Texas Cold Weather Discussion

[338 dude]

Ohhhh that's some great pictures... We miss ours something bad still...

That’s when they were about six months old I always try to have two that are siblings they work better together and I’m sorry for your loss I know exactly how you feel I’ve been through it many times I’ve had a great Dane since I was 25 or so started out with one then had two at a time and occasionally three after that I’m 56 so I’ve had a great dane for 31 years now they are just the dog for me. These are the three previous smallish black one is sissy she is the mama the white one is Ozzie the big black one is gator gator topped out at 181 pounds Ozzie at 178 he looks smaller because he is down one step lower

 

[338 dude]

I’ll just stick to fiberglass.

I guess so for those prices that is ridiculous

 

[338 dude]

I’m sorry for getting the thread off track these are my kids and I love them

 

[ckaberna]

Transmitters with wet legs freezing

That and busted valves and water lines. Let them spray into a 4160v or 13.8kv motor and see what happens......been there, seen that.

 

[JayHHI6818]

Electric is the only thing skyrocketing!!!

Jerry Jones’ natural gas company ‘hits jackpot’ as Texas freeze drives up prices

The Frisco-based natural gas producer owned by Dallas billionaire Jerry Jones is cashing in on a surge in prices for the fuel as a brutal freeze grips the...

www.dallasnews.com

 

[okie]

That’s when they were about six months old I always try to have two that are siblings they work better together and I’m sorry for your loss I know exactly how you feel I’ve been through it many times I’ve had a great Dane since I was 25 or so started out with one then had two at a time and occasionally three after that I’m 56 so I’ve had a great dane for 31 years now they are just the dog for me. These are the three previous smallish black one is sissy she is the mama the white one is Ozzie the big black one is gator gator topped out at 181 pounds Ozzie at 178 he looks smaller because he is down one step lowerView attachment 1236320

Need to get a saddle!

 

[Twicepop]

Electric is the only thing skyrocketing!!!

Jerry Jones’ natural gas company ‘hits jackpot’ as Texas freeze drives up prices

The Frisco-based natural gas producer owned by Dallas billionaire Jerry Jones is cashing in on a surge in prices for the fuel as a brutal freeze grips the...

www.dallasnews.com

Gasoline has gone up about $0.50 a gallon around here since the administration changed. Some of the blurbs on the news say to expect prices of up to close to $5.00 a gallon by summer. We're around $2.64-2.70 a gallon right now. That should do wonders for an already damaged economy.

 

[PatMiles]

Gasoline has gone up about $0.50 a gallon around here since the administration changed. Some of the blurbs on the news say to expect prices of up to close to $5.00 a gallon by summer. We're around $2.64-2.70 a gallon right now. That should do wonders for an already damaged economy.

Be double damn sure you remind your liberal friends, if you have any, of this...every time you see them. Rub their noses in it!

 

[Mr. Zorg]

Gasoline has gone up about $0.50 a gallon around here since the administration changed. Some of the blurbs on the news say to expect prices of up to close to $5.00 a gallon by summer. We're around $2.64-2.70 a gallon right now. That should do wonders for an already damaged economy.

Many Texas refineries shut down during the recent weather event, removing large industrial demand from the electric power grid and natural gas demand. Those with cogeneration capacity kept those sections operating to export electric power to the grid. Thus significant gasoline and diesel and other refined products prompt availability dropped sharply. As conditions continue to improve these refineries will begin or have begun depending on area restart operations which certainly aren't like flipping a switch to proceed in a safe manner. Startup and shutdown activities are statistically the most hazardous periods for such facilities as opposed to routine operation as things are in significant flux vs more of a steady state situation.

There's probably significant ripple effect because pipeline pumping stations sending crude oil to these refineries undoubtably also shut down in sympathy further reducing electric power demand.

 

[Old Navy]

It goes bad a lot. Mainly from valve maintenance id say. They put the heat tracing back and forth around valves, as you may know, one 12” valve may have 35’ of heat tracing on it and that may be part of a 400’ run. If its flexed just right it shorts out and that whole run has to be replaced. That may cost $100,000 to fix or maybe more. The ones that short out are easy to identify, but the pieces that are opened wont trip the breakers and you wont know its not working until it freezes. That budget in a texas type climate is usually spent on “more important” items. Fixing heat trace in all the power plants would take a covid type bailout and outages the grid cant handle.

