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Posts posted by troph
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5 minutes ago, LABEVO said:
This fucking storm broke me. I may move back to LA after this.
Don’t blame you. I’ve had power the whole time and I’m on edge. Told my gf last night I’m about to break. Coming up on 1 year of this nonsense. Just done.
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21 minutes ago, phdhorn said:
52 degrees in the old hacienda this morning. At least we're not yet in the 40s!
Hauling in 5 gal. buckets of snow to put in a tub to help our toilets not have us condemned by the city of Bee Cave.
But hey, now I have something else for my schedule today besides sitting in my car charging. Such a full life!
Oh, and thankfully they started that thread for discussing the politics and blame, but on this one, **everybody** involved in infrastructure shares blame Everybody. If you don't start from that premise, you're wrong.
This time we don’t blame the weatherman either, y’all got it pretty much right on the nose. You more than one way. Can we please has infrastructure week again?
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3 hours ago, Spaulding Smails said:
The load center panel addition is cheap during construction. Do that for sure. I think I recall you saying you're building on LT. If you're on propane, go with the largest tank possible. If natural gas, just try to bring all your utilities together in the same area if possible. If you have the gas / propane line ready and the load center panel set up, it's almost a plug and play for the whole-house generator at a later date. It was on my to-do list this summer, and I just didn't get around to it.
I own a construction and maintenance company in Austin. We just added electrical services in the fall. I hired a master plumber two weeks ago. Just got our plumbing license last week. I just don't have field operations set up yet, unfortunately. Cuz there's gonna be just a bit of plumbing business in the next few weeks / months.
That’s awesome! Glad to hear you’re growing.
our lot is very challenging we aren’t sure where yet or how big. I’m hoping at least 800 gal though. With that we could go almost a week on a half full tank with a 2.5 gal/hour consumption rate.
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35 minutes ago, washparkhorn said:
That’s what she said.
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3 hours ago, Hornbeliever said:
Bump. Anyone have new thoughts on this? I wouldn't mind buying one if it's a selling point for future home sale etc.
If not, diesel generator works too.
We were discussing earlier on one of the weather threads. We are putting one in our new build. Already decided to wire it up for one prior to this week, but seeing how lousy our grid is now, can’t see how it isn’t a wise move. I doubt we will do a whole house probably enough for refrigeration, couple of HVAC units (we are doing ducted mini splits (not ductless) so smaller draws per unit but as many as 4-5 total for the house), some plugs and lights, water pumps (rain water collection), septic system, water heater. Willing to by pass half the HVAC, and most of the kitchen. With this week though I have to wonder if pool power needs to be factored in. Counter measures include a decent fireplace and ICF concrete walls for superb insulation plus we are half built into a hill. Given all of that, I’m not sure what that load will be but I don’t want to spend $20k. Would love to come in under $10k all in for a critical system back up. Looks possible based on the power specs on some of them but power needs add up quickly.
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Just now, XYZ said:
No way!
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37 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:
So the wife's family in Decatur told us their Walmart had to get rid of all the refrigerated product because the power outage would cause spoilage. So what did they do? They trashed it all. Perfectly good food they could have put out in the front or side of the store and let it out on social media for people who are hungry right now to come and pick up. Nope. So insanely callous
I agree with you but this one is probably on the lawyers.
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Jimmy gonna Jimmy.
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3 minutes ago, HiggyBaby said:
Yeah in the same boat in DFW but not complaining. Blocks away from those who have been out since Monday morning.Look nearby for public safety, public works or utilities. So power, water, wastewater, critical government departments, police, fire, hospitals. We were just waiting for our turn then I found a wastewater plant around the corner - half mile as the crow flies - and I’m certain that’s it.
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One of my best friends handyman is holed up with his family in an RV and below 40 degrees several hours ago. Refusing help from several directions says they have it covered. Last concern was pets and more than 2 people offered to take them in with all pets welcome. Very worried. Ugh.
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Just now, Parliament said:
Which one of you degenerates is this?
https://m.facebook.com/100005937761556/posts/1623210707886839/Akkkk my eyes!
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1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:
Had a friend who did a partial tear-down/rebuild/2nd-story add-on a few years ago in our neighborhood. He's the guy who watches This Old House, etc., and gets aroused by that stuff. Basically, he likes gadgets. He spent a bunch of money on a fancy plumbing system that has the water equivalent of a breaker box in his garage. The garage also has a vent from the house HVAC, that he normally keeps closed. Anyways, the plumbing system allows him to shut the water off to any room and the outdoor faucets from the garage.
At the time he was talking it up, a couple of us he was showing it to were like "yeah, that's pretty cool if you need to replace something, you don't have to shut the whole house down, whatever".
Now I would consider it a necessity.
Yeah but if you run lines correctly and protect your power that’s less needed I would think. We’ve managed here with limited plumbing issues because we are half a mile from a wastewater treatment plant and with reliable energy our pipes are fine. Now our build? Guarantee you we’d be out of luck, it’s BFE and I have no idea how close any critical infrastructure is.
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2 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:
A tenth of a degree up and I’d be freaking out.
