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How's the weather?

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Jude
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Tue 31 May , 2022 1:14 pm
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So over a week later, 5% of residents still have no power. Those that have generators are wondering whether their insurance will cover the cost of the fuel for the generators, which in some cases is a few hundred and in others will run into the thousands.

All the more reason for me to seek out a solar-powered generator.

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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Tue 31 May , 2022 1:19 pm
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Wow! That's intense! It reminds me of the hurricane we had here in 2008. We didn't get the rain, but we got the intense, sustained winds. There were people without power for 2 weeks.

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Frelga
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Sun 05 Jun , 2022 7:23 am
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It's raining!

It's barely a drizzle but there is definitely water coming from the sky and making the ground moist.

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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Sun 05 Jun , 2022 4:45 pm
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That's good news! Slow and steady is the best kind!

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Frelga
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Mon 06 Jun , 2022 4:12 am
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The drizzle turned into rain that lasted all night and through most of the morning. It wasn't enough to help the drought, but I hope it helps hold off the fires. Especially because the parts of the state where the most rain fell were the ones where fires were already starting.

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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Wed 08 Jun , 2022 5:41 pm
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Jude wrote: *  Thu 26 May , 2022 1:45 am
In related news, I'm thinking of getting a generator sometime before the next time this happens. Does anyone here have one? Are they straightforward to use?
We have two generators. One is a portable gasoline powered one that we use for power on parts of the farm where it is too far away from the house. It's pretty straightforward to use, but with all the down sides of a small gasoline engine. You turn it on and plug extension cords into it and voila! they are powered. You have to make sure that what you are powering does not exceed the capacity of the generator, but otherwise it isn't difficult to use. The last extended power outage we had at our place, we rotated which appliances were being powered by the generator. Freezers for a couple of hours, and then fridges for a few hours. That kind of thing. It kept the food from going bad, but it wasn't convenient. And it's very noisy.

Last year we got a whole house propane powered generator put in. When the power goes off, it automatically turns on, disconnects us from the electrical grid (so we don't electrocute an electrical lineman) and it runs the whole house. I wanted us to always have power in case my parents move in with us and they had some medical problem that requires power to keep them going. It took months from the time we contracted to have it done until everything came in and they could install, so I'm glad I got it done ahead of time. Since we are out in the country, we had to have a propane tank installed to supply the gas, but if you are in a city and they have gas available, you'd get one that could run on that. The whole house generator is also noisy, but not as much as the gasoline powered one.

I'm not sure what you mean by a solar generator. Is that just a portable unit that you set outside to charge and then bring in to use as a battery?


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Jude
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Wed 08 Jun , 2022 6:20 pm
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Thanks for the info!
MariaHobbit wrote: *  Wed 08 Jun , 2022 5:41 pm
I'm not sure what you mean by a solar generator. Is that just a portable unit that you set outside to charge and then bring in to use as a battery?
That was what I assumed, yes.

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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Wed 08 Jun , 2022 7:41 pm
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Something like that probably wouldn't power much (or the battery would be too heavy to carry!) but it would be better than nothing.

Just look up the power requirements of what you'd like to be able to run and see how much of a generator you'd need to power it.


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Frelga
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Wed 08 Jun , 2022 11:40 pm
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Solar panels keep coming up in our conversations with husband. We don't use enough electricity for it to be worth the investment, unless we also buy an electric car. Emergency use would require a battery, otherwise the fridge would be without power all night. And in an earthquake, I don't know how likely the panels are to stay attached to the house.

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Dave_LF
Post subject: How's the weather?
Posted: Wed 08 Jun , 2022 11:51 pm
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One of the things that makes me uneasy about the whole EV movement is that it turns the grid into even more of a single point of failure than it already is. As things are, when (not if) you suffer an extended power outage because it rained and/or got hot and/or Russia FUBARed the energy market, the one crumb of comfort is that at least your car still works. Distributed electrical generation along the lines of home solar panels is going to become something of a necessity in rather short order, IMO.


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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 12:26 am
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That's a good point, Dave.

Tornados here tonight. Yeehaw! Most of the damage was north of here, though. No word yet on loss of life, but, hopefully, there's none.

