This weather is awful - 2022 to ?

[NW-Bound]

I don't watch TV news, so learned only last night that the storm that drenched Turkey and Greece last week moved across the Mediterranean to cause a flash flood that killed 20,000 people in Derna, Libya. It happened in the middle of the early morning of Wed 9/12, so unprepared people drowned in the mud, or were carried out to sea.

Such horrific events make my 115F heat such a minor inconvenience.

 

[audreyh1]

Dam failures.

 

[NW-Bound]

If you look at aerial photos, you will see that the two dams were not meant to create a reservoir. In normal times, there's no water behind the dams. The river Wadi Derna is normally just a dry wash, like the Salt River that goes through Phoenix.

I understand that these dams were meant to control flash floods like what just happened. They were just not up to the task for the torrential rain in the plain up stream, and broke.

 

[JoeWras]

"Traveling through tunnels between dorms for some unknown reason"

That's a classic!

So many unknowns in college.

 

[pacergal]

Ack, 90 yesterday, expected again today. The is not normal here. No measurable rain.

 

[Car-Guy]

The small storm that ran through here around 4:30 AM cooled things off. It's only 102 F outside now but the humidity is off the map.

I hope you (and your new house) are okay after today (9/15/23) afternoon storms passed through your area. Looked to be really bad on the local news.

 

[Walt34]

"Traveling through tunnels between dorms for some unknown reason"

That's a classic!

Yes, I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that.

 

[Koolau]

Turned the heat on for the first time this morning (well, DW did and I wasn't about to over rule her on that.)

 

[GaryInCO]

If I owned a house instead of a condo, I just might have those things.
I've thought about one of those 4-Patriot type storage units. We use 5KWh/day now, so not sure how long such a beast would last.

Wow, 5kWh/day for a condo in HI !? That's what I use for a 4000 sq ft house in Colorado. Heat is gas (with electric forced air), but I run AC 3-4 months when it's in the 90's, and I have a LOT more cubic footage (high vaulted ceilings) to cool than you do.

I would not have expected a small condo to eat so much power. Year-round AC I assume?

I'm installing solar and thought I would replace the gas furnace & AC with a heat pump, until I discovered the HP is $35k and the additional solar to feed it is another $15k, and that's after IRA credits. $50k to replace a $1500/yr (currently) gas bill doesn't make a lot of sense. Maybe in a few years when HPs are more mainstream and hopefully a lot cheaper.

 

[aja8888]

I hope you (and your new house) are okay after today (9/15/23) afternoon storms passed through your area. Looked to be really bad on the local news.

I am fine and all the shingles are still on the roof. The new tree in the front yard is listing at about 15 degrees off vertical.

 

[Car-Guy]

I am fine and all the shingles are still on the roof. The new tree in the front yard is listing at about 15 degrees off vertical.

Glad to hear it... The news we saw said you guys had wind gusting up to 80mph in the area.

You should be able to coax the new tree back to vertical, especially if the ground is wet and the new tree isn't too big.

 

[NW-Bound]

Wow, 5kWh/day for a condo in HI !? That's what I use for a 4000 sq ft house in Colorado. Heat is gas (with electric forced air), but I run AC 3-4 months when it's in the 90's, and I have a LOT more cubic footage (high vaulted ceilings) to cool than you do...

My larger 30 c.f. fridge uses 5 kWh/day by itself. The smaller auxiliary 25 c.f. fridge draws 2.2 kWh/day.

Before I installed two minisplits for the downstair and abandoned the upper story to the heat, I had to run the central AC and used 5 kWh in an hour.

My 24-hour consumption in the summer reached 100 kWh when it was 115F high before I had the minisplits.

 

[audreyh1]

I am fine and all the shingles are still on the roof. The new tree in the front yard is listing at about 15 degrees off vertical.

If it’s new they should be able to get it back vertical.

 

[NW-Bound]

Anyway, this morning, as the usual routine I went out to check the status of the solar battery while the coffee was being brewed. I was pleased to find the battery was still holding up, and none of the 4 inverters had turned off.

When the high is no more than 100F and the low is 75F, I can be on solar 24/7 with the sunny sky of the SW. More than running the ACs, that includes the water heater and the pool pump in addition to cooking and lighting and other appliances. Not the cloth dryer though.

 

[Koolau]

Wow, 5kWh/day for a condo in HI !? That's what I use for a 4000 sq ft house in Colorado. Heat is gas (with electric forced air), but I run AC 3-4 months when it's in the 90's, and I have a LOT more cubic footage (high vaulted ceilings) to cool than you do.

