15 degrees, snowing [discussion on energy situation in Texas]

[BGbreeder]

As I am not in the construction nor plumbing business, I was wondering if others knew whether PEX would handle the freezing/thawing better than copper?

Yes, PEX is much better at not cracking or breaking in freezing conditions than copper, and both are enormously better than galvanized pipe.

But better is a relative term. Once the pipes freeze, you start to get into the details of whether or not your installer allowed enough slack for contraction, whether they used sweeps or elbows, what kind of fittings and manifolds were installed (and their quality!), exactly how they froze, and just how close that errant nail or drywall screw is to the contracted pipe. Cracked pipes are up there in my book with whole house floods and mold as top home disasters.

I am a PEX fan. The only downside in my book is that you need specialized tools to install/repair it, and someone who understands its' strengths and weakness. It isn't copper, and is ideally plumbed differently.

All the best,

BG

 

[garrett5688]

You are kind of unique for Texas based on the comments in this forum. Many people from Texas post they the power is so cheap and reliable there is no need for PowerWalls. You must be like me, belt and suspenders!

something like that - I’m far from the “prepper” type, but definitely didn’t like the idea of not being able to use solar panels when I might need them most. And I’m fortunate enough that not everything has to be a purely financial decision... plus, like most of us here, I like Tesla and want to own at least 1 of everything

 

[gpez]

something like that - I’m far from the “prepper” type, but definitely didn’t like the idea of not being able to use solar panels when I might need them most. And I’m fortunate enough that not everything has to be a purely financial decision... plus, like most of us here, I like Tesla and want to own at least 1 of everything

Not in Texas but where I am electricity is very cheap and quite reliable but we have bad weather like everywhere else and the risk of earthquakes. I'm not a "prepper" but I like being prepared so PV + Powerwall is great

 

[buttershrimp]

Were your Powerwalls able to start back up successfully? After they get low enough to shut down, they should try to start back up via solar every 6 minutes between 8 am and 4 pm.

From Best Practices During Power Outages | Tesla Support:

Running Low on Energy
If Powerwall has less than 10% energy remaining, it will enter a standby state. Powerwall will automatically attempt to recharge from solar for 6 minutes every hour between 8 am and 4 pm local time. If enough solar is available to charge Powerwall, it will remain on. Otherwise, it will wait for the next hour.
​

Our Powerwalls got too low a couple years ago and had problems starting back up. Fortunately, there have been a lot of software updates since then.



We aren't seeing too many posts from those users now...

No problem restarting, it stopped trying to find power after it got low, then went completely unresponsive on day 2... no green light etc. then day 3 I look up and they are ready to go again! I was wondering if they’d “get bricked” but no probs. My biggest mistake was not setting alert to tell me to stop running our more demanding home equipment. I could have made it through the whole fiasco with two powerwalls if I would have woke up when the power first died. I think it would be awesome if you could enable Loud beeping directly at Powerwall during a loss, but then you start thinking about adding a speaker and then it just gets dumb. Hmmmm , maybe triggering car alarm go off or send the model x into a Christmas light show.

 

[jboy210]

Not in Texas but where I am electricity is very cheap and quite reliable but we have bad weather like everywhere else and the risk of earthquakes. I'm not a "prepper" but I like being prepared so PV + Powerwall is great

Some of the biggest earthquakes in the US have occurred not in typical earthquake country. Like in New Madrid, MO. In 1811 and 1812 its fault shook hard enough to temporarily reverse the flow of the Mississippi river and ring church bells in New England. So being prepared no matter where you live is wise.

 

[SMAlset]

Electrek article (and neighborhood video) on Texas homeowners with power from their Tesla Powerwalls during Texas cold power outage. I see increased sales orders being placed not unlike after California’s wildfires. People considering ordering should get off the fence and order as the installation waitlist likely will keep getting longer.

And it’s not just Texas with winter power outages. Before I thought losing everything in your refrig/freezer and the inconvenience and disruption to WFH during an outage was the worst, but seeing and reading about winter burst pipes and water damage has to top that.

Tesla Powerwalls and other home battery packs proving more than useful in Texas blackouts - Electrek

Can you imagine being one of the neighbors in the dark with no electricity or heat risking burst pipes in this prolonged cold event and seeing your neighbor’s house lit up?

 

[buttershrimp]

Some of the biggest earthquakes in the US have occurred not in typical earthquake country. Like in New Madrid, MO. In 1811 and 1812 its fault shook hard enough to temporarily reverse the flow of the Mississippi river and ring church bells in New England. So being prepared no matter where you live is wise.

Is this for real? That’s crazy! Was it world’s first fracking attempt?

 

[jboy210]

...

Can you imagine being one of the neighbors in the dark with no electricity or heat risking burst pipes in this prolonged cold event and seeing your neighbor’s house lit up?

Why yes I can. That is why we have solar AND PowerWalls.

Your scenario is largely preventable if you have the will.

 

[SMAlset]

Some of the biggest earthquakes in the US have occurred not in typical earthquake country. Like in New Madrid, MO. In 1811 and 1812 its fault shook hard enough to temporarily reverse the flow of the Mississippi river and ring church bells in New England. So being prepared no matter where you live is wise.

