Posted on 06/29/2012 9:54:15 AM PDT by Perseverando
With all the news focused on Obamacare, SCOTUS, Fast and Furious, etc., I was just looking at some of the weather forecasts here in Virginia.
Remember all the warnings about the effects of shutting down coal plants and the fear that it would potentially cause brown outs or black outs. If they're going to happen this summer, I would think that it's very possible it could happen in the next couple of days.
(Hey maybe Obama would even consider martial law to control crime, riots, potential civil unrest in urban areas.)
So Freepers have you considered what you would do without power to alleviate your family's suffering during the heat wave if the power goes out for a day, or two or three?
Ping.
Get ready for sky high utility bills. That is one promise by resident Obama that he will surely keep.
Get ready for sky high utility bills. That is one promise by resident Obama that he will surely keep.
There shouldn’t be any power grid failures here. They’ll just use the smart meters to turn off power to those of us who don’t live in the right zip codes. Or who don’t own NFL stadiums.
My plan:
1. Fire up the generator
2. Use the pool
3. Sleep in the basement
4. Hope #3 leads to me getting lucky! :)
He can't do anything about it without the house helping him
I’d bet ‘ol Saul would gnaw off his right arm for five minutes in an air-conditioned room right about now...he just celebrated the 40th anniversary of his own personal ‘heat wave’ a few days ago...
70* in my area of CA right now...
A bit chilly for my liking.
Have a lot of women stored in your basement ? Wouldn't it be better to store them in the pool ?
This is a life/death issue for my dad who has CHF & cannot tolerate heat/humidity much over 80 without breathing difficulties. We were without power for two days this week (Tues/Wed) after the “derecho” storm came through on Monday. We ran the water pump, lights, etc. on a generator and the temps were cool enough that he was ok. Now, it would be a different story. We have a large generator that will run the air conditioning (heat pump), but for some reason, it won’t start it. Dad is working on that issue now .... might have to go buy a portable air conditioner that will run off the generator to keep one room cool for him if the worst happens. Triple digit temps - tough on any power grid.
That's what I think. He's got women stored in his basement.
It's either that or the changes of him getting lucky while sleeping upstairs are really really low.
Already live ‘off the grid’ so yes, we are prepared for grid problems. Our preps include owning and knowing how to use effectively multiple firearms, a dog who barks at unusual happenings, and we live more than a mile from the nearest human-occupied structures. Hope the rest are as well prepared.
Last time we had power outages in really hot weather, we used generators to hook up window air conditioners in a couple of the bedrooms.
I also hang out in our basement, and don’t really need the air conditioner, but fans are a big plus.
When I was a girl, most people had no air conditioning anyway. We put on bathing suits and jumped in the shower then ran around with wet hair and suits.
Granny wet her hair and humg a wet towel around her neck. One summer grandpa moved the bed out side, and we slept under the stars, because it was too hot to sleep in the house.
I am more concerned about the lack of rainfall and water than loss of air conditioning.
UPDATE 9:50 AM: Warmest morning in Roanoke’s weather history likely leads to first 100-plus-degree June day in 53 years
UPDATE 9:50 AM: The National Weather Service in Blacksburg has confirmed a morning low of 84 in Roanoke, which if it stands til midnight, would be the warmest low in Roanoke’s weather history by 4 degrees. However … before we etch that in stone .. the threat of evening thunderstorms appears to be on the increase, and it would probably take thunderstorm downburst winds to get it cooler than 80 by midnight. It is possible that a storm cluster may develop in the Upper Midwest/Ohio Valley today and rocket southeast, near or perhaps through Southwest Virginia. The Storm Prediction Center has placed much of our region from Roanoke northward in a slight risk of severe weather for this possible. Damaging winds would be the primary threat if this storm cluster — perhaps a “bow echo” or derecho — develops. Before any of that would occur, it’ still likely to reach or exceed 100 at Roanoke. It’s already 90 at 9 a.m. END UPDATE
This morning’s low at Roanoke Regional Airport, based on the automatic observations available on the Web site linked here, was no cooler than 82 degrees (depending on when 82 occurred — it was low in 6 hours before 2 a.m., so it may have occurred before midnight, in which case, morning low may have even been warmer). The warmest low that has ever been recorded previously at Roanoke since 1912 is 80 on four different occasions in the 1930s and 40s. In more recent times, Roanoke had a low of 79 on Aug. 9, 2007, and 78 twice last summer. If this is confirmed as official, it will stick as an all-time record if it doesn’t get below 80 by midnight — which would probably only happen if there were downburst winds in an unexpected thunderstorm. Starting out so warm substantially increases the chances of reaching 100 degrees today, which has not happened in June at Roanoke since 1959. Widespread 92-104 high temperatures will occur today across most of Virginia aside from the highest ridgetops today. A massive dome of hot, dry air, originating in the Desert Southwest, not the Gulf of Mexico where we typically see hot and more humid air masses come from, is overspreading our region, and being forced downward by high pressure. West to northwest surface winds rotating around the hot high pressure system are blowing down the slopes of the Appalachians, further compressing and heating that air. It’s a scenario that has led to some of our hottest days historically.
Daily record highs for June 29 are 101 at Roanoke (1934) and 92 for Blacksburg (1954). Blacksburg’s record appears very likely to fall, as it’s already in the low 80s there this morning. Roanoke’s record also appears to have a better than even-odds chance of being tied or broken, now. While it has been at least 100 six times since 2000, Roanoke has only been above 100 twice since 1988 — highs of 101 and 102 on August days in 2007.
For those looking for relief — there are indications the hot high will be pulled westward and northward, allowing more of a northwest wind flow and some cold fronts, mid to late next week. But will be several very hot days between now and then.
