There is a disadvantage to underground electrical distribution, the transformers are on the ground instead of on a pole, and are vulnerable to flooding. My neighborhood is supplied from underground, and while we only lost power for 12 hours after Ike, we were without power for 7 days for Harvey. All of the transformers were flooded and had to be replaced, and some of them leaked and killed the grass around them.
*****2026 Houston weather*****
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Is the golf cart properly winterized? That's really all that matters
Haven't seen anything for this weekend from Frankie from
Nova Scotia, so I don't think it'll snow. Should probably stock up on bleach just in case…
Nova Scotia, so I don't think it'll snow. Should probably stock up on bleach just in case…
drumboy said:cryption said:
My whole home battery backup is being installed Tuesday so it would be a good test! Bring it on
Those are cool, and seem like a lower maintenance solution over Generacs. How long will it run your house on or off AC? Can you add some charge w/ a portable generator if you need extended coverage?
The Base power has an option to put a generator plug on the side. So you can run your generator to charge the batteries and your house is still running off the batteries.
I know this as I'm looking into getting them as well.
~egon
Ragoo said:Mega Lops said:Marauder Blue 6 said:Mega Lops said:
Omfg why hasn't centerpoint used the ungodly fees everyone pays to put the GD power lines beneath the surface?!
Too expensive. Easier and less expensive to maintain easements and ROWs. Now if they'd just actually do it.
need to use some of that fed money in the Trump BBB to drop the lines beneath the ground. What the hell are our elected reps doing in DC?
Surely not taking a serious issue like icy Texas tree limbs snapping off causing MAJOR power outages in The H seriously.
Literally nothing would phase underground power lines in Houston if Centerpoint would just get their ever loving sh$t together.
you can't just bury power lines. They have to be design and installed/encased in red concrete called a duct bank. That duct bank has to be designed using neher-mcgrath to determine the temperature rise. The cables then have to be spaced out to dissipate that heat. To the point that the duct bank would be very expensive and need a pull box every 100'. Because any failure of a cable would be astronomical to replace.
It is just completely and totally unpractical.
Pearls before swine, Ragoo.
This argument has been hashed out several times. The reality of costs and project execution make no dents in the emotional arguments of those who demand them be underground.
Looking more like a central and northeast Texas mess starting early Saturday for now. We'll see what they are saying Thursday.
There's a generator port to charge the batteries, so I have a tri-fuel portable I'll use to keep them charged. I'm using BASE power, there's pros/cons to the leasing model they have, but seems like a good fit for what I'm trying to do. I'll post about it when it's all installed with some pics if people are interested.
I expect if the batteries are mostly charged I could get a day or two by making smart decisions. They're installing 50KW of batteries, but the company has a right to draw off the batteries to supplement the grid at peek times (there's the con). There's a generator port that can charge the batteries at 3000w. So 3000w-current usage=charge rate. They're basically doing power rate arbitrage using batteries installed at people's houses, and the people get the benefit of batteries for a small fee and no large capital expense. It fits my personal risk tolerance perfectly. Texas based company and the hardware is Growatt manufactured for the most part so it's quality. Time will tell if it lives up to my mental picture of how it's going to work.
evestor1 said:
we did a recap on snowfall in my childhood vs my children's timeframe.
damn - The 90s sucked for snow in houston!
I remember having a couple of "ice days" but snow was really just a random flurry that never stuck to the ground.
Sounds like you really did your homework. While I dislike the idea of needing them because such an outage affects us al, I'm interested in hearing how they perform under a multi-day outage.
Marauder Blue 6 said:Mega Lops said:
Omfg why hasn't centerpoint used the ungodly fees everyone pays to put the GD power lines beneath the surface?!
Too expensive. Easier and less expensive to maintain easements and ROWs. Now if they'd just actually do it.
And as we've found, it's even easier and cheaper to not maintain easements and ROW and only do work when something breaks.
AgLiving06 said:Marauder Blue 6 said:Mega Lops said:
Omfg why hasn't centerpoint used the ungodly fees everyone pays to put the GD power lines beneath the surface?!
Too expensive. Easier and less expensive to maintain easements and ROWs. Now if they'd just actually do it.
And as we've found, it's even easier and cheaper to not maintain easements and ROW and only do work when something breaks.
