Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by criddell on Monday February 15, 2021 @07:55AM
(#26142260)
Just about every Texas building has air conditioning which is blasting for those 100 days of summer where it's often above 100 degrees. I'm surprised that a few days of cold is a bigger load than the crazy heat of summer.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by unpolloloco on Monday February 15, 2021 @08:07AM
(#26142343)
I'd think it's the difference between cooling 30F (100->70) vs heating 60F (10->70)
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by criddell on Monday February 15, 2021 @08:29AM
(#26142519)
That makes sense.
Edit: Now that the sun is up and shining through our windows, the duty cycle of our (natural gas) furnace has dropped way off. I'm pretty sure our energy usage today will be less than on a 100 degree day.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by xyzzyz on Monday February 15, 2021 @08:10AM
(#26142369)
Cooling from 100 degrees to 70 uses much less energy than heating from 10 to 70.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by sn9 on Monday February 15, 2021 @03:16AM
(#26140352)
And with windchill, it's well below 0°F.
I've lived in Texas all my life and can't remember the last time that happened.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by Scoundreller on Monday February 15, 2021 @03:43AM
(#26140525)
> And with windchill, it's well below 0°F.
You won't feel the windchill inside, but it will amplify the impact of draughty buildings/poor insulation.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by sn9 on Monday February 15, 2021 @08:00PM
(#26149755)
Yeah it's crazy. The water pressure in my apartment has dropped so much I basically don't have running water. The upstream pipes must be mostly frozen.
Luckily I stocked up on soup before all this so I'll last until the freeze breaks.
Re:Ercot nearly at capacity for Texas power grid
by enraged_camel on Monday February 15, 2021 @03:46AM
(#26140541)
It has been snowing like crazy’s I just lost power too. Time for bed. :)
Here in Austin, it's just past midnight, and it's already down to 13°F (-10.5°C). It hasn't been that cold here since December 23, 1989.
Also, a lot of Texas homes have electric heat (except in the northern part of the state). Winters are relatively short and mild.
Many homes use electric heat pumps as the heating source. They're energy-efficient and easy to install in a home which has AC, so generally a good choice. But they get less and less effective as the outside temperature drops, so a backup electric heating coil kicks in, which uses way more electricity.