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Post by Patrick on Oct 27, 2019 11:17:56 GMT -8
We are still ok here in Petaluma...windy , but no smoke as it's blowing westerly. Be safe folks!
Patrick
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Post by robhart on Oct 28, 2019 3:22:17 GMT -8
We have our evacuation kit all packed and ready by the front door. I drove up to an IPMS show in Lancaster on Saturday. I couldn't believe how strong the winds were in the high desert. I think they reduced my fuel economy by about 5 MPG. They are predicting another series of high winds and low humidity this coming week.
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Post by Joel_W on Oct 28, 2019 4:56:35 GMT -8
Guys, Please be safe. These fires are worse then last years from what we hear on the nightly news. Those winds are worse, and aren't going anywhere very soon.
Here, on the East coast, Long Island to be specific. From July through Oct we watch the nightly weather hoping that those continuous heat waves coming off the African coast don't turn into a Hurricane. By Oct, most do. Again this year every one heading up the East coast, and headed out to sea. Most towards Great Britton by the time it was by Virginia. A few did enter the Gulf, and did quite a lot of damage.
Glad to read that you have an evacuation plan in place. Gotta be a really tough way to live with these yearly fire storms the last few years.
Joel
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Post by Chris K. Hale on Oct 28, 2019 5:07:29 GMT -8
Big Brother and Rob, I hope the winds dont get as bad as here, although there is not much to burn along this prt of the Colorado River, this morning its 47 degrees out with gusts up to 70mph, so I guess that BLOWS the hell out of doing any painting today! (pun intended) Usually October and November are the months I paint everything for the winter months, doesnt look like I will get that done, although my new spray booth in the shop will be a life saver as far as painting during the winter.. Everyone take care this winter Please, each one of You are an important member to Our Forum and Hobby... Chris
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Post by pnance26 on Nov 4, 2019 17:02:58 GMT -8
I live up here in the mountains above the San Joaquin Valley outside Tehachapi, CA (you can look it up if you don't know where that is). Our house is at 4114 ft of elevation and it got pretty windy until Saturday or so. We have had three induced power outages of 36 hours, 22 hours and 46 hours. The concern is that any debris landed on a line could ignite, fall, and cause a fire, not all the hype about poor equipment condition.
Since we have 17 solar panels and a Tesla PowerWall 2, we endured all three blackouts without issue. The battery would be depleted to around 47% in the morning and since the inverter doesn't kick on until we hit our 25% emergency reserve, we would run on the battery. As soon as we hit that threshold, the inverter turned on the panels and charged the battery. It would take around 4 hours to fully recharge.
If I might do a little education, that is one that people do not understand about solar panels. Your panels work through an inverter which sends power to the house and any extra to the grid. But the inverter must have a power source in order to function. If the grid is down, there is no way to turn your panels on... and you sit in the dark. Whereas, we listened to the sales people and bought a storage battery. Now, $10 for the battery and installation seems a little pricey, but we are guaranteed that our panels will work even if the grid is down. Our battery tells the inverter to turn on the panels. The only downside is that as soon as the battery is 95% charged, the inverter shuts down the panels since we can't push any extra production back to the grid. And if the panels continued to produce and overcharged the battery, it would burn up.
The long and short of this info is this; if you want to be able to use your solar panels when the grid is down, you MUST have a battery. And i don't recommend one of the $299 jobs from Harbor Freight. It must be installed properly and meet inspection codes. We were very careful not to gloat or make a big deal of it, but we have lost $0 to thawed, rotted food, enjoyed showers, fully charged cell phones, tV reception and internet access during all three blackouts. People get pissed off when I tell them it is their fault for not preparing, but short of an EMP, our log house is good through earthquake, snowstorm, and high winds!
Thanks for checking on us. By the way, I also have four cords of wood stacked outside the back door for the stove, so let the power be off. We will be warm!
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Post by Joel_W on Nov 5, 2019 5:11:53 GMT -8
Pnance26, I never realized that about Solar panels. Over the last several years quite a few homes in my development have installed Solar Panels, and one neighbor has a home generator. Over the weekend for the 1st time in 40 years we lost our electricity do to a blown Transformer. No Hurricane ever shut us down before. Those homes with lights sure did like they had the right idea.
I just might look into Solar and see if the cost is worth it as I'm into my 70s and my wife late 60s, not to mention the full cost.
Joel
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Post by pnance26 on Nov 5, 2019 8:31:34 GMT -8
Pnance26, I never realized that about Solar panels. Over the last several years quite a few homes in my development have installed Solar Panels, and one neighbor has a home generator. Over the weekend for the 1st time in 40 years we lost our electricity do to a blown Transformer. No Hurricane ever shut us down before. Those homes with lights sure did like they had the right idea. I just might look into Solar and see if the cost is worth it as I'm into my 70s and my wife late 60s, not to mention the full cost. Joel I'm 65 and my wife is 55. We are into solar for the long haul!
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