Power out in Houston

If they have the batteries they certainly can power their house with it, provided the battery capacity allows for it. With high heat indexes, it is no surprise people are getting desperate by the day. Some are experiencing heat exhaustion and being taken to the hospital.

 

Not realistic. I've got a large Powerwall setup here (in San Antonio) and it's barely enough to run the master bedroom A/C in perpetuity with the rest of the house climate control shut down. As long as the sun comes out I'm in pretty good shape, but Texas A/C is another level of power draw.

I was in Houston for the big ice storm a few years back and froze my ass off for 4 days without power or heat. Never wanted to live through that ever again. I have thoughts, but this isn't P&R.

 

An inverter like this

https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-powerpro-14kwh-all-weather-lithium-solar-battery-wallmount/

Only does 10kw

Does not include batteries....

Here is a 26kw Generac

https://www.amazon.com/Generac-Systems-7291-Backup-Generator/dp/B0BL6GL861?ref_=ast_sto_dp

I think the ideal solution is a combination of generator, battery, and solar and hopefully soon micro nuclear

For most of Houstonions, if they can afford it - the best option is a dual fuel generator

Figure 2 of those inverters for 20kw usage (still less than that Generac)

https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-wallmount-indoor-battery-280ah-51-2v-14-3kwh-eg4-18kpv-18000w-pv-input-12000w-output-bndl-e0011/

The price is absurd

I can only imagine how much a micro nuclear reactor is going to cost for a residential application including installation

 

On the whole, I'm really happy with the Powerwall kit. Here's my stats from today as the sun sets, taken from my home-brew Home Assistant dashboards.

I've got three independent systems for the three buildings at the ranch. House, Stable, and Hangar (workshop). We were winging it when we sized the installation and didn't get it quite right. I need more panels on the stable and could use one more battery in the house. I plan to re-balance in a year or so when the Powerwall 3 units are readily available.

I generate way more power than I consume and end up with a negative electric bill when it's really sunny, but still don't have enough battery to get me through the night if the A/C or heat is running a lot.

I generated 28.9kWh of energy at peak today between noon and 1pm.

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I’m surprised this is the first thread on this topic here, or even the storm in general.

It’s a mess down here.

 

Not much opportunity for forum activity when the power's out, I suppose. Everyone's saving their phone battery to keep an eye on the Whataburger map.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/07/11/whataburger-power-outage-map-beryl-texas/

 

Truth
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I went down to Clear Lake Wednesday for an in and out picking up a car, and the thing that struck me was none of the traffic lights worked. It didn't seem to just be a power issue. The lights, control boxes, etc. were all ripped to shreds. As far as the traffic flow, anarchy prevailed. People were just bluffing and forcing their way through intersections.

 

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We didn't lose power and don't typically. We live close to a decent sized sub-station. My parents have a 27kw liquid cooled generator, so we bug out there if needed. When we move to our long term home I will get an oversized liquid cooled generator. Possibly solar and battery banks as well.

It was a rough week for a lot of folks. still 4,500 people without power right now.

 

I have never seen a liquid cooled generator, but I also haven't seen too many 27kw generators in homes.

Color me jealous.

 

Live in the country an hour south. Fortunately my house is on the same line as the police station/firehouse (though 4 miles away) so we get it very quickly. Even though my MIL lives in a house at the end of our driveway on the county road, her line is different. Between that past grid/freeze thing and this episode we were only out 10-12 hrs max each time wheres she was out 2-3 days.

I think this is the wakeup call and we've decided to look into backup. I've hunted in Africa where entire camps are run off of solar/battery which has me curious about solar as our old barnominium was converted int a man cavern so I have the room (and spare rooms) to go full out solar if that's the case, but I know nothing at all other than what I've seen in Africa.

Dunno where to start.

 

I have a friend with an 80KW generator. 4.5 liter four-cylinder engine. Big house and garage. He said they were going to do a 65KW generator, but when they said there was an 80KW, he said what the heck.

 

Yeah- houses are on 40 and already got 2 propane tanks. Just was so impressed with that setup in Namibia (got sleep apnea & sleep with a machine so overnight power is always on my mind).

Remind me- are u the guy that shares space with Jason?


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This is the one my folks have:
2.4L Mitsubishi engine. A workhorse.
https://www.generac.com/residential-products/standby-generators/standby-generator-27kw-1980rpm-rg02724/

My good friend got this one installed just before the storm. Then it crapped when he lost power. I was able to get it going for him though. It is nice because it is so quiet. 4 cylinder turbocharged.
https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Kohler-38RCLC-QS1-Standby-Generator/p114831.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwnei0BhB-EiwAA2xuBucHQLRA6uV9pH4Ss4vpseogVFziG4f09hoA42k5FqKG8XXGK1pRhBoCmHEQAvD_BwE

Most people go with smaller air cooled units to save money. But man, running those fully loaded in this heat.... shooo. They are running like a dog with their tongue hanging out.

 

I like idea of generator.... but then you are at the mercy of fuel. Also, lots of moving parts that can break.

Something about solar and batteries so you are completely independent.

Fortunately I do not have to make that decision until we move in 2 years.

 

That must be a gigantic house!!! holy moly.

 

https://shopsolarkits.com/collections/dual-hybrid-solar-kits/products/hybrid-solar-power-kit-hpk-pro

https://signaturesolar.com/complete-hybrid-solar-kit-12-000w-120-240v-output-30-72kwh-eg4-lithium-powerwall-16560-watts-of-solar-pv-kit-e0005/

Good place to start looking at whats available on the market

 

All the bigger ones will be water cooled. We decided to get a good sized air cooled Generac (24 kW). If we had gone to their 28 kW sized, it would have been water cooled.....didn't make sense for a smaller 4k sq ft house.

 

Yeah if you want the equal of a 48kw generator (which can be installed and set up for 25 to 30k$, 48kw of solar panels will cost you almost 100k$ - not including batteries

 

There is value in not being dependent on fuel though. But, no sun and you are screwed. Depends on what level of prepper you want to get to.

 

You'd need something like 10 powerwalls for the same continuous kw generation as the generator

A micro inverter on the solar setup can go bad and you're stuck until its replaced, which might take a while

You could have a belt or pulley die on the generator

It's tough, but something needs to be done because a decentralized grid is a more resilient grid

 

agree on all points.
At some point the plan is… go find a nice hotel!!