I've watched Centerpoint and various other companies spend a fortune ( our money ) on ROW maintenance by cutting down invasive chinese tallow trees and willow trees on the ROW. But they Do Not spray chemical on the cut stumps which would kill the tree/ roots. They would be better off fertilizing the trees if they don't kill the stumps after cutting. Even co-ops like Sam Houston Cooperative I see come out and cut the same trees and rows over, over, and over again, year after year. Very expensive compared to doing it right the first time by Simply spraying chemical on the cut stumps, which literally takes one person with a hand sprayer, water, and chemical…
Rant Over
12z GFS. This will be a huge mess across a big chunk of the state if it pans out.
3rd Coast said:
Is the golf cart properly winterized? That's really all that matters
Golf cart now has a garage newly built.
Where the hell is entertainment value in that?
3k watts is not a whole lot of power
I'm not a lawyer, but that sounds like the kind of thing that's outside their easement rights.
cajunaggie08 said:evestor1 said:
we did a recap on snowfall in my childhood vs my children's timeframe.
damn - The 90s sucked for snow in houston!
I remember having a couple of "ice days" but snow was really just a random flurry that never stuck to the ground.
1997
Sister got dropped off at A&M on her fish year and called us to tell about sliding down the hill on Common's trays. My parents were able to drop her off and get home right before it started to rain/get cold.
I got the day off of school my fish year in HS and the magnolia tree, we planted in our front yard 2 years before, was doing a 180 from all the ice.
~egon
terradactylexpress said:
3k watts is not a whole lot of power
Sorry for the spamming of this thread, but I have a panel power meter monitor. 3kW, for my house in the past 4 days, would power just about everything in my house without issue.
We have gas everything, so if you have more electrical stuff (dryer, water heater, etc.) YMMV. But not having to run the AC's mean we use less power.
And we baked a cake and two sets of brownies this past weekend/MLK day, so our oven was going (electric).
3kW would work for most homes, even if you have to 'limit' a few things you would normally do.
~egon
Now do the math in the summer after a hurricane.
Cromagnum said:
12z GFS. This will be a huge mess across a big chunk of the state if it pans out.
Yeah that looks like a mess
Yeah leaving the AC part out of that makes a big difference
Cromagnum said:
12z GFS. This will be a huge mess across a big chunk of the state if it pans out.
meh looks fast moving
If it gets above freezing on Sunday, which it looks like it should for most of town, it's basically a nothingburger. Little icy Sunday morning and then we move on.
I have no knowledge of the inner working of the power grid so maybe a dumb question but...
Even though it may not be too bad here will a bad ice storm across the central portion of the state affect the power grid enough to cause issues here?
Even though it may not be too bad here will a bad ice storm across the central portion of the state affect the power grid enough to cause issues here?
By fast moving, you mean 48 hours+ of it...
Ag_07 said:
I have no knowledge of the inner working of the power grid so maybe a dumb question but...
Even though it may not be too bad here will a bad ice storm across the central portion of the state affect the power grid enough to cause issues here?
It is a possibility, but smaller than 2021 as the cold doesn't last as long, get as cold, or go enough south.
CDUB98 said:Ag_07 said:
I have no knowledge of the inner working of the power grid so maybe a dumb question but...
Even though it may not be too bad here will a bad ice storm across the central portion of the state affect the power grid enough to cause issues here?
It is a possibility, but smaller than 2021 as the cold doesn't last as long, get as cold, or go enough south.
Looks like at least the southern parts of the state will get some time above freezing Sunday to help out as well
I need this sh\t to hold off until after I fly out of town Saturday at 4pm.
Flaith said:
I need this sh\t to hold off until after I fly out of town Saturday at 4pm.
Shouldn't be icy yet, but IAH during cold and rain doesn't seem like a fun time
Flaith said:
I need this sh\t to hold off until after I fly out of town Saturday at 4pm.
CAUSE IT'S AAAAAAAALLLLL ABOUT YOU!!
Quote:
but IAH doesn't seem like a fun time
FIFY
Cromagnum said:
By fast moving, you mean 48 hours+ of it...
as opposed to the 9 days of it in 2021 this is a nothing burger.
hth
This is the last I'll spam this thread about it - I'll start a new one if you guys are interested with how today went. I took a bunch of pics of the process - it was super interesting. Batteries are sitting at 50% power each and I've got everything in I run in the winter turned on. I have a gas furnace, and everything else - and it hasn't kicked on yet as of this screenshot. But all my base load appliances and computers etc are on. I'm just taking a break right now cleaning up, they just left. Initial impressions are good.
DAMN! I'm scheduled to have my windows replaced Saturday. They say it will only take 4 to 5 hours. Hipefully they get it done before the weather closes in.
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