02-16-2021, 12:17 AM
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#11 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Could be worse. In Texas the windmills are frozen still and the solar panels are under inches of snow.
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02-16-2021, 05:12 AM
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#12 (permalink)
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Master EcoWalker
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In the Nordic countries they have lots of windmills and lots of cold, and they never freeze solid. Maybe those Texas windmills are missing something essential, like frostproof bearings or internal heaters?
If the blades get covered with a layer of ice I understand why the mills got shut down. That's a rare and extreme condition though.
Over here we just ended one week of snow, the first in quite a while, down to minus 11 Celsius on our wall-mounted outside thermometer. Most of the solar panel arrays were completely covered, but some arrays were completely free of snow on an otherwise snow-covered roof. IIRC Tesla solar panels have a thaw program to melt off snow when needed, and apparently they are not alone.
The wind turbines were happily spinning in the mild cold breeze.
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2011 Honda Insight + HID, LEDs, tiny PV panel, extra brake pad return springs, neutral wheel alignment, 44/42 PSI (air), PHEV light (inop), tightened wheel nut.
 lifetime FE over 0.2 Gigameter or 0.13 Megamile.
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For confirmation go to people just like you.
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Last edited by RedDevil; 02-16-2021 at 05:20 AM..
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02-16-2021, 10:43 AM
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#13 (permalink)
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Somewhat crazed
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Flinging ice and snow off blades is a pretty bad juju when the tips are capable of +100 mph plus potential imbalance issue. If you stop them because of storm winds you need to wait until they thaw.... blades in places that freeze often have anti ice strategies.
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02-16-2021, 01:40 PM
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#14 (permalink)
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Human Environmentalist
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I spent the 3-day weekend running a chainsaw and filling petrol cans, running extension cords from our generator to the neighbors, etc.
I cut the end off an extension cord and wired the generator directly into the main panel. Of course, I have the main breaker switched off. Being without grid power since Friday night has me realizing I'd like a 240v diesel generator so I can hook up both legs of the electrical panel and be fully powered up. As it is, nearly everything I'd want to run has power.
Our natural gas fireplace uses a thermocouple, so we never lost heat, and of course the gas water heater allows hot showers.
There are 2 roads to exit our neighborhood, and 1 has several oak trees across it (main street). Finding a route out on the remaining road was interesting, involving heading the opposite direction you want to go and meandering through neighborhoods.
I don't know why traffic is 3x more than normal. I doubt people in their lexus are headed to borrow a chainsaw, so where they're going I have no clue, and I don't think they know either based on how slow and confused people have been driving.
I've got 2 bars of cell strength, which is enough to give me internet service for the moment.
Our view Saturday morning; a little more open than before.
Then the sun came out
3.5 kW continuous generator prior to wiring to the panel.
Near my parents (the barn is barely visible in the background). Miles of down lines and half the poles are snapped. My grandmother thought she'd have power restored "at 4:15pm" because she had called PGE and the automated message said that. There weren't even crews working on it Sunday.
Dad made a rain collector so they can flush the toilets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH
That doesn't look like fun. A bit north of you we spent the weekend XC skiing in the streets and enjoying pints at the local brewery.
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Attachment 30158
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That looks fantastic.
My Friday night wasn't too shabby. Heated some sake up on the stove.
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02-16-2021, 02:10 PM
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#15 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Quote:
Maybe those Texas windmills are missing something essential, like frostproof bearings or internal heaters?
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Whatever it was stopped the windmills, covered the solar panels and stopped the pumps in the natural gas pipeline, a week or two after the current Resident in the White House invited the CCP into the power grid.
edit:
Nicely framed. Life is all a matter of perspective.
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Last edited by freebeard; 02-16-2021 at 02:25 PM..
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02-16-2021, 02:44 PM
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#16 (permalink)
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Master EcoWalker
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And the CCP immediately started throwing ice and snow and breaking poles etc.
Damn commies!
It sure is good to have someone to blame, hm?
Take care over there.
