Using the frost-free spigots that are angled down slightly and have an indoor shut-off well back inside the house really makes a difference.

My 3 outdoor hose bibs are set up this way and I also cover them with the styrofoam cover. So far so good here in PA where it’s also been stupid cold, down into the low teens at night.

The fact that TEXAS is seeing single digit cold is astonishing to me!

Got more than a dusting here in the west Austin burbs. The pool went into freeze protection mode on Friday and has been doing its job. 6 degrees this morning at 9:00 AM, crazy!

We’re stuck in the Downtown Westin in Austin. We have had 2 flights cancelled and are scheduled for Wed morning and that looks like it could go either way.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
Got more than a dusting here in the west Austin burbs. The pool went into freeze protection mode on Friday and has been doing its job. 6 degrees this morning at 9:00 AM, crazy!

You got a bit more than we did.
Our pool had been in freeze mode non-stop, until the power went out & the water in the pumps froze

We are scouting potential homes in Pensacola and our flight back to CA (through Houston) was just canceled. Only thing available is Birmingham to Denver to Oakland tomorrow. Only costs an extra $500 and 12 hours + a 5 hour drive. who knows how much more the rental car will be to turn it in for an extra day and a different location. FML

Some parts of Texas get a little snow every year. Afterall, it's a huge state.

For the Houston Area, the Gulf of Mexico makes a real difference normally. The Northern suburbs where I live get snow every 2 or 3 years, but it's usually gone the same day. However, the southern suburbs equal distant from downtown will normally be getting rain when we're getting snow. Not this time as today even Galveston Island is getting snow:


It's crazy that this arctic storm has been able to push cold temperatures so far over the Gulf of Mexico:

quote:

Originally posted by ElToro:
We are scouting potential homes in Pensacola and our flight back to CA (through Houston) was just canceled. Only thing available is Birmingham to Denver to Oakland tomorrow. Only costs an extra $500 and 12 hours + a 5 hour drive. who knows how much more the rental car will be to turn it in for an extra day and a different location. FML

There isn’t a rental car to be had with in 45 miles of Austin and if we found one there is no way to get there, right there with you fml.

4 1/2" of snow here this morning. Power is on but no water. I also found the lower limit of our 25 year old heat pump. I think the auxiliary heat is not functioning correctly. Luke warm heat from the vents. It's going to be interesting when everything thaws out.

I learned something new. A friend with a heat pump told me that they do not work well at all when the outside ambient temp is below 40 degrees. They will make some heat, not much, or enough to keep the house comfortable.

I assume that's right.

I'm glad I have natural gas heat and a natural gas water heater. They just keep on truckin' in cold weather.
.

I believe most heat pumps have an “emergency heat” mode that engages additional elements. It may have to engaged manually at the unit.

Heat pumps are not efficient at low temps. Emergency or auxiliary heat kicks in automatically on our unit. It is nothing more than electric heating element but fear I have a bad element. It is heating but just barely. Single digit forecast tonight is going to be fun. I have a few space heaters to use.

Interesting side effect of those super cold temps and the moist air is that wind turbines are freezing up, at this point over 50% of the electricity produced by wind turbines is down...

https://www.breitbart.com/envi...-electricity-output/

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Interesting side effect of those super cold temps and the moist air is that wind turbines are freezing up, at this point over 50% of the electricity produced by wind turbines is down...

https://www.breitbart.com/envi...-electricity-output/

I just heard from a friend in Bastrop. Their power went out at 2:00 am this morning. Power company pointing to wind turbines AND solar not functioning.

8 degrees this AM in Far East Texas. Several inches of snow also. Last time I remember busting ice on the ponds was back about 1982-83.
All in all, it was pretty cold putting hay out for cows and making sure everyone was accounted for.
According to Ford Motor Company, it’s still only 18 degrees out.

Actually sounds like power outages caused by wind and solar being down is relatively widespread. You effin’ know this country is going to be chasing “renewables” harder than ever the next four years. There will be a lot of people made very rich by that decision. I would propose that any money allocated to further support renewables be sent to homeowners in communities unable to protect their homes from freezing because wind and solar non-functioning.

WSJ, A Deep Green Freeze
I can’t see the whole editorial either; I’m not a subscriber. You can get the gist of it.

Yep. My electric company, Swepco, just announced that they're going to have to implement rolling blackouts of a couple hours at a time, to prevent extended blackouts in any one specific area.

Just an update. Still no power. In the last 7-hrs we had 30 minutes of juice from 9:15-9:45.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yep. My electric company, Swepco, just announced that they're going to have to implement rolling blackouts of a couple hours at a time, to prevent extended blackouts in any one specific area.

Mine was supposed to be doing rolling blackouts too, but instead we've been down 12 hours and they're saying it's multiple power plants (i.e. not a transmission line problem). In other words, they could actually do rolling blackouts but aren't.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yep. My electric company, Swepco, just announced that they're going to have to implement rolling blackouts of a couple hours at a time, to prevent extended blackouts in any one specific area.

Mine was supposed to be doing rolling blackouts too, but instead we've been down 12 hours and they're saying it's multiple power plants (i.e. not a transmission line problem). In other words, they could actually do rolling blackouts but aren't.

Once all this calms down, I'll be investigating a whole home generator.
Definitely not looking forward to that sticker shock.

^^ Maybe wait until this summer? There's bound to be a rush after this little cold weather shock.