The coming blackouts. Do NOT say you were not warned

[Dr Prepper]

narcissist

Phuqing BINGO! that sums it up tight there. China knew it too when they shat tik too upon us. I'm sure its endless entertainment for them. I know I'd probably be laughing at the Chinese doing some of the crap we do. Oh wait I do!
Also... This is why I believe in sterilization.

More EVs are the solution to the grid problems.

I actually do love the idea of the battery banks that charge up when not at peak demand and supplement she at peak rates. I think that's one sector where secretly those who are paying attention KNOW Elon is just moidering the competition. No ones really talking about that. And Im bit 100% sure but I think some EV's already can do this and if not its a fairly simple software edit (in most cases).

The way this is going got me to order another genset. Have a LP gas one that will run 7K watts. Damn thing is about 15 years old. Decided be nice to have a back up in case so just ordered up a dual fuel that will run 9500K wattage. Wife will probably roll her eyes when she sees it next week but, if we do lose the power she will not be rolling her eye's when we have AC

For the crap storm were headed into you better make a gasifier and run your generator off that. It will be the only real feasible thing to keep running.
They aren't the most convenient but a wood water heater would be awesome too.

 

[Stomper]

Ooooo. You're almost SEXY when you get talking HVAC like that. I'll bet the girls just swooon.

Well, when I show up they're usually already sweaty, or freezing…. sometimes it's like watching the ladies walk through the frozen foods section in light weight clothing during summertime!

 

[nammac]

Well, when I show up they're usually already sweaty, or freezing…. sometimes it's like watching the ladies walk through the frozen foods section in light weight clothing during summertime!

Thank God for the frozen food section of the supermarket. Free entertainment for us ole men…

 

[3MTA3]

Thank God for the frozen food section of the supermarket. Free entertainment for us ole men…

The more time that passes the more I realize the genius of Al Bundy

 

[Provincial]

You do know what solar panels are yes?

The subsidized systems are hooked to the grid. They send any excess power into the grid and you get credit for it against your net consumption. In Western Oregon (and Washington), pretty much in the winter you consume a lot more power than you make with solar. If you don't use as much during the year (April 1st to March 31st) as you produce, the power company doesn't have to pay you a cent - it gets that power for free! And they charge other customers a higher-than-normal rate if they choose the Green Power option!

If you install the subsidized system, it will not produce power if the grid goes down. I'm not sure about brownouts, but suspect that if the grid is not working normally, your system will be down, too. This means that you will have a system that is unusable when you need it. I got my contractor to add an option that energizes two 20 amp 120V circuits if the grid is down. It only cost about $300, as it does not have a battery system, and only produces power when the sun is out. With it, I can run my freezer and refrigerators long enough to keep food good, plus recharge batteries for lights and power tools. I have to run my generator long enough to get it going, then it will stay on by itself. I have a 6KW 120/240V diesel generator, so I have backups of backups!

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

The subsidized systems are hooked to the grid. They send any excess power into the grid and you get credit for it against your net consumption. In Western Oregon (and Washington), pretty much in the winter you consume a lot more power than you make with solar. If you don't use as much during the year (April 1st to March 31st) as you produce, the power company doesn't have to pay you a cent - it gets that power for free!

The math on this confuses me you said they get that power for free if you consume more power than you put back into the grid but also you get get credit for any excess power you send back throughout the year, do you need to send a more back than you consume to get any money back or off your bill?

 

[Provincial]

It is kind of confusing, and probably on purpose. If your solar grid is working and you are using some, or all of it at any one time, you may or may not be sending any into the grid.

You get a credit for each KWH you send into the grid. They give you a credit at the same rate they charge you for the power you take from the grid. In the summer, you should be producing more power than you use. In the winter, you will be using more power than you produce, since there is less sunlight and it is colder.

If you send in more power than you use during the billing year, they do not pay you for the excess. If you don't send in as much power as you use during the billing year, you pay them for the power you use in excess of what you sent into the grid. Heads they win, and tails, you lose. Wonder why Warren Buffet bought PP&L, a regulated public utility?

On your power bill, you will see a breakdown of rates. There is a base rate for them providing service, then graduated rates for the power you consume. You have to keep paying the base rate, and the power credits/consumption is calculated using the graduated rates. In other words, if you sent the same amount of power into the grid as you used during the year, you would only pay the base rate charge, which in my case is about $25.00/month.

