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2020-21 Winter weather; bring it on

Parliament

By Parliament
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troph

troph 24783

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Posted
1 hour ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

So I got power for 30 minutes and went on Facebook.  Some family that live in my neighborhood are posting pics of them in FL in the sun and water at the beach saying they are so lucky to be stuck there and not in TX. A bunch of people responded to the post how lucky they are and how cool they are for not being here.  Am I wrong to want to respond that there is a natural disaster going on in TX with people dying so maybe don’t post pics at the beach right now?  I mean I am as big of a prick as anybody but this seems so insensitive.  

No, that’s terribly bad form. Reason to quit Facebook. And second I felt bad I posted a picture of pretty snow Monday and nearly deleted it.  Shits real yo. 

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SubliminalHorn
SubliminalHorn

Power back on. 109 hours. I almost want to cry a little 

Machinator
Machinator
BradInATX
BradInATX

I've actually been turning my heat up a degree every time a new Surly member loses power on this thread. It's a nice balmy 94 in here.

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troph

troph 24783

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Dahobbs said:

Ordered powerwall today. I'm not getting stuck like this again. Probably a poor snap decision, but I'm comfortable with it. 

We are building our last home now. It has a 55,000 gallon water cistern for rain water collection (we won’t even have water hook ups) and now we are talking power - solar yes but we are now adding hook ups for a whole house generator.  Need to engineer the size of the propane tank so we can go a week without electricity on half a tank. Also, no secret I love a good fire, won’t go without a cord or even two stacked up as a matter of preparedness every winter.  This 4m Texans without power is bull fucking shit.

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Beantown Express 2.0

Beantown Express 2.0 6559

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, troph said:

We are building our last home now. It has a 55,000 gallon water cistern for rain water collection (we won’t even have water hook ups) and now we are talking power - solar yes but we are now adding hook ups for a whole house generator.  Need to engineer the size of the propane tank so we can go a week without electricity on half a tank. Also, no secret I love a good fire, won’t go without a cord or even two stacked up as a matter of preparedness every winter.  This 4m Texans without power is bull fucking shit.

I am ready to go solar but also ready to get out of my current house.  I am waiting until the summer to see if I get one of the lake lots that are opening up in my neighborhood.  If I get one I plan to do a Tesla Solar roof along with the power wall.  

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Mrs Whiggins

Mrs Whiggins 13050

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7 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

Kitty litter will work in a pinch, but don’t mess with a man’s cookin’ salts.  

Alas, no cat but I’ll only use the salt as a last resort. It’s just store brand so I can buy some as soon as they restock. All the shelves here are bare. Thank heaven I bought the Girl Scout cookies before this all went south. Poor young lady and her mom were out last weekend in miserable weather when we were going to pick up a hardware item for a repair. Felt like her sales were going to be slow so we bought a bunch. My family has been in a Thin Mint coma enough that the discomfort from the power outage has been numbed. 

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troph

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2 minutes ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I am ready to go solar but also ready to get out of my current house.  I am waiting until the summer to see if I get one of the lake lots that are opening up in my neighborhood.  If I get one I plan to do a Tesla Solar roof along with the power wall.  

Girlfriend is a custom/high end spec builder says it’s not the best product (but we have a Tesla) and says whole house NG or propane generator is what you need for this kind of outage. 

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TexasEd

TexasEd 8066

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Gale Snoats said:


I’m sorry I snapped. Just stressed out. Thanks to all with suggestions. My concern with turning off gas is that it won’t burn as hot and will be smokier but I will give it a shot. Thanks to all and sorry again. Just a bit on edge with all this bullshit.

Keys: 

  1. Fresh air source from outside
  2. Chimney flue open (You've heard enough about this)
  3. Updraft (What I think you are trying to accomplish with the gas)

If it is a newer fireplace you should have two levers on your fireplace.  they top one is for the flue and a side one for the fresh air vent.  Make sure both are open and not blocked.  There will be a vent cover outside that looks like a dryer exhaust vent.

You need enough heat to force an updraft and enough air.  It sounds strange but sometimes I had to crack a nearby window to get the air in a tight house to create the updraft.  I think my vent was partially blocked.

Once you get the fire roaring you should have the updraft and not need the gas.  You may have to poke the logs to create access for the air to get to the fire/embers.

Good luck!

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40832

Posted
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8 minutes ago, troph said:

We are building our last home now. It has a 55,000 gallon water cistern for rain water collection (we won’t even have water hook ups) and now we are talking power - solar yes but we are now adding hook ups for a whole house generator.  Need to engineer the size of the propane tank so we can go a week without electricity on half a tank. Also, no secret I love a good fire, won’t go without a cord or even two stacked up as a matter of preparedness every winter.  This 4m Texans without power is bull fucking shit.