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1 minute ago, Bateshorn said:
I get it, but I’m just being a pedantic person who lived in Maine. You honestly can’t heat a big room with a fireplace. If you’ve ever been in a pre-revolutionary era house (this is easily one of the more snobby/east coast/bo bo things I’ve ever posted on this site) all the rooms are tiny, chopped up floor plan, and everyone sat in wing backs facing the fireplace with lap blankets. Rum fires are better than your average post war deep fire place, but your still sending all the convective heat up the flue.
Fireplaces suck as heating devices.
Totally hear you. And that room you described is probably exactly what we all need right now!
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6 minutes ago, troph said:
Those Spaulding and I are talking about can be only a few grand. As an example we run our 50 amp RV on 3.2kW so you can see the ones that are quite a bit more in power are nothing close to $20k. Install claimed at $2000.
Not to quote myself but this one is 18kW and has some nice features. Financing available too, not great terms but if that makes a difference. Anyway this is 6x my two standalone generators combined. And with their install estimate that’s $6800 or so.
not sure what power loads are needed but moving up and down from here is incremental costs it seems.
they also have a rudimentary calculator you can estimate. Though I have a hunch it under estimates your needs.
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7 minutes ago, Okie State said:23 minutes ago, troph said:Could do less if you focused on core systems. Fridge and heat with some light and electric plugs. Avoid kitchen appliances, microwaves, limit zones on HVAC, rely on wood burning heat.
Yeah I'd like something like this. Key circuits only. I know you can do that using a switch and a portable generator also for much less, but then you have to fuel it.
Those Spaulding and I are talking about can be only a few grand. As an example we run our 50 amp RV on 3.2kW so you can see the ones that are quite a bit more in power are nothing close to $20k. Install claimed at $2000.
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3 minutes ago, Spaulding Smails said:
Correct. You can also install a load center panel and just wire in a portable generator to focus on core items. Much cheaper if your primary concern is fridge, etc. and you already have a gas powered generator.
There are several other options for longer duration that are more commercial / industrial in nature. We're seeing lots of demand for those recently, and that demand just went off the charts this week.
What line of business are you in? I think I’m supposed to know. Anyway we had it as an afterthought but will at a minimum wire it ready with a spot to put the genny. Question will be “as if the power hadn’t gone out” or more of a survival mode. Not yet sure. Not a big fan of throwing down crazy money when what we really need is just basic creature comforts and major appliances. I’m sure we will decide in the next 2-3 months. I’m guessing you can set it up for either or? Full house for routine outages and critical systems for times like these? Also looks like they have their own tanks but can you have them draw direct from a large underground tank? Surely you can. I should ask my lady but she’s watching TV and hates when I interrupt her.
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4 minutes ago, Spaulding Smails said:
$20K all-in for a whole-home Generac. Lots of higher end models available as well.
Could do less if you focused on core systems. Fridge and heat with some light and electric plugs. Avoid kitchen appliances, microwaves, limit zones on HVAC, rely on wood burning heat.
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4 minutes ago, Okie State said:
How much do whole home NG generators run on average? Adding it to the list of upgrades when we buy our next home.
Depends on what you need... but this is the brand.
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3 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:
If we lose power to the point where the place gets down in the 40s, we are breaking out our tent and putting it in the living room. Based on our normal February/March camping trips, it'll be another way to keep the heat in.
If people did what you’re doing and what you have then very few would be in trouble. I don’t like tent camping but we probably ought to have some minimal gear.
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1 minute ago, MillerEP said:
Just checking in to say that my powerwall was a godsend during this weather outage, I was able to run on the battery for about 15.5 hours after the rest of the neighborhood went out.
That’s good info thanks!
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13 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:
I've got a mental list of things going that I'm going to order after this is all over.
Not going to drop $8,000 on a Powerwall, but am going to get a small generator (neighbor and I may split it) and a couple of small space heaters, along with various odds and ends (better hiking boots, better gloves, etc.). Some blankets that will pull double duty for covering the windows in case of power out, etc. Probably some MRE-type meals that we will then use in the spring when we camp, etc.
This is a really good list. Probs add a weather radio, some hand and feet warmers for really cold in a pinch, some better or additional camping gear for cold weather - seen some stuff where the tents and sleeping bags really do make a difference. I’m sure there is more. You could go a step further and get more propane tanks for camping stoves etc. we have a lot of good gear, our rv is an example of near perfect preparedness and yet none of it is at our house. Kinda dumb move on our part really.
2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on
in Daily Texan
Posted · Edited by troph
That’s good advice - and yes we are doing that. Last home we had 1000 gallon, here we just aren’t sure the space is there for that size. We initially thought about skipping but pool heat for the hot tub makes it a must. Electric won’t suffice. So from there we started talking about where to have quick connects. Gas grill next to the big green egg, heaters on the pool deck lounge area, obviously to the back up genny, we are going to use electric for heat and induction for the stove so no need in the kitchen. Washer and dryer are electric too. We will have one in the fire place though to start it. Maybe I should put a covered connection in the living room just in case? Don’t want to get carried away here but the goal really is as sustainable and off the grid as we can be, if needed. It’s not a survivalist thing, it’s a comfort thing. We actually think there will be a market for tasteful/high end with these green and self sustaining features in the future. Anyway it’s a whole added dimension of planning.