Good morning!!!!

[sodamo]

Don, is there an app to get your Tempest wx on your watch?

 

[Alien]

It痴 a privately owned King Air, I don稚 know the model, it痴 not new, but knowing him, well kept. They don稚 fly the turboprop commuters here for over three years now, all jets.

When I emigrated to Australia from NZ in 1976 I flew to Norfolk Island in a Fokker Friendship and after a couple of weeks there, flew to Brisbane in a King Air. It was a long but enjoyable flight. Toilet was behind a pull-back curtain in the back of the cabin. No-one was game to use it.

 

[txdon]

Here They will dig around power poles, then put tar and a wrap at ground level to help stop post rot.

The wild pigs loved the creosote of the electric poles on the farm and would dig a hole around the post about a foot deep and 2 feet wide. The after a rain it filled with water.

 

[txdon]

Don, is there an app to get your Tempest wx on your watch?

Good question. I think my watch alerts for rain and lightning however looking at all the apps on the Apple Watch I do not see a tempest app on my watch. a goggle search says this so I might have to look around.
"Tempest integrates with the Apple ecosystem in a number of ways. Besides the Tempest app, which runs on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 9.0 or newer, there are also Tempest apps for Apple Watch and Apple TV. Tempest also works with Siri, so you can check the weather using voice commands. Last updated: May 25, 2020 14:21"

 

[txdon]

RS is the only way to go all green is to be all electric. Because all electric heat uses 4 times as much energy in deep cold (below 35˚F) as the unit uses to air-condition the house. Is your house all electric?

 

[Popgadget]

My open loop geothermal heat pump is at least 4 times the efficiency of straight resistance heat, regardless of outside temp. Many modern air to air heat pumps can make efficient heat at temps well below 35.
Having said that, if I had natural gas available to me I would definitely heat with gas. It is simpler, more reliable, cheaper to install and usually a lower cost per BTU.
But regardless of fuel source, there is a lot of savings that come from insulating and sealing the building envelope to reduce the energy required to heat or cool it.

 

[Popgadget]

Don, is there an app to get your Tempest wx on your watch?

I’m interested in learning about the Tempest as well, I just started a thread in rural living titled “weather stations”.

 

[Looking4new]

There is an Alberta Clipper coming this way and it should be here tomorrow morning early and I gotta get to North Bay tomorrow afternoon. About 6" +/- coming.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Left work at 55°
According to 10 day forecast, only 1 night below freezing in next 10 days. Winter is over, now it will be muddy spring

My work project is winding down. Starting to get slow until another project ramps up. I hate how cyclical this work is.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Interesting conversation regarding green energy. I can say first hand that I will probably never reach break even with the solar assisted system that was installed here. That's because there are three levels of redundancy: the solar panels, the battery bank, the propane fired generator, and then the power grid. The weakest link in the system is the power grid, as the local utility has told us that it will take at least five years, and probably longer, before they can stop turning off the electricity in the summer to avoid starting wildfires with their under maintained equipment. The solar panels are offsetting nearly 100% of my electricity use, much more than that on sunny days, but the panels only make power during the day, and their output falls drastically when it's cloudy out (that includes smoke clouds, which can last here for weeks during the summer). Batteries are in place to provide power at night, and when the solar cells can't keep up with the loads. When battery capacity is exhausted, the generator starts, picking up the loads and also charging the batteries until they are full, then it automatically shuts off. I'm very certain this level of redundancy is not eco friendly at all, especially if you take into account the energy and materials used to manufacture the equipment, and the use of propane, which is after all a fossil fuel. But it's necessary to provide a level of reliability comparable to a responsibly managed utility grid, something that we all took for granted in the past. Recent events in Texas and the continuing utility problems in California have shown that grid reliability isn't something to be taken for granted any longer.

Solar panel systems that don't incorporate battery or generator backup won't provide any power when the grid goes down, so they're pretty much useless during an emergency. Almost all of the roof top solar power systems installed in the US today are this type of grid tied system. Even in normal times, they only offset electricity use during the day when they're generating electricity, and the power grid still has to supply electricity from late afternoon to mid morning. Some of that time is very low use, but morning and evening times are when people are going and coming back from work, so the grid still has to support all those energy intensive activities.

Wind does work at night, but the areas of the country with a good wind resource aren't very wide spread, and the wind isn't exactly a reliable, continuous energy source. The equipment isn't the most reliable, either, not just as shown by the Texas experience, but by the high maintenance costs being seen in the commercial wind farms. We had a fairly large one just east of where I used to work in the SF Bay Area, and it was rare to see even a majority of the turbines turning even on a windy day.