One of the ways to calculate the size of the solar system needed is to review power bills over several years. This lets you size the system based on your normal consumption. If you are planning on buying a Tesla, you should install a larger system!

 

[The Heretic]

They give you a credit at the same rate they charge you for the power you take from the grid.

Actually, many utils pay you less for your extra power that you supply to the grid than you pay them. Plus they can and often do change that amount. It depends on the agreement that the util has with your state utlity commission.

I intend to install solar on my next property, but probably not do a grid tie system, at least not a grid tie only system. I intend to have storage (batteries) and have a system that will work off-grid. Electricity is relatively cheap (6 cents per KWH, which is less than half of what a lot of people are paying elsewhere) here in the PNW due to the hydro power, so I am not too concerned about the cost of electrical power, and payback time on solar is a lot longer due to the low cost of grid power.

I am more concerned that the grid is unreliable, especially in rural areas where the "last mile" of power distribution is extremely vulnerable to weather damage. Also, there is the Cascadian Subduction Zone earthquakes which if the "big one" hits, could take out the grid for months, maybe years. Beyond that, grid power is only going to get more expensive as time goes on.

I want energy independence/self-reliance

 

[clanhanson]

Sure that will work out GREAT! Windmills too.

I'm sure you know the difference between a windmill and wind turbine... right? One is a brilliant solution to supplemental energy production and one... mills.

 

[Alexx1401]

I'm sure you know the difference between a windmill and wind turbine... right? One is a brilliant solution to supplemental energy production and one... mills.

Yep they sure worked great so far. Texas showed everyone how well they work. I think we should put them everywhere, utopia is there for us, just ask the people who want to sell them. Up here we need to tear down the damns to and replace them with wind. utopia here we come
Meanwhile I will not be canceling the delivery of my new Genset, fool that I am wasting my money and all.

 

[BrentN]

Yep they sure worked great so far. Texas showed everyone how well they work. I think we should put them everywhere, utopia is there for us, just ask the people who want to sell them. Up here we need to tear down the damns to and replace them with wind. utopia here we come
Meanwhile I will not be canceling the delivery of my new Genset, fool that I am wasting my money and all.

You should just get on board with these wind turbines. They are produced in China where the laborers are treated well. 60 to 70 percent of Chinese energy comes from coal, so safe to say 6 to 7 out of 10 turbines are produced by coal energy (you know, like that energy source that powers most Prius type cars). Depending on which link you want to believe, it takes years to decades for these turbines to start paying for themselves carbon-wise, (you know, manufacture, ship halfway around the world, all by fossil fuel...), and that is before counting maintenance costs (hope they are not cheaping out by using nylon gearing). We can kill less salmon but more birds though? Hopefully, they don't reach end of life before breaking down and not "breaking even", carbon-wise. So at best, the green energy payoff is a loooong game, and will likely not payoff, unless of course, you have a trust that our government officials are doing the right thing, looking out for "us", our taxpayer dollars, and our energy future, making international deals that benefit "us", right?. If you have not been, you should visit the Columbia Gorge National scenic area, the "turbines" are a beautiful sight. Some of them even have the blades spinning.
The best part is that this is predominantly gov driven, very little non-subsidized private business, because... it doesn't work. The fact that we are being conditioned to accept brownouts and blackouts is proof.

Brilliant indeed, CCP agrees.

 

[Mikej]

You should just get on board with these wind turbines. They are produced in China where the laborers are treated well. 60 to 70 percent of Chinese energy comes from coal, so safe to say 6 to 7 out of 10 turbines are produced by coal energy (you know, like that energy source that powers most Prius type cars). Depending on which link you want to believe, it takes years to decades for these turbines to start paying for themselves carbon-wise, (you know, manufacture, ship halfway around the world, all by fossil fuel...), and that is before counting maintenance costs (hope they are not cheaping out by using nylon gearing). We can kill less salmon but more birds though? Hopefully, they don't reach end of life before breaking down and not "breaking even", carbon-wise. So at best, the green energy payoff is a loooong game, and will likely not payoff, unless of course, you have a trust that our government officials are doing the right thing, looking out for "us", our taxpayer dollars, and our energy future, making international deals that benefit "us", right?. If you have not been, you should visit the Columbia Gorge National scenic area, the "turbines" are a beautiful sight. Some of them even have the blades spinning.
The best part is that this is predominantly gov driven, very little non-subsidized private business, because... it doesn't work. The fact that we are being conditioned to accept brownouts and blackouts is proof.

