(02-15-2021 04:42 PM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 02:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  The official word is that its just too cold and the grid can't handle the demand.

If I recall correctly the Texas power grid is independent of the rest of the US. I'm actually surprised they don't have more fossil fueled plants.

Yup.

In the lower 48, there are three power grids. Eastern, Western, and Texas.

(02-15-2021 02:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  The official word is that its just too cold and the grid can't handle the demand.

The demand may be very high, depending on the ratio of natural gas furnace to Heat Pump / Resistance Strips in TX.

(02-15-2021 04:42 PM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 02:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  The official word is that its just too cold and the grid can't handle the demand.

If I recall correctly the Texas power grid is independent of the rest of the US. I'm actually surprised they don't have more fossil fueled plants.

It is. There are three separate grids in the us I believe and some of Maine is served by the Canadian power grid.

What I read earlier is that texas doesn’t have enough supply to meet the current demand, regardless of what renewables are doing.

Electric heat simple requires a lot of energy and thats pretty much what everyone has there.

(02-15-2021 04:56 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 04:42 PM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 02:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  The official word is that its just too cold and the grid can't handle the demand.

If I recall correctly the Texas power grid is independent of the rest of the US. I'm actually surprised they don't have more fossil fueled plants.

It is. There are three separate grids in the us I believe and some of Maine is served by the Canadian power grid.

What I read earlier is that texas doesn’t have enough supply to meet the current demand, regardless of what renewables are doing.

Electric heat simple requires a lot of energy and thats pretty much what everyone has there.

Heat Pumps are great until the temperature drops below 40 then auxiliary runs a lot and that is a big drain.

This is not FBO in Texas saving the Earth from global warming.

Wanted to clarify.

(02-15-2021 04:59 PM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 04:56 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 04:42 PM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 02:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  The official word is that its just too cold and the grid can't handle the demand.

If I recall correctly the Texas power grid is independent of the rest of the US. I'm actually surprised they don't have more fossil fueled plants.

It is. There are three separate grids in the us I believe and some of Maine is served by the Canadian power grid.

What I read earlier is that texas doesn’t have enough supply to meet the current demand, regardless of what renewables are doing.

Electric heat simple requires a lot of energy and thats pretty much what everyone has there.

Heat Pumps are great until the temperature drops below 40 then auxiliary runs a lot and that is a big drain.

I have dual fuel with a heat pump on a variable speed gas furnace. I switch over to gas at 40. Gas furnace has been running full blast for 24 hours.

Electric resistance heat is about the least efficient way to heat a home, but is simple and economical as aux for a HP in places where it doesn’t get below 40. Or primary heat source in places like FL where you need heat 10 days a year.

I know Texas has a good amount of natural gas furnaces (My house in DFW area had gas), but given the climate I would bet it also has a lot of heat pumps.

(02-15-2021 04:52 PM)BobcatEngineer Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 04:42 PM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 02:49 PM)bullet Wrote:  The official word is that its just too cold and the grid can't handle the demand.

If I recall correctly the Texas power grid is independent of the rest of the US. I'm actually surprised they don't have more fossil fueled plants.

Yup.

In the lower 48, there are three power grids. Eastern, Western, and Texas.

And I guess Ollie is smirking because El Paso is on the western grid.

What the heck is a heat pump???

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

Your AC uses refrigerant to move heat from inside to outside your house, a heat pump is an AC that can be reversed and move heat from outside in.

The only difference between a normal AC and a heat pump is a reversing valve and the TXV may be different.

They don’t work well below 40, so most switch over to resistance strips as it gets colder, which is very inefficient

Edit - just in case I wasn’t clear it can heat or cool. The thermostat activates the reversing valve when it calls for heat

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

Heat Pump is essentially and Air Conditioner in reverse, pulls heat from external air and can maintain about a 30 degree differential between external air.

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

A southern thing.

(02-15-2021 05:38 PM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

Heat Pump is essentially and Air Conditioner in reverse, pulls heat from external air and can maintain about a 30 degree differential between external air.

Gotcha. I have a boiler/steam heat so I'm out of the loop.

Its a funny sounding thing to me. They call the geothermal heating something similar but I know it is totally different. That's why I was confused.

(02-15-2021 05:35 PM)U_of_Elvis Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

Your AC uses refrigerant to move heat from inside to outside your house, a heat pump is an AC that can be reversed and move heat from outside in.

The only difference between a normal AC and a heat pump is a reversing valve and the TXV may be different.

They don’t work well below 40, so most switch over to resistance strips as it gets colder, which is very inefficient

Edit - just in case I wasn’t clear it can heat or cool. The thermostat activates the reversing valve when it calls for heat

We have one here in Maryland. It only really drops below 40 a few months a year, so it's not too bad and usually my electric bills aren't that high. That said, it's been consistently below freezing for the past month so my electric bill tripled.

Schit works well..until it doesn't.

(02-15-2021 05:43 PM)BobcatEngineer Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:35 PM)U_of_Elvis Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

Your AC uses refrigerant to move heat from inside to outside your house, a heat pump is an AC that can be reversed and move heat from outside in.

The only difference between a normal AC and a heat pump is a reversing valve and the TXV may be different.

They don’t work well below 40, so most switch over to resistance strips as it gets colder, which is very inefficient

Edit - just in case I wasn’t clear it can heat or cool. The thermostat activates the reversing valve when it calls for heat

We have one here in Maryland. It only really drops below 40 a few months a year, so it's not too bad and usually my electric bills aren't that high. That said, it's been consistently below freezing for the past month so my electric bill tripled.

Yeah, a whole month on heat strips will get you.