All plants are different on what needs heat tracing whether it is electric or steam. We had miles of above ground steam and condensate lines. All the condensate line had thermal drain valves. Literally hundreds of roof top steam heat HVAC units. They had thermal drains and air vacs to drain the system if they lost steam or power. We only used heat tracing in trouble spots.

 

[Old Navy]

That and busted valves and water lines. Let them spray into a 4160v or 13.8kv motor and see what happens......been there, seen that.

I have also seen open wound pump motors run completely submerged it water until the pits were pumped dry. Not a problem to we shut them down and then the rust got them.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

All plants are different on what needs heat tracing whether it is electric or steam. We had miles of above ground steam and condensate lines. All the condensate line had thermal drain valves. Literally hundreds of roof top steam heat HVAC units. They had thermal drains and air vacs to drain the system if they lost steam or power. We only used heat tracing in trouble spots.

A power plant, no matter what configuration it is except wind and solar, has miles and miles of steel pipes with water in them. A power plant literally runs off of water. Some use steam tracing but the maintenance is a nightmare (more than electric) but most use mineral insulated electric tracing under insulation with metal cladding, either mineral wool or asbestos. Its hard to imagine a gas pre heating skid running at 450-500degF would freeze but thats one of the first spots operators tent off. Under 28deg or so an outdoor power plant like we have in the south starts to have issues purely on design. Throw in a good wind and its tripping time

 

[Old Navy]

A power plant, no matter what configuration it is except wind and solar, has miles and miles of steel pipes with water in them. A power plant literally runs off of water. Some use steam tracing but the maintenance is a nightmare (more than electric) but most use mineral insulated electric tracing under insulation with metal cladding, either mineral wool or asbestos. Its hard to imagine a gas pre heating skid running at 450-500degF would freeze but thats one of the first spots operators tent off. Under 28deg or so an outdoor power plant like we have in the south starts to have issues purely on design. Throw in a good wind and its tripping time

Sounds like your plants down there are pretty old.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Sounds like your plants down there are pretty old.

Actually the majority of the outside natural gas fired were built 1998-present. Coal were built in the late 70’s and nuclear right before that.

 

[rwj]

Don‘t know what changes need to be made to plants located in the south to operate at cold temps, but there are plenty of examples to be found in/at the northern ones! I used to live near coal, gas, and nuclear plants in PA for over 60 years and they didn’t go offline at even lower temps than here in TX!

 

[dfrosch]

ERCOT sets rate at $9KW during blackouts​

How do you use KW's when your power is off?

My solar panel system produces, on average, about 15% more electricity than I use. I sell it back to the provider at a one-to-one rate. Except for the very hottest months, my bill is a credit.

Sure wish they'd pay me $9 Kw/h for my excess power. I want the highest rate I can find.

 

[DiffEQ]

“Ty Williams, a Dallas-area resident, saw his monthly bill soar from $600 last month to nearly $17,000 so far this month, according to local news outlet WFAA.”


Normally $600 month in winter?!?!


Rates here are $0.16-$0.17 /KW but my bill is between $50-$60/month when not running AC. Next summer will be our first in this house so we’ll see what AC costs. I’m guessing it will probably add another $50/month for June, July, August.

Possibly growing weed. The lights consume a lot of power.
Still, when does News report accurately?
May be off by an order of magnitude.

 

[ckaberna]

Don‘t know what changes need to be made to plants located in the south to operate at cold temps, but there are plenty of examples to be found in/at the northern ones! I used to live near coal, gas, and nuclear plants in PA for over 60 years and they didn’t go offline at even lower temps than here in TX!

It’s quite possible to build them that way but it’s major $$$$ to retrofit with insulated siding and the like

 

[butchlambert]

Possibly growing weed. The lights consume a lot of power.
Still, when does News report accurately?
May be off by an order of magnitude.

They weren't off in this case. Mr Williams bill is true, but not right.
I used to have 3 heatpumps in our house with electric strip as backup.
Got rid of 2 units with conventional Trane units with propane backup. We have not changed our upstairs unit as we don't use the upstairs unit unless we have guest that overpopulate our downstairs bedrooms.. The utility bills have not changed measurably, but the new units will outlast the heatpumps.

 

[Retired Grunt]

$17,000 Wow, it must be true that everything is bigger in Texas.