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2011 Honda Insight + HID, LEDs, tiny PV panel, extra brake pad return springs, neutral wheel alignment, 44/42 PSI (air), PHEV light (inop), tightened wheel nut.
 lifetime FE over 0.2 Gigameter or 0.13 Megamile.

For confirmation go to people just like you.
For education go to people unlike yourself.
Last edited by RedDevil; 02-16-2021 at 02:55 PM..
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02-16-2021, 04:17 PM
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#17 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Quote:
Redpoint5
I'd like a 240v diesel generator so I can hook up both legs of the electrical panel and be fully powered up. As it is, nearly everything I'd want to run has power.
Our natural gas fireplace uses a thermocouple, so we never lost heat, and of course the gas water heater allows hot showers.
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My 2 cents.
I would get a Generator that runs off of natural gas. Just like you never lost heat you wouldn’t lose power either because natural gas rarely stops flowing through the pipes unless there’s an earthquake. Even then you could change the orifice and run on LPG. Natural gas engines run super clean, require very little maintenance and usually start easily.
Oh and just so you know, they make a multi fuel carburetor (NG, LPG, Gasoline) for your generator just look on Amazon you’ll find it. They’re very inexpensive.
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Woke means you're a loser....everything woke turns to ****.
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Disclaimer...
I’m not a climatologist, aerodynamicist, virologist, physicist, astrodynamicist or marine biologist..
But...
I play one on the internet.
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02-16-2021, 05:24 PM
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#18 (permalink)
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Human Environmentalist
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redneck
My 2 cents.
I would get a Generator that runs off of natural gas. Just like you never lost heat you wouldn’t lose power either because natural gas rarely stops flowing through the pipes unless there’s an earthquake. Even then you could change the orifice and run on LPG. Natural gas engines run super clean, require very little maintenance and usually start easily.
Oh and just so you know, they make a multi fuel carburetor (NG, LPG, Gasoline) for your generator just look on Amazon you’ll find it. They’re very inexpensive.
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Good points. I was looking on Amazon for a NG adapter, but I'm not sure which would fit this 7HP 4k peak watt Sportsman generator.
Don't know why it didn't come with the carb that allows NG too. Would be super easy for me to hook up to one of the BBQ lines.
... the ones I'm finding on Amazon show Friday delivery. We should have power before then, but if we didn't, it sure would be nice to have the adapter. I plan to get one anyhow so I'm prepared for the next time.
Maybe this one? Free return if it's not right I suppose, and the price is right.
https://www.amazon.com/Saihisday-Car...511187&sr=8-12
Last edited by redpoint5; 02-16-2021 at 05:37 PM..
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02-16-2021, 06:12 PM
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#19 (permalink)
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AKA - Jason
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redneck
My 2 cents.
I would get a Generator that runs off of natural gas. Just like you never lost heat you wouldn’t lose power either because natural gas rarely stops flowing through the pipes unless there’s an earthquake. Even then you could change the orifice and run on LPG. Natural gas engines run super clean, require very little maintenance and usually start easily.
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While I'm a fan of NG generators we are in the Cascadia subduction zone that spits out 9 - 10 magnitude earthquakes on occasion. The last Cascadia earthquake was in 1700.
If I was redpoint I would want a LPG back-up or a way to store some of the his solar energy from that new system he installed.
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02-16-2021, 06:18 PM
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#20 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RedDevil
It sure is good to have someone to blame, hm?
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I know.... correlation does not imply causation. But I followed Robert Anton Wilson.
Robert Anton Wilson: Consciousness, Conspiracy & Coincidence -- Thinking Allowed w/ Jeffrey Mishlove
Is you mind inside or outside of Universe?
Simulation Theory suggests the must likely outcome is the most entertaining one. So I expect that after the 2nd failed impeachment, Trump won't run again. That would blow some minds, but he's proved in the last four years that the idiot box is more powerful than the Presidency.
JSH: Best ROI would be a gravity battery in a dry well.
__________________
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.Without freedom of speech we wouldn't know who all the idiots are. -- anonymous poster
____________________
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.The wages of woke is broke[™] -- Harvey Cthulhu
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