My parents house is all electric with heat pump, but when it was built they had a ton of air infiltration work done so their house is very efficient. Their house before this had geothermal, but they moved to a warmer climate and decided the payback for geothermal would never happen. So they used an air source heat pump and built a tight house. Honestly a little money spent on air infiltration at construction seems to have a better payback than anything else you can do for energy consumption.

(02-15-2021 05:43 PM)BobcatEngineer Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:35 PM)U_of_Elvis Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

Your AC uses refrigerant to move heat from inside to outside your house, a heat pump is an AC that can be reversed and move heat from outside in.

The only difference between a normal AC and a heat pump is a reversing valve and the TXV may be different.

They don’t work well below 40, so most switch over to resistance strips as it gets colder, which is very inefficient

Edit - just in case I wasn’t clear it can heat or cool. The thermostat activates the reversing valve when it calls for heat

We have one here in Maryland. It only really drops below 40 a few months a year, so it's not too bad and usually my electric bills aren't that high. That said, it's been consistently below freezing for the past month so my electric bill tripled.

Most heat pumps have 2 heating elements. For 90% or more in the South only one heat element is necessary. However if you have a heavy rain, particularly with wind where some leaves swirl around the debris can block some of the coils inside the fan area and ice forms when the temperature drops below freezing. When this happens the second element (usually designated emergency heat) kicks in and melts the ice on the coils. When that happens it does double the energy requirements. The less often it freezes the more efficient it is. And with heat pumps you don't want to put them in the shade. Most freezes in the South occur at night and the sunlight thaws out the coils without having to use the second element, unless those who installed the heat pump put in in the shade. Then the ice sticks around requiring emergency heat to kick in. As to Elvis's remarks they are spot on. The better insulated the home the more efficient the heat pump.

(02-15-2021 05:40 PM)shere khan Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

A southern thing.

Exactly. Its really only used in places with very mild winters.

(02-15-2021 05:55 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:43 PM)BobcatEngineer Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:35 PM)U_of_Elvis Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

Your AC uses refrigerant to move heat from inside to outside your house, a heat pump is an AC that can be reversed and move heat from outside in.

The only difference between a normal AC and a heat pump is a reversing valve and the TXV may be different.

They don’t work well below 40, so most switch over to resistance strips as it gets colder, which is very inefficient

Edit - just in case I wasn’t clear it can heat or cool. The thermostat activates the reversing valve when it calls for heat

We have one here in Maryland. It only really drops below 40 a few months a year, so it's not too bad and usually my electric bills aren't that high. That said, it's been consistently below freezing for the past month so my electric bill tripled.

Most heat pumps have 2 heating elements. For 90% or more in the South only one heat element is necessary. However if you have a heavy rain, particularly with wind where some leaves swirl around the debris can block some of the coils inside the fan area and ice forms when the temperature drops below freezing. When this happens the second element (usually designated emergency heat) kicks in and melts the ice on the coils. When that happens it does double the energy requirements. The less often it freezes the more efficient it is. And with heat pumps you don't want to put them in the shade. Most freezes in the South occur at night and the sunlight thaws out the coils without having to use the second element, unless those who installed the heat pump put in in the shade. Then the ice sticks around requiring emergency heat to kick in. As to Elvis's remarks they are spot on. The better insulated the home the more efficient the heat pump.

The relay on the emergency heat coil in a unit of a friend failed this summer. His ac ran all the time and he couldnt figure out why it never got cool. Lol. It was heating while the ac ran.



Man he was pissed.

(02-15-2021 05:55 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:43 PM)BobcatEngineer Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:35 PM)U_of_Elvis Wrote:  

(02-15-2021 05:31 PM)Todor Wrote:  What the heck is a heat pump???

Your AC uses refrigerant to move heat from inside to outside your house, a heat pump is an AC that can be reversed and move heat from outside in.

The only difference between a normal AC and a heat pump is a reversing valve and the TXV may be different.

They don’t work well below 40, so most switch over to resistance strips as it gets colder, which is very inefficient

Edit - just in case I wasn’t clear it can heat or cool. The thermostat activates the reversing valve when it calls for heat

We have one here in Maryland. It only really drops below 40 a few months a year, so it's not too bad and usually my electric bills aren't that high. That said, it's been consistently below freezing for the past month so my electric bill tripled.

Most heat pumps have 2 heating elements. For 90% or more in the South only one heat element is necessary. However if you have a heavy rain, particularly with wind where some leaves swirl around the debris can block some of the coils inside the fan area and ice forms when the temperature drops below freezing. When this happens the second element (usually designated emergency heat) kicks in and melts the ice on the coils. When that happens it does double the energy requirements. The less often it freezes the more efficient it is. And with heat pumps you don't want to put them in the shade. Most freezes in the South occur at night and the sunlight thaws out the coils without having to use the second element, unless those who installed the heat pump put in in the shade. Then the ice sticks around requiring emergency heat to kick in. As to Elvis's remarks they are spot on. The better insulated the home the more efficient the heat pump.

I installed a 21 seer heat pump last year and I was amazed at how well the new technology works. My electric bill went down by 60 bucks a month and unlike the old heat pumps the air is much warmer. Elvis is correct. My house is super tight with double pane Anderson windows and triple pane sliding doors. My electric bill is averaged and it comes to 185 a month. The last house I owned cost me almost twice that per month due to being so poorly insulated and a lousy HVAC system. The combination of a high seer pump and good insulation will save you biggly.

Going on 10 hours here without power. I do have a built in genset that runs on natural gas that allows me to heat part of my house among other things. Thank goodness for that. It’s 12 degrees outside and headed for a low of 3.