Nobody likes to talk about hydroelectric power, but it is a simple and very reliable source that has been exploited for a very long time. Unfortunately it is no longer considered ecologically friendly because of its impact on the watersheds and fish populations. And there's no where near the potential future capacity enough to offset what's now being generated from coal and natural gas, even if the environmentalists could somehow be placated so that new dams could be built.

I agree that we need to move toward more sustainable energy systems, but we need to do it in a way where all the costs of replacement technologies are included in the analysis. Some fossil fuel use can be offset by electric motors and batteries, but the fuels used in the manufacture of those replacements needs to be taken into account before any real savings can be claimed. And we need to recognize that we need to make more efficient use of our fossil fuels, since they are after all finite resources. We've seen a recent surge in US production of oil and gas, but the current administration seems set on abandoning fracking and restricting access to drilling on federal land to the extent that we'll once again be importing foreign energy to meet our needs.

Finally, we need to move toward sustainable systems in such a way that we maintain our quality of life, including our cost of living. That's not going to happen in a few years without risking the destruction of our quality of life and bankrupting the nation. :2cents:

 

[riptides]

That is a really interesting statement. My electric bill does not reflect that at all.

What influences would account for a steady billing monthly through widely fluctuating seasonal temps?

RS is the only way to go all green is to be all electric. Because all electric heat uses 4 times as much energy in deep cold (below 35˚F) as the unit uses to air-condition the house. Is your house all electric?

 

[toppop52]

When I emigrated to Australia from NZ in 1976 I flew to Norfolk Island in a Fokker Friendship and after a couple of weeks there, flew to Brisbane in a King Air. It was a long but enjoyable flight. Toilet was behind a pull-back curtain in the back of the cabin. No-one was game to use it.

My flight should be around 45 minutes, maybe I can hold it that long.

 

[txdon]

That is a really interesting statement. My electric bill does not reflect that at all.

What influences would account for a steady billing monthly through widely fluctuating seasonal temps?

Do you have electric heat pump/airconditioner?

 

[Buppies]

I am not sure about the King Air most familiar with Cessna 421 which had whiz tube for that interesting to say the least, used it once or twice

Our heat pump is 18 seer backed up by propane usually petty good but last month $400 plus power bill need to get unit checked out. Very windy here today 56 mph winds

Don I think my forecast for Texas will be off but Oklahoma and Arkansas more winter weather by mid March

Alternatives to our electric supply needs further study. What is out there now is not sustainable in my opinion

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 39F for the start windy, clear. Clear sky all day, windy all day, and high temp was 78F. Washed dished, changed furnace filter, cleaned dryer vent on roof. Started fridge hunting. Went for bike ride right after lunch and fridge part showed up. It lasted about 2 seconds then popped. Went to town no fridges at HD, went to local appliance store getting one delivered tomorrow. Went to Rib Crib to celebrate. No nap today
Covid update: Cooke 3013 confirmed cases, 17 active cases, Montague 1682 confirmed cases,7 active cases, Grayson 10635 confirmed cases, 130 active cases, local 3 active cases.
Dennis there is a fan that blows cold air from freezer to fridge. Check fan to see if it is running, nothing is blocking the air passages and the freezer is not frosted up.
Roy kinda soon to get a night above freezing isn't it?
RNG nice looking "camp" fire,
Drew no slips, no falls, no dents
Ron good luck with taxes, nice pic, no wildlife posing around here.
Mike there is still the issue of time to build. nice pizza
Buppies hope good news from Dr
Bird weird temp gradient, hope Dr visit went well.
Phil hope snow control goes well
Paul glad mailbox itself not hurt, sorry about drug test, had to do random drug test at work
Randy define small, please. Had someone refer to a Convair 580 as a puddle jumper
RNG glad you got unstuck, and feel better about new tractor, and getting use out of the grapple.
Rick nice hoist, yes 2 ton better
Bill hope safe trip and good news from Drs
RS good luck navigating the vaccine appointment mess.
PJ thanks for explanation, glad you are enjoying warmup.
Don thanks for link, glad water back to normal.
RS lot of work keeping those feeders full
Lou glad you got vaccine, good luck scoring a truck.
Bill that is not much liquid, wonder how long it will take her to get dehydrated?
RNG glad the mounting failure did not get you hurt
Frank good of you to donate blood, I take it lunch was your treat
David why not to the weather station watching what you do, everything else does
Paul have no idea how old heat pump is, but when temps below 35F it has to defrost a lot .
RNG well said
Mike had the option when in STL, the utility would bill the same 11 month a year then last bill settle up. Worked good most years, but I never used it.
prayers for all, especially Jay/Peg, Kyle's daughter/sister & family Covid/friend's grand baby/son&wife Covid, David(moss)/remodel/divorce, Ron/hearing/son/aunt, Phil/reflux/wife's eyes, Dennis/older brother/son, Grev/wife's eye, Randy/family, Bill/DIL, Ted/knee recovery,and Country.
stay safe and healthy you all.