My brother near Sun City has a 15kw generator mounted on a slab behind his garage and a 1,000 gallon propane tank buried in the backyard. He uses it primarily for his kitchen stove and central heat. He says it burns about 2.5 gallons per hour. It uses about 600-700 gallons per year on the average.

Luckily he just had it filled two weeks ago because it kicked on today when his power went out.... so he’s good to go for a couple of weeks if need be. And his provider said they are rolling trucks all week to their customers.

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Doc Sam Beckett

Doc Sam Beckett 5792

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17 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

I think I might go wait in line at the gas station and waste everyone’s time by buying a bunch of scratch offs.  I’m that fucking annoyed rt now.   Picked a helluva time to start a challenge that involves quitting drinking for 75 days.   Goddammit. 

I thought quitting drinking meant cutting down to 2 beers a day? 

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89648

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

So I got power for 30 minutes and went on Facebook.  Some family that live in my neighborhood are posting pics of them in FL in the sun and water at the beach saying they are so lucky to be stuck there and not in TX. A bunch of people responded to the post how lucky they are and how cool they are for not being here.  Am I wrong to want to respond that there is a natural disaster going on in TX with people dying so maybe don’t post pics at the beach right now?  I mean I am as big of a prick as anybody but this seems so insensitive.  

1 hour ago, Pancho said:

I think just praying they return home to busted pipes would help.

Don't say a word, if their pipes burst and they bitch on Facebook, play dumb and say "it was a massive winter storm, were you all not around to take care of your house like responsible adults?"

 

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troph

troph 24783

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8 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

My brother near Sun City has a 15kw generator mounted on a slab behind his garage and a 1,000 gallon propane tank buried in the backyard. He uses it primarily for his kitchen stove and central heat. He says it burns about 2.5 gallons per hour. It uses about 600-700 gallons per year on the average.

Luckily he just had it filled two weeks ago because it kicked on today when his power went out.... so he’s good to go for a couple of weeks if need be. And his provider said they are rolling trucks all week to their customers.

That’s what you should do if you can swing it.

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Foosters

Foosters 17850

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2 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

My brother had the valve on his pool fill pipe bust. Not a big deal, so we went to Home Depot. Big line to get in and once we were inside it seemed sort of empty. I told my brother everyone would be in plumbing. This was half the aisle:

spacer.png

This was CA this summer except it was the AC filter section. People were climbing over each other to get at them.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89648

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24 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Ordered powerwall today. I'm not getting stuck like this again. Probably a poor snap decision, but I'm comfortable with it. 

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.

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gmr548

gmr548 16576

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Does anyone in oak forest have water? We’ve been without since basically last night. 

No. We turned ours off preemptively, tried to turn it in today and got nothing. Girlfriend mentioned it’s all over next door. Apparently a water main broke at 34th/Shepherd, though I’ve heard of water issues throughout the city.
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Bateshorn

Bateshorn 9927

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30 minutes ago, troph said:

We are building our last home now. It has a 55,000 gallon water cistern for rain water collection (we won’t even have water hook ups) and now we are talking power - solar yes but we are now adding hook ups for a whole house generator.  Need to engineer the size of the propane tank so we can go a week without electricity on half a tank. Also, no secret I love a good fire, won’t go without a cord or even two stacked up as a matter of preparedness every winter.  This 4m Texans without power is bull fucking shit.

If your serious about heating with wood in a pinch, get a wood stove. There’s simply no comparison to a fireplace . 

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89648

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29 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Fill your bathtub people 

We have Shoal Creek near by.  

We need to keep our tub empty for running the faucets and keeping the water circulating (our bathtub is one of our two main weaknesses - the faucets are near an outside wall). 

But yeah, if it's going to be cut off and we get warning, we'll fill it.

Crazy thing about all of this, most of us know a lot of what we need to do/get, since we've had friends/family/Surly types who go through horrible hurricanes and lose power/water.  It's just none of us are going to die if we are without power in August (even if we feel like it).

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Posted (edited)

 

Whoever wrote that wrote Austin Water tweet musta wrote the del Conte message about Tom Herman after the Alamo Bowl I bet.  

That is good news actually.  Better than the, "How the fuck should we know...do we look the Energy Council or some shit?" vibe I'm getting from ERCOT.  

Everybody around the nation is either feeling sorry for us, laughing at us, or both.  Texas Energy is going to be the butt of jokes for years to come, and we deserve it.  Incompetence killing a handful of Texans every hour...because you know...we didn't see this thing coming.  Oh wait, yeah we totally did.  

