter.

This sort of conflicting information leads one to believe there is no consensus and/or the weather and climate scientists don’t know WTF they’re talking about…
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Texas was supposed to have a warm winter last year according to forecasts. Look how that turned out. lol
 
And yet another one has Northern Texas as part of a “Winter Battle Zone.”

Weather and climate are such a crap shoot. The “experts” are arrogant and think they know it all. They don’t.
 
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Channel 8 says La Nina,,,which means a mild winter. The bad news is last year was La Nina...too. Weather man said except for the February cold snap it was warmer and dryer than usual.
 
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On Friday morning, I'm getting on a plane in London where the temperature will be in the mid-30s. When I get off the plane in Dallas (in the afternoon), it's projected to be in the low-80s. Are you all really sweating the cold this winter?
 
My parents are in their mid eighties and because of back issues my mom is not especially mobile. I didn't like it that they were in a cold house when temperatures were zero degrees outside for about 36 hours, but they were in a well insulated house my dad built and their lives weren't in danger. Still I favor government action to lessen the chances this happens again...versus some in the power business no doubt doing all in their power to increase the likelihood that it happens again so they can charge electricity prices comparable to getting it in AAA batteries.
 
Crockett said:
My parents are in their mid eighties and because of back issues my mom is not especially mobile. I didn't like it that they were in a cold house when temperatures were zero degrees outside for about 36 hours, but they were in a well insulated house my dad built and their lives weren't in danger. Still I favor government action to lessen the chances this happens again...versus some in the power business no doubt doing all in their power to increase the likelihood that it happens again so they can charge electricity prices comparable to getting it in AAA batteries.
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The best solution would quit forcing Texas to adopt green energies and we can put that green money into more reliable sources of energy.
 
The immediate and front burner fix is to require adequate winterization. And inspect, as in go out there in person and look.
 
Mr. Deez said:
On Friday morning, I'm getting on a plane in London where the temperature will be in the mid-30s. When I get off the plane in Dallas (in the afternoon), it's projected to be in the low-80s. Are you all really sweating the cold this winter?
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C'mon Deez...you lived in Texas long enough to know that xmas day can be anywhere from 25 to 85, and that even if it is one end or the other, it could move towards the other pole within a day or two.

Oh, AND also that our real cold snap tends to be in the first two weeks of February. You can almost make book on ice shutting down SOME part of the State in those two weeks.
 
I'm just setting my own self up for success! I don't want to ever go though that again whether by attack or storm.

Bought a 12,500 W 50 Amp dual fuel generator, manual transfer switch, 50A receptical, etc. Had electricians out today and will be back to install everything in a couple weeks.

Friday I have the propane people coming to install a quick connect on my 500 gal propane tank to hook a line into my generator if needed. They are topping it off today with about 200 gallons.

Once set up I can run my entire house for about two weeks which I doubt I'll ever need. Total cost all in is about $2,500.

I have enough power outages where I live its woth it just to have AC overnight if it's out in the summer.

The electricians said there are 10 people on the list in front of me doing the same thing. Seems I'm not the only one.
 
Vol Horn 4 Life said:
Bought a 12,500 W 50 Amp dual fuel generator, manual transfer switch, 50A receptical, etc. Had electricians out today and will be back to install everything in a couple weeks.

The electricians said there are 10 people on the list in front of me doing the same thing. Seems I'm not the only one.
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What was the general cost on the manual transfer switch? I've been looking at a similar sized output unit for mom...
 
mb227 said:
What was the general cost on the manual transfer switch? I've been looking at a similar sized output unit for mom...
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Technically it's not a transfer switch.. What they want to do is add another breaker to my outside panel to switch the entire house from online to generator. I ordered a generator interlock that gets screwed into the panel to prevent both switches/breakers from being active at the same time.

Soo:

Generator interlock $60
50amp weatherproff receptacle $60
Labor about $200-$300 depends on what they run into.

For the propane quick connect they quoted $500.

The surprising part is the power cable. I needed 75ft to get to where the generator will sit and that was $475

The generator was $1,000.
 
The pricing of wire is just like lumber. I know they claim wood has come down but since I never checked when it was higher than now the ‘now’ price astounded me the other day.
 
The problem with our grid was largely a result of our push for the lowest energy price when we shop. The lowest price requires the most pressure on operation efficiency. Operation efficiency is going to use operational norms to determine the likeliest peak demand and build only for that eventuality. Basically, consumers demand the low price and low price means we don't ever "overbuild" capacity to absorb the outlier events (long runs of cold and/or heat). If we want a more resilient grid and one capable of absorbing the likely extremes of Texas heat/cold we have to pay a little more and that is not typically the loudest signal in the market. The loudest signal from the market is typically price. While you don't want routine government involvement in markets, this is one example of when a government agency can apply pressure to increase the requirements to account for outlier events. This is part of our problem with hospital capacity during Covid as well. We have routinely run up against the saturation of bed space because hospitals attempt to run efficient operations based on "normal" demands. When we have a surge in demand, it quickly overwhelms our hospital capacity.

Markets are generally are the best long term process to determine the best products and the best operational methods, they don't always do the trick when outliers impose a heavy cost on society but not on the providers themselves.
 
utahorn said:
I was looking at a Generac. This is a different unit, correct?
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Generac is one company and is the company we all see on television ads. But there are plenty of other manufacturers out there.

To nash...I was familiar with the concept of the transfer switch, but hadn't really priced them out. I was looking at getting mom one of those portables that sounds like what you got. Dual fuel and comes out when needed. As opposed to the big box wired into the gas line and house circuits that came on automatically...I can justify a few thousand but am hard pressed to justify eight to ten grand...
 
utahorn said:
I was looking at a Generac. This is a different unit, correct?
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Yes, I got a Westinghouse. Generac is a very highly rated brand but I couldn't find a dual fuel version by them. Westinghouse comes up in everyone's top 3 so I went with them.
 
Saw a 2x12 10 ft (I think) for $54 at HD. Did a double take but everything was high although that is the one that caught my eye. A few new wooden plank fences have gone up in my area this year - makes me wonder if they are cedar what kind of money those were.
 
This purported global warming recently hit Hawaii. While ice and snow are not uncommon in Winter near the top of Mauna Kea (13,796 ft) on the Big Island, the uplands well below the peak area recently looked like the Arapaho Basin in January or something…

Any more global warming and they’ll have to install some ski lifts…

Ski Hawaii!
 
While it got a bit hot today, it didn’t get THAT hot…

Those days will likely be in July and August.
 
Chop said:
While it got a bit hot today, it didn’t get THAT hot…

Those days will likely be in July and August.
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What I'm hoping is this; supposedly, someone (ERCOT?) asked the power suppliers to delay maintenance which I suppose is done in the shoulder months between winter and summer. Maybe that's why six of them tripped. If there is any window between late next week and July then maybe this maintenance can be done. If not, then we will be done. :whiteflag:

I don't know. I'm just guessing.
 
Do we have regulators/state leaders who make it prority to save lives of poor folks without options for climate control when the power is out? Or are they more interested in preserving the opportunities for their billionaire contributors to get richer when a power crisis hits?
 
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