The 1886 Charleston, SC earthquake is another example. Estimated to have been around 6.9-7.3 magnitude. It was felt from Maine to Florida and as far west as the Mississippi River, covering an area of more than 5 million square kilometers.

1886 Charleston earthquake - Wikipedia

Benchmarks: August 31, 1886: Magnitude-7 earthquake rocks Charleston, South Carolina

But honestly the power outages which will be extended from Noreasters and other hurricane/tornado/and summer/winter storms probably has more of a likelihood of affecting the average homeowner than earthquakes and giving them a reason to consider adding a solar/backup system.

 

[jboy210]

Is this for real? That’s crazy! Was it world’s first fracking attempt?

Definitely for real. See this write-up from USGS on New Madrid Seismic Zone. Lots of unreinforced brick buildings in that area. Another major quake could be very bad. See the repeat potential toward the end of the article.

 

[SMAlset]

Why yes I can. That is why we have solar AND PowerWalls.

Your scenario is largely preventable if you have the will.

After going through our first PSPS in the fall of 2019, our New Years Day 2020 resolution was to get solar and battery back up. Went into a Tesla Store a few days later to ask our questions and start our order. Tesla was swamped with orders and our install finally happened in Aug/Sept with permission to operate from our utility end of October.

 

[jboy210]

After going through our first PSPS in the fall of 2019, our New Years Day 2020 resolution was to get solar and battery back up. Went into a Tesla Store a few days later to ask our questions and start our order. Tesla was swamped with orders and our install finally happened in Aug/Sept with permission to operate from our utility end of October.

Well, at least yours was operational in a reasonable time after completion. We started to install on March 3 or so. Finished April 3rd. PTO in September. That is a lot of days staring at a fully operational Solar roof and PWs.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

Well, it looks like we can all thank ERCOT for protecting the grid. According to this article, they were minutes from catastrophic failures (blown transformers, substations, etc) that would take months to repair. Anybody who has waited for that big green box to be installed at a new Tesla supercharger site knows how long the wait can be for just one transformer. I can’t imagine what the wait would be for the entire state.
Texas was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say

 

[h2ofun]

ReddyLeaf, why do you have to bring politics into this forum?

 

[buttershrimp]

Definitely for real. See this write-up from USGS on New Madrid Seismic Zone. Lots of unreinforced brick buildings in that area. Another major quake could be very bad. See the repeat potential toward the end of the article.

well thank you for blowing my mind... great article too

 

[buttershrimp]

Well, it looks like we can all thank ERCOT for protecting the grid. According to this article, they were minutes from catastrophic failures (blown transformers, substations, etc) that would take months to repair. Anybody who has waited for that big green box to be installed at a new Tesla supercharger site knows how long the wait can be for just one transformer. I can’t imagine what the wait would be for the entire state.
Texas was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say

so can someone explain to me why there is no such thing as a large breaker for this situation? I’m sure there is a good reason for why a simple concept as a breaker wouldn’t work but I’m curious as to why... instead it seems like our grid is more like a nuclear power plant trying to prevent a meltdown

 

[nwdiver]

so can someone explain to me why there is no such thing as a large breaker for this situation? I’m sure there is a good reason for why a simple concept as a breaker wouldn’t work but I’m curious as to why... instead it seems like our grid is more like a nuclear power plant trying to prevent a meltdown

Breakers protect against overcurrent. The things that bring the grid down are under-voltage and under-frequency. I recommend reading ' The Grid '. I thought it was interesting.

 

[Feathermerchan]

When your supply exceeds demand all the generators slow down (RPM) and the frequency drops. It can make things get unstable where actual physical damage can occur to generators. Yes there are breakers. Big ones and huge ones. But when you trip a breaker due to overload it always causes a transient that is usually absorbed by the grid. STNP had a 1350MW (1350 MW is about 1.8 million HP. Check my math) generator trip due to the freezing conditions Sunday morning. With the generation already being scarce, losing that much at once is really bad.
Knowing that under frequency (<60 Hz) results from loss of control, many loads have underfrequency relays that will trip them off. There are several frequency thresholds that are used to remove varying amount of load across the system in an attempt to restore balance. This is because events can happen too fast for a human to react.

I go back to: It is possible for all kinds of power plants: gas, coal. nuke, wind, solar to operate in colder weather than we have had. There are these sources in Canada, Scotland and even Alaska. The question is only are we willing to pay for the weatherization and then verify and hold accountable/enforce the rules we come up with. It will cost a bunch of money but that doesn't really matter if we come together and decide that's what we want we can make it happen.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

ReddyLeaf, why do you have to bring politics into this forum?

Sorry, didn’t know I was bringing politics into the thread. I just thought I was bringing facts. Sorry, I’ll stop.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Well, it looks like we can all thank ERCOT for protecting the grid. According to this article, they were minutes from catastrophic failures (blown transformers, substations, etc) that would take months to repair. Anybody who has waited for that big green box to be installed at a new Tesla supercharger site knows how long the wait can be for just one transformer. I can’t imagine what the wait would be for the entire state.
Texas was "seconds and minutes" away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say

Good read. Thanks for sharing.