What if Texas storm happened in Arizona?

[electrohawk]

A lot of the news about Texas with this storm is that nobody prepared for it.
It is a 100 year storm.

I am sure there are arguments that it could not happen here due to the location and distance from the coast and all that. But people in Texas didn't think it could happen either.

Would we be the same? I am pretty sure the power cables used here are not rated for frozen ice accumulation. Maybe someone knows better.

I have two 1000Watt GoalZero Lithium battery packs as solar generator storage packs...
I figured that would be fine for 24 hours for my fridge or other uses, but if it was for days, I am not sure it would cut it. In times like hurricanes in florida, you hear about all the gas stations being out of fuel for generators and such.

What is a better solution? CNG tank with generator that will run off it or natural gas? Tesla PowerWall with Solar?

 

[Suck My Glock]

Yeah, I guarantee our experience would be the same.

 

[Crippledtrigger]

100 years storm?
Its happened 3 times in 40 years in texas. Not to mention the 3 or 4 ice storms tha have happened just since inve been here.

I only fired up the generator more than once and then just to warm the garage while cooking on the grill while the power was out.

With the rolling blackouts we never got colder than the high 50s on the night it got below zero here in far north DFW.

Some power companies did a poor job of managing the blackouts. And over all the energy demand was less than a hot summer so the capacity to generate the power was easily there.

The problem was lack of winterizing the generating infrastructure. Just like the last 4 times this type of thing happened.

As for your home? We have decided a diverter box with 6 to 10 circuits on it will power everything except the AC oven and dryer. You can use portable heaters or portable AC to survive comfortably. Pipes are all insulated in the walls so keeping the house above freezing keeps water ok. I checked and our water never got below the high 50s at the tap, i.e. underground temps.

Generator size? You could get by on a standard 4kw generator. Rotate load from heaters to different circuits. I'm going to a dual fuel generator though at about 7.5 though. Remember propane delivers less voltage than gas.

Another issue is 1/3 of the state is still on a water boil notice due to treatment plants shutting down.

I have lots of water and food, we always have.

As usual here in big storms, grocery stores have been wiped for about 2 weeks now.

 

[QuietM4]

This is why I don't rely on the government to save me.

It's called preparedness and self responsibility.

My uncle and his family live in east Texas, haven't had power since the storm hit (still doesn't). But, he saw the weather report a few days before the storm hit, and prepared for it....like a smart person would. He bought a few more propane tanks for his BBQ, had his 1,000 gallon main propane tank topped off, bought canned food before anyone else, filled a few 50 gallon water drums, and moved it all into the master bedroom of his home. Closed off all the other air registers in his house, and moved everyone into one room, so he didn't need to heat the rest of the house. His home is also on a well system, and he had a plumber bleed all the water from the pipes the day before the storm hit (the plumber told him it wasn't needed, but my uncle paid him to do it anyways).

Oh, and he didn't tell any of his neighbors about any of it. SMART.

Today, all his neighbors have cracked pipes, no food or water, no heat, no propane, etc. They are reliant on the gov to help them. Never a situation I want to be in.

 

[Suck My Glock]

 

[electrohawk]

151258274_2805352579739388_6858046592816182626_n.jpg

I seem to remember something like this in my local grocery last year, when people were panic buying meat.

I was in there to get some shampoo, walked passed the empty TP and meat sections.
Of course all the Tofutti was still well stocked.
LoL, love the pic hahaa

 

[Brlux]

I have two 1000Watt GoalZero Lithium battery packs as solar generator storage packs...
I figured that would be fine for 24 hours for my fridge or other uses, but if it was for days, I am not sure it would cut it. In times like hurricanes in florida, you hear about all the gas stations being out of fuel for generators and such.

You might just want to do a test run on that. Charge it up and then plug your fridge in an see how long it will run it. I would be surprised if it made it past single digits on hours.

 

[XJThrottle]

I have two 1000Watt GoalZero Lithium battery packs as solar generator storage packs...
I figured that would be fine for 24 hours for my fridge or other uses, but if it was for days, I am not sure it would cut it. In times like hurricanes in florida, you hear about all the gas stations being out of fuel for generators and such.

You might just want to do a test run on that. Charge it up and then plug your fridge in an see how long it will run it. I would be surprised if it made it past single digits on hours.

They might not even start the compressor. Some of those power packs don't have very high amp capabilities. Even though it's 110v, some have very low amp ratings at the plug, like 4 amps. A quarter of the standard home outlet.

I'd do a test run to see if it would even work before I'd rely on it.

 

[Suck My Glock]

How to ski in Texas


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uod8pbNn4E&feature=emb_logo

 

[Brlux]

My old fridge sometimes struggled to start up with an 1100W (2200W surge) 48V input Exeltech sinewave inverter. Not for lack of battery (16 golf cart batteries). But my new fridge is a Samsung inverter drive and I can run it from a 300W power inverter. The inverter drive does not have the the huge inrush startup spike of a traditional AC motor. I hear the inverter microwaves also work well on limited power sources. I have a Hitachi Inverter drive angle grinder and it will work reasonably well on a 300W inverter. I plan to replace any new appliances with inverter drive units. I can't wait for the day you can get an inverter drive roof top AC. They make Inverter drive Mini Splits now and some of them have dedicated solar panel input. Whatever the panels can't provide is sourced from the wall.

 

[Bard]

Many of us have fireplaces in our homes that we cannot ever use due to the no-burn days that seem to be prevalent whenever it is cold outside... I have a fairly large stack of wood and a dozen or so duraflame logs. Not worried about heat generation. I have a decent food storage. Water---ehhh... 25 gallons, right now. if we get a polar vortex, i am not worried about running my fridge--i will put stuff in my Beer Fridge and in coolers in my Arizona room and let nature keep things cold.