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Jude
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 12:50 am
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Dave_LF wrote: *  Wed 08 Jun , 2022 11:51 pm
One of the things that makes me uneasy about the whole EV movement is that it turns the grid into even more of a single point of failure than it already is. As things are, when (not if) you suffer an extended power outage because it rained and/or got hot and/or Russia FUBARed the energy market, the one crumb of comfort is that at least your car still works. Distributed electrical generation along the lines of home solar panels is going to become something of a necessity in rather short order, IMO.
So... you're saying that it's my duty to buy myself a solar generator? And that if I do, I'll be a national hero?

*snaps to attention*

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Frelga
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 2:20 am
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Yeah, a distributed grid would be a no brainer, if it didn't threaten utility company profits.

That's one reason I don't feel ready for a strictly electric car. Also why I am not happy with trying to phase out natural gas in residential construction. At least I still can cook and have hot water if the power goes down.

It doesn't even have to be a big disaster - California gets rolling blackouts in the summer because PG&E says it's the only way they won't burn down the rest of the state. My power has stayed on so far, but I'm not counting on it.

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Dave_LF
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 2:56 pm
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Jude wrote: *  Thu 09 Jun , 2022 12:50 am
So... you're saying that it's my duty to buy myself a solar generator? And that if I do, I'll be a national hero?
*snaps to attention*
That and a hero to those of us curious about whether they actually work. :cool:
LalaithUrwen wrote: *  Thu 09 Jun , 2022 12:26 am
Tornados here tonight. Yeehaw! Most of the damage was north of here, though. No word yet on loss of life, but, hopefully, there's none.
That keeps happening on days that begin with predictions of low/no severe weather risk. :suspicious:


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Alatar
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 3:01 pm
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I have Solar Panels on the roof if that's any help Dave! Happy to fill you in on my findings.

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Frelga
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 3:57 pm
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Al, is that the kind that feeds electricity back into the grid? Tell us everything!

Woke up at 6 to check for texts from my son, who's in Iceland on vacation. His employer has "unlimited" vacation days and allows staff to work from literally anywhere, so now son is working out of his Reykjavik hotel room.

I considered worrying about him traveling alone (his friend gave him a line to her friends so they'll meet up later) but I'm sure Iceland is safer than NYC by any metric one cares to name.

PS my point was, I'm now sleepy and work is going nuts

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Jude
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 4:51 pm
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Frelga wrote: *  Thu 09 Jun , 2022 3:57 pm
Woke up at 6 to check for texts from my son, who's in Iceland on vacation. His employer has "unlimited" vacation days and allows staff to work from literally anywhere, so now son is working out of his Reykjavik hotel room.
:Q Are they hiring?

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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 5:20 pm
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The propane generator we got last year was part of a solar power package that we got. We covered our south facing roof with solar panels. We are grid tied, so the power we produce goes back into the electrical grid. We may go for battery storage some day, but whole house batteries are crazy expensive right now and don't have a long life. We are waiting for better batteries.

Since most of our power outages are in the winter it seemed like a very good thing to do the propane generator backup power. The solar power system will pay for itself in 10 years and should last about 25 years. Other climates will do better than that, of course. Missouri has a lot of cloudy days.


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Frelga
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Thu 09 Jun , 2022 8:05 pm
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Jude wrote:
:Q Are they hiring?
I think so. I don't know what they are hiring *for* but I can ask.

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Alatar
Post subject: Re: How's the weather?
Posted: Fri 10 Jun , 2022 1:11 pm
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Ok so I have 12 panels generating approx 4kWh. I then have a 5kWh Battery and an Eddi for water heating. I switched to day/night rate Electricity, so most of my consumption from the grid is at night rate, or 1/2 price. I fill the battery and heat my water in the middle of the night, then use that in the morning when Solar generation is only starting to ramp up. My mid day, I'm generating more than I can use so it starts filling the battery up again. When the battery is fully charged it diverts to Hot water, and only then does it start feeding back to the grid. Currently we don't get paid for anything going back to the grid, which is very much leading me towards investing in either another battery or an EV Car. Return on investment is a much trickier proposition on the car. Another 5kWh battery would cost me about $3k, but I'm not really looking for short term ROI. My logic is that right now, both of us are working and have no mortgage so cash flow is good. I'm investing in a future where I'm retired and all this is paid for, and I have lower electricity bills.

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