We have already had some brief power outages here. People won’t blame Obama and the EPA for shutting down all those coal plants, but that’s who is to blame, of course. When are folks going to wise up that the libs are destroying our freedom and prosperity? We will have a third world standard of living soon.
For me lighting is not an issue, I am an LED flashlight nut with rechargeable batteries and car and solar chargers for the batteries.
I use natural gas, plus I own a variety of about 15 back pack stoves that burn all fuels including battery operated fan assisted and passive wood fragments burning, so cooking isn’t an issue.
I own a library so entertainment is fine.
For me the issue is the fridge, so I guess I will rinse out two 1 gallon milk jugs for water and keep them in the freezer, that should keep the fridge foods fine for at least three days, and possibly five.
Duh! The sump pump is in the basement!
No, I was referring to Mrs. TSgt. ;)
It won’t start because the amperage required to start the motor is most likely more than your generator will provide. Starting amps are what matter for equipment like heat pumps, central air, etc. not running amps.
The generator is a big one - 17,500 watts. Still not enough do you think? Heat pump is two tons.
Absolutely prepared with an 18,500W generator. It powers three houses with propane. Very sweet unit. Comes on/goes off automatically. We like to call him “Sparky.”
May I also recommend you look into having a transfer switch installed. That way you could plug the gen set directly into your home wiring without having to use extension cords.
Thanks for this important sanity check.
National Emergency!!!! Marial Law until the situation is contained.
It’s not the watt output that matters, it’s how many amps. It it’s a 30 amp output and your heat pump has a starting amp draw of 45 amps it will never start the heat pump.
I could be wrong but I’d be willing to bet that’s your issue.
Get a room air unit and have that for a backup. Thats what we did.
Here in El Dorado County a bit chilly also. 69. Want hot weather to boat. Lakes are to cold with out hot weather.
My wife is on an oxygen machine. We have a generator and enough gas for at least a couple of days. Gotta get some money from the ATM machine though. Learned that lesson last winter. Gas was cash only.
Martial that is!
Okay, Now I'm just confused.
We do have a transfer switch - had the electrician put one in. I have told dad to go get a portable AC unit & he did look at them yesterday. He is a couple months short of 90 & you can’t tell him anything, if you know what I mean :-) He has an engineering degree and I think it’s more the challenge of figuring this thing out .... definitely keeping him out of trouble (inside, out of the heat, away from the chainsaw, etc.)! Thanks for your help/suggestions.
Happy to be of service, ma’am.
If you look at the data plate on the piece of equipment in question you’ll probably find information on both the running and starting amps. The running figure is usually substantially lower than the starting amp.
If there’s a motor involved the starting amps may be labelled as “LRA” which stands for Locked Rotor Amperage. That’s the maximum starting draw when the motor is completely shut down. If it’s over 30 and your gen set is a 30 amp output, that’s the source of the difficulty.
A bit chilly, yes...
Until it becomes Mexico Norde, you are in food lines, speaking Spanish and looking for an opening in the wall between you and Arkansas.
Cheers.
Ok, found the LRA (52) & amps for the generator calculates at 72 so it should be ok.
Danny Costanzo: [driving their car on the L tracks] Try not to scrape the third rail, OK? There's about 600 volts in there.
Ray Hughes: It's not the voltage that gets you. It's the amps.
Nun: How many amps are there?
Ray: Enough to push a train. And shut up!
Still my favorite buddy cop show.
While your generator may indeed be capable of putting out 72 amps (72000 watts divided by 100 equals 72 amps) you have to realize that’s spread across 2 legs meaning that you only get a max of 36 amps per side unless you’ve got it wired on the 220 circuits of the transfer switch.
Even then if the gen set has a 30 amp output you won’t get anywhere near the 52 amps required to start up that motor.
L
Get some small bills, too, (one’s, five’s, tens). Change is hard to come by when cash registers are down.
Thanks - he seems to ‘get’ what you are talking about & will check it out.
(I think he’s a little puzzled how I ‘know’ people with such good info! :-) FReepers are the best!!
Like I said, happy to be of service.
I learned all this because I just did it myself. You almost can’t by a portable gen set “big” enough to start a central air or heat pump unit. So our workaround was a couple of room units on different “legs” of the transfer switch.
While the whole house may not be cool we’ll at least have a couple bedrooms we can retreat to. I’m sure Mrs. L and I will find some way to occupy ourselves.
Best of luck to you, ma’am.
L
Never waste a crisis.
Texas, with 100+ temps in May and June, has already had warnings about brown/black outs and cautions to not use appliances during afternoon hours. I’d bet Hussein wouldn’t want any down time this summer to tick the sheeple off but just wait until next summer.
Bought a 10kw generator in January. Powered by Honda.
As if there are no illegals crawling all over places like Texas and Arkansas...
Brilliant!
lol...
It is so hot here in Texas that they have installed GIANT fans almost everywhere.
I have a couple of books to read, and they keep the AC on all day.
I see it’s 103 in NYC right now.
Need to fill-up a couple 5 gal cans of ethanol free gas.
I also see that another tropical wave has formed out in the Atlantic. Currently on a southern route.
We do this too. It used to be really great when we had an attic fan that worked, but still does well with a box fan in the window.
I’m sure there are but Mexicalifornia is run by illegals, lock, stock and barrel.
Until CA is locked down to illegals - which the genie is out of the bottle so CA is screwed - you can have all the 70’s in the world but you have to speak Spanish to enjoy it from the food line...
Just in...."Romney unveils Virginia Hispanic leadership team"
BTW, it's now 77 degrees, with a great on-shore Pacific breeze..No foodline yet, so we'll be BBQ'ing some Alaskan Salmon this afternoon!
Cheers!
I was attempting to make a funny referring to the giant wind generators as fans.
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