I would not have expected a small condo to eat so much power. Year-round AC I assume?

I'm installing solar and thought I would replace the gas furnace & AC with a heat pump, until I discovered the HP is $35k and the additional solar to feed it is another $15k, and that's after IRA credits. $50k to replace a $1500/yr (currently) gas bill doesn't make a lot of sense. Maybe in a few years when HPs are more mainstream and hopefully a lot cheaper.

Yeah, no heat and no AC. Very little variability between winter and summer. A fridge, a stove (rarely used), Microwave for most cooking, TV/Internet. A few lights. That's it.

I would assume your AC would be more than 5KWh/day just by itself. Maybe NW-Bound can help out with that.

5 KWh/day is NOTHING. At 44 cents/KWh, we still only pay around $75/month. I know people who pay $400 in the Islands. Not sure how you run such a house on less than 5 KWh/day. This site suggest dramatically more than 5Kwh/day just for AC. Of course, YMMV.

https://news.energysage.com/how-many-watts-does-an-air-conditioner-use/

 

[NW-Bound]

I would assume your AC would be more than 5KWh/day just by itself. Maybe NW-Bound can help out with that...

A lot more. As mentioned in my above post, when I ran the central AC I used 5 kWh in one hour (which is the same as saying my house drew 5 kW).

My highest consumption in a 24-hour period is 100 kWh. That's 100 kWh/day.

A note for people who may be confused between kW and kWh: When you drive 60 miles in one hour, your average speed is 60 mph. Similarly, when you use 5 kWh in one hour, your average power draw is 5 kW.

When Koolau uses 5 kWh/day, his average power consumption is 5000 Wh/24 hr = 208 W.

 

[NW-Bound]

5 kWh/day is impressively low.

If you set your 50-gal electric water heater to 120F, and the water from the mains is at 70F, once you empty the tank, it will take 6 kWh to reheat the water.

 

[Koolau]

5 kWh/day is impressively low.

If you set your 50-gal electric water heater to 120F, and the water from the mains is at 70F, once you empty the tank, it will take 6 kWh to reheat the water.

Heh, heh the dirty little secret I didn't share (I've shared it before) is that we don't have our own hot water heater. We have a huge boiler for the building. I think it might be propane - but not sure. SO, IOW, we don't pay for hot water - except in our HOA dues.

In our old place on the other side of the Island, we did have electric hot water and I think we used about 7 or 8 KWh/day. Our bill was the same 13 years ago because inflation has taken us from around 30 cents to 40+ cents/KWh. That hot water heater had an electric shut-off switch that could be activated by HECO if they needed to shift load. We got a $3/month rebate for having it installed. Never noticed it being used, but we were always very frugal with our hot water (short or military showers - her (short), me (military.))

 

[GaryInCO]

Not sure how you run such a house on less than 5 KWh/day.

Me either. I think I read the numbers off the wrong section of my spreadsheet, and got $$ instead of kWh. Whoops. For the last several years I've averaged 1075 kWh per month, so about 35 kWh/day. NOT 5.

 

[Koolau]

Me either. I think I read the numbers off the wrong section of my spreadsheet, and got $$ instead of kWh. Whoops. For the last several years I've averaged 1075 kWh per month, so about 35 kWh/day. NOT 5.

Thanks for the research. You had me worried!

 

[Ronstar]

It has now been raining in northern Illinois nonstop for 20 hours. But only 1.5" total.

 

[Rocket Man]

In central Illinois, it rained off and on yesterday and overnight. We had 3.9 inches. It has been a nice summer with only about 9 days of temperatures in the 90’s. The rest of the time it has been 70’s and 80’s. In other words, very normal. Lived in this area all of my life.

 

[Rianne]

In central Illinois, it rained off and on yesterday and overnight. We had 3.9 inches. It has been a nice summer with only about 9 days of temperatures in the 90’s. The rest of the time it has been 70’s and 80’s. In other words, very normal. Lived in this area all of my life.

Agree, lots of rain lately. The farmers will not like that. But I'm thrilled about the temps. I'm no fan of 90-degree weather, ever.

 

[pacergal]

Currently 56, sunny and supposed to hit 76 today, but very much needed rain is coming!

 

[Car-Guy]

It will getting back up into the high 90's for the next few days here in my part of Texas. Rain is forecast for this weekend along with a little bit of a cool down. I think (hope) the 100+ days are done for this season.