 

[Buppies]

No mostly more cancer, thanks for asking sorry about fridge hope new one is a winner

 

[sodamo]

RNG. Very good commentary on energy.

Being one of the few on here that is completely off grid, I do have some real life exposure. Experience vs theory.
I should probably be clear. I’m not an AOC/Sanders Green freak, nor am I a prepper. I’m off grid because it was only option for this property unless I wanted to seek property easements and pay about $25k to get line extension.

I have a bit of heartburn with most of the Greenies, they tend to disregard or minimize what it takes. Solar produced about 92% of my electricity last year, the rest by my diesel or propane generator. Of course it could be possible to resize my system to be 100%. Based on last years data that would mean at least twice as much solar panel, half again my battery bank and the mechanical pieces to make them work. So spending an extra $20k could have saved me $200 of fossil fuel. But then if there had been 1 more day where the PV couldn’t produce enough I’d have to fire up the generator. FAIL. Of course use is a very big part of this equation. I average a bit over 20kwh use per day. When I lived in Ga, I don’t think I ever had a month less than 30kwh/day. Of course, here we have propane hot water, dryer, stove - opps those are fossil fueled.
This is my 3rd off grid PV system - not count partial upgrades. What is main thing I learned - EXPENSIVE. at least $120k to get to this point and that doesn’t count any fossil fuels burnt, but does include money wasted on a wind generator. I suspect the vast majority of Green advocates would become like Al Gore and John Kerry. Personally I can’t cite any of the most vocal advocates that come anywhere close to living it - always a “justifiable exception”.
I don’t mean to be political, just realistic.

An aside - Geo thermo power. I’ve heard we have the capability to power the whole island, possibly most of the state, but much like nuclear energy it is very very political. Any whisper of expansion activate the other agitators.

We also have a renewable energy, biomass, power plant being constructed. It replaces a coal fired plant and will burn eucalyptus wood grown locally. Very very difficult getting accurate numbers regarding the fossil fueled trucks required and their true impact.

 

[RoyJackson]

2021-02-24, 0319

35 right now...40 is the predicted high today.

 

[Eric Salop]

Good morning, nothing much happening in these parts. It has been too windy to go near trees and ground is too wet to get out with the tractor.

Out of curiosity I just checked to see how we are doing in the UK at reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. This morning wind has been supplying over a third of the electricity for the entire country, as it now does for most of the winter. On a dull morning, solar is managing to contribute 4%.

Most energy here goes on heating buildings. There is a lot of work needed to get that down on the vast majority of houses which were built in the last century. Insulation was not a priority in houses after the 1960's as natural gas was then so cheap. Neither was insulation an issue in those built earlier because humans were then a lot hardier and were accustomed to wearing warmer clothes inside in winter.

 

[daugen]

Good morning all.
Warmer Wednesday morning, going up to 52 today. Yeah.
But Mostly got to 78! :thumbsup:
I bet a lot of Texas is sighing in relief.

RNG and David, nice explanations, thank you.

Have turned down two invites to friends homes for dinner.
Want to wait until after I get my second shot.
My brother still hasn't been called, Popgadget hasn't been called, don't know about Ken.
We all report to three different hospitals so?

Lots of discussions about my second shot should be someone else's first shot. Most of the folks I've talked to
who haven't had the shot responded opposite to what you might think: "get your second shot and be done with it" is the most common
response I've gotten. No way I can "donate" my shot to my brother anyway. But I offered...

Title to the Audi came in. That makes me dangerous...
Even if for a very brief period of time, nice to have zero debt.
But I want to buy another home so that won't last too long.

Bill careful driving in the white stuff tomorrow.
Buckeye, winter may be over but I still think we are going to get a big snow in March.