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troph

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5 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

If your serious about heating with wood in a pinch, get a wood stove. There’s simply no comparison to a fireplace . 

Man I would but I don’t like the look.  We are installing/building a large Rumford fireplace though. 

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troph

troph 24783

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Just now, Lobo said:

^

Whoever wrote that wrote the del Conte message about Tom Herman after the Alamo Bowl I bet.  

That is good news actually.  Better than the, "How the fuck should we know...do we look the Energy Council or some shit?" vibe I'm getting from ERCOT.  

Everybody around the nation is either feeling sorry for us, laughing at us, or both.  Texas Energy is going to be the butt of jokes for years to come, and we deserve it.  Incompetence killing a handful of Texans every hour...because you know...we didn't see this thing coming.  Oh wait, yeah we totally did.  

Yeah a lot better than ERCOT.  

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GhostOfTomJoad

GhostOfTomJoad 9324

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Had our friends over who've been without power/heat/hot water for almost 36 hours. They came into our 62° home with a roaring gas fire & immediately lit up like they'd found a desert oasis. They took showers, charged their phones, had drinks and fresh hot coffee, and for almost 2 hours felt normal again. We told them they were welcome to spend the night, but his wife is very allergic to our two cats. They're now back home, 2.5 miles from us, no power, in a 50° house and hoping things will come on tomorrow.

We're glad to be able to help, feel extremely fortunate to be far better off than most right now, and feeling guilty for now doing a load of bath towels in preparation of other friends returning tomorrow. And here we are.

Stay safe.

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South Austin

South Austin 52463

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Posted
3 minutes ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

Had our friends over who've been without power/heat/hot water for almost 36 hours. They came into our 62° home with a roaring gas fire & immediately lit up like they'd found a desert oasis. They took showers, charged their phones, had drinks and fresh hot coffee, and for almost 2 hours felt normal again. We told them they were welcome to spend the night, but his wife is very allergic to our two cats. They're now back home, 2.5 miles from us, no power, in a 50° house and hoping things will come on tomorrow.

We're glad to be able to help, feel extremely fortunate to be far better off than most right now, and feeling guilty for now doing a load of bath towels in preparation of other friends returning tomorrow. And here we are.

Stay safe.

Congratulations on giving them COVID!

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troph

troph 24783

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Posted
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. 

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89648

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Just now, troph said:

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. 

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.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Posted

Uh, SEC, SEC, SEC?  I don't know what else to do, we're a national fucking embarrassment.  We're as prepared and as smart as Appalachia?  Super, should go over really well when we have to talk to other adults.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89648

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https://www.austintexas.gov/article/freezing-weather-operational-updates

Latest: 6PM

Austin Water continues to ask customers to minimize the impact and strain on our water and electric system by delaying the use of large appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers. This will help conserve electricity and water during this extreme weather event. Austin Water has adequate water to supply our customers during this severe weather event.

Some customers experiencing water outages have frozen water lines on their property that will not thaw until the weather warms up. Unfortunately, frozen pipes on private property are not an issue the city can resolve. Customers will need to hire a private plumber to make repairs to water lines on their property. Customers should also allow time for their pipes to thaw when temperatures reach above freezing.

If customers experience a water line break and the property-owner cut-off valve does not work, or you are unable to locate or operate the property owner valve, Austin Water is available to turn off the water at no charge. Customers can call 512-972-1000 to report a water main break or concern with their Austin Water service.

Water and Wastewater Plants 

All plants are operating normally. Provisions have been made for 24-7 staffing and safe transport of employees.

Pumps and Lift Stations

Although we are not experiencing any system issues with water distribution pump stations, we have experienced power outages at several of the sanitary sewage lift stations.  Crews are continuing to work around the clock with Austin Energy to restore power, including setting up temporary generator power. 

Water Main Breaks

There are 8 active water main leaks each affecting approximately 15-20 customers on average. Austin Water staff are working to respond and repair these priority leaks.  Austin Water continues to have several hundred field personnel responding to water related concerns and will rotate shifts as necessary to restore service or assist customers to restore private service.  Austin Water thanks you for your patience as response times will take longer than usual due to weather and road conditions. 

Please continue to consult the cold weather tips and assess the conditions on your property to protect your pipes.

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troph

troph 24783

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Posted
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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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31449

Posted
Posted
48 minutes ago, Constant said:

Do I misunderstand this graph? Isn’t that a good outlook?

843618F1-EA63-4FB0-B69A-98943CAF1B34.png

Yeah it is. But if you look at the numbers the spread isn't very wide yet. Less than 10% so not much room for error. That demand is lower than forecast earlier may be good, like really good. 

Moar spread please. 

 

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