Brilliant indeed, CCP agrees.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1540234307024846850

I wish I knew how to put a GIF in a post. :sigh:

 

[Dr Prepper]

We can kill less salmon but more birds though? Hopefully, they don't reach end of life before breaking down an

I read all the natural salmon are already dead. Every last one, ALL farm raised now. So its technically even worse than stated. But yes, we need to kill more birds. Only farm raised birds from now on.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1540234307024846850

I wish I knew how to put a GIF in a post. :sigh:

I hear ya, This site seems to have broken that feature or limited it to a certain tier of donations. I used to be able to post them and then I couldn't. I either pissed someone off or they changed the goal line. Classic bait and switch?

 

[Mikej]

I read all the natural salmon are already dead. Every last one, ALL farm raised now. So its technically even worse than stated. But yes, we need to kill more birds. Only farm raised birds from now on.

You mean hatchery bred, not "Farm raised". Considering how many years hatchery fish have been filling our rivers it's unlikely there are any completely "Native" fish in the current salmon and steelhead. There are still 'Wild" fish, meaning offspring of hatchery fish that make it back to spawn successfully. The issue has been non-native fish aren't able to spawn as successfully in any given water as true native fish.

I hear ya, This site seems to have broken that feature or limited it to a certain tier of donations. I used to be able to post them and then I couldn't. I either pissed someone off or they changed the goal line. Classic bait and switch?

I was never able to put a GIF in a thread. Not very savvy with all that.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Yeah I do have hopes for EV's but they stand ZERO chance unless we build next gen nuclear power plants and basically upgrade the ENTIRE grid.
Or maybe even smaller single family home size thorium reactors. Something's gotta give. Thourium COULD be made pretty safe they would never *approve it though.
Really there is no answer with current political war field.

 

[Dr Prepper]

You mean hatchery bred, not "Farm raised".

Awe man! you mean I can't b*tch about fish farts depleting the ozone? I'm going to have to change my ENTIRE campaign demographic! Hopefully its not too late to flip flop like a fish.

 

[Geardo]

What's the cost to get a switch installed so I can hook my fender straight into my panel and run the new central AC I just got.

 

[rjmt]

One does not need much to keep a laptop and router running. Which is good, because then I can continue to work during a blackout.

loss of power is not uncommon out here, branches falling on power lines, Ice, transformers blow
have 2 hr UPS on all computers, but an electric start 7KW generator with 220V to even run the well pump
my son works from home, so he can't be without power, he has dual backup UPS
my wife has a dedicated UPS for Satellite and TV - can't live without cable TV

but it helps living 5 miles from Merwin Dam - less chance of loosing power long term

 

[Dr Prepper]

loss of power is not uncommon out here, branches falling on power lines, Ice, transformers blow
have 2 hr UPS on all computers, but an electric start 7KW generator with 220V to even run the well pump
my son works from home, so he can't be without power, he has dual backup UPS
my wife has a dedicated UPS for Satellite and TV - can't live without cable TV

but it helps living 5 miles from Merwin Dam - less chance of loosing power long term

Our old house in the woods lost power every time there was the slightest wind blow or snow. We had 21 medium to large trees come down around us on the day Clinton was sewn in. I mean sworn in. Foreboding, no?

 

[Alexx1401]

Yeah I do have hopes for EV's but they stand ZERO chance unless we build next gen nuclear power plants and basically upgrade the ENTIRE grid.
Or maybe even smaller single family home size thorium reactors. Something's gotta give. Thourium COULD be made pretty safe they would never *approve it though.
Really there is no answer with current political war field.

I have zero problem with the EV's. Some of them are damn cool and fast. What I laugh at is the morons who really think they charge by magic fairy dust. An amazing number of people really have no clue where that power coming to the vehicle comes from. All the more reason I am not worried about the money I just spent on a new Genset. Even if I only use it a couple times a year as I have with the old one they are damn nice to have.