Freezing cold isn't what scares me...It's summer blackouts here in Phx Metro.
I am more worried about power production. My generator sucks about 8 gallons in 12 hours at 50% load. I have 25 gallons stored. Solar production would be limited to < 150 watts and only two batteries. Keeping food cold and us cool would be rough.

 

[Boriqua]

Vacation in Mexico!

Never been, I understand there are nice beaches, pretty girls and tasty food. Oh and its down the block!

I can murder spanish just enough to get by but understand it nearly perfectly so can hear when the dude on the corner says " think we should steal his camera?" And be prepared.

Week in a foreign country sounds pretty good!

 

[electrohawk]

I have two 1000Watt GoalZero Lithium battery packs as solar generator storage packs...
I figured that would be fine for 24 hours for my fridge or other uses, but if it was for days, I am not sure it would cut it. In times like hurricanes in florida, you hear about all the gas stations being out of fuel for generators and such.

You might just want to do a test run on that. Charge it up and then plug your fridge in an see how long it will run it. I would be surprised if it made it past single digits on hours.

They might not even start the compressor. Some of those power packs don't have very high amp capabilities. Even though it's 110v, some have very low amp ratings at the plug, like 4 amps. A quarter of the standard home outlet.

I'd do a test run to see if it would even work before I'd rely on it.

Yes it works fine, the 1000Watt is the capacity, not the inverter, which can push 1500 watts. So my units are wrong, its a 1000Watt Hour unit sorry, my bad.

 

[etprescottaz01]

Many of us have fireplaces in our homes that we cannot ever use due to the no-burn days that seem to be prevalent whenever it is cold outside... I have a fairly large stack of wood and a dozen or so duraflame logs. Not worried about heat generation. I have a decent food storage. Water---ehhh... 25 gallons, right now. if we get a polar vortex, i am not worried about running my fridge--i will put stuff in my Beer Fridge and in coolers in my Arizona room and let nature keep things cold.

Freezing cold isn't what scares me...It's summer blackouts here in Phx Metro.
I am more worried about power production. My generator sucks about 8 gallons in 12 hours at 50% load. I have 25 gallons stored. Solar production would be limited to < 150 watts and only two batteries. Keeping food cold and us cool would be rough.

That was a sobering analysis of what resources a person has to keep on hand here in the greater Phoenix area in summer months. I am not prepared.

 

[Miker12]

Up here in Prescott area, we have so many Californians living here now that even the last big storm that hit with a slow start on a Saturday night, taper to a light consistent over night Sunday, roads kind of clear all day Monday and then the whooper of freeze with almost 36" of snow in Prescott that lasted another 3 to 4 days caused them to yell for help and bitch/moan about lack of services.

Filled up all of the vehicles, got extra rock salt, topped the propane tanks, placed cardboard covers over the house windows and sheets on the exposed truck.

I went shopping on Friday afternoon, picked up crockpot makings with meats & cheeses to munch on. Brought in at least two days of wood and shut off an extra room. Two 20 gallon barrels of water placed in house just in case pipes over freeze. Rechecked my generator that would keep the gas furnace blowing heat.

Once the first storm hit, cleared all snow and ice ASAP, salted and ran my 4x4 over our driveway to the front door out to the street, flattening the fluffy snow that would melt with occasional dirt thrown onto it. Kept the access clear for the doors, vents and emergency entry / exit. Most of my neighbors (all live through other storms over the last decade together) did the same and you could drive around and see the unprepared houses as fire and safety were there trying to dig them out and clear their road access.

So bring the once in a 100 yr storm...bring it and with power outages. Most long term rural already play this game. Now more than 10 days...that would be a different story for the amount of limited supplies in the area.

 

[AR-15Man]

This doesn't seem like a very difficult to fix hole in someones preps. Few hundred on an indoor rated propane heater. Buy a few tanks of propane right before a storm. Move all the occupants of the house into one area to conserve heat. Make sure your other bases are covered food, water, snow shovel.

 

[Suck My Glock]

 

[electrohawk]

This doesn't seem like a very difficult to fix hole in someones preps. Few hundred on an indoor rated propane heater. Buy a few tanks of propane right before a storm. Move all the occupants of the house into one area to conserve heat. Make sure your other bases are covered food, water, snow shovel.

I was actually looking at some indoor propane heaters a while back just for camping and cabin use.
Seems like a good item just to have enough for one room, just in case.
There are a lot of highly rated ones, and being in Arizona, I do not care about the ones that produce humidity as much as a person on the coast.

One thing I was wondering is about expiration. The 20lb tanks are usually 12 year tanks, and propane is not supposed to go bad... from another source:
"Unlike fuel sources that can degrade over time (kerosene, diesel, gasoline), propane fuel has no expiration date, nor will its potency suffer while being stored. The only thing you need to worry about when storing propane is maintaining the health and integrity of the propane storage tank"
But I was not sure if anyone else has experienced that this is true.

I am thinking I would just cycle the propane through the grill, if it really needed to be done. But my grill is dual NG, propane hook up right now. And I normally do not even bother with propane tanks out of laziness of lugging it in for refills, since I have the NG spigot outside my house. But if propane really does not go bad, I do not see an issue storing a couple out in the shed. Most people just keep their tanks under their grill outside anyways...

 

[Flash]

I once stored a propane tank in the attic area over my garage for around 20 years. When I went to check it, it was empty and I put it up there full.

No obvious signs of deterioration on the tank, but it was empty.

I always keep one spare propane tank outside on the patio but it's only for 6 months at a time and I've had no problems with it.

 

[Suck My Glock]

The little rubber o-ring seals in the valves eventually deteriorate. Heat makes it speed up a bit.