This weather is awful!! 2008-2021

[footenote]

marko
<b>”It just seems that everybody is in a panic over what is a very cold, but not uniquely unusual cold snap. "Coldest since 1985!!", so...it was colder in 1985?

Or am I just getting to be a crotchety old man?”</b>

Cold like this finds houses imperfections - ones that tolerate 17 degrees but at -3 your pipes break. Cars fail (vapor lock, battery output lessens.) and heating bills get big. Remember how many live paycheck to paycheck.

Think about how many people are out freezing dragging a fuel oil hose to peoples houses? or putting out a fire? Or picking up your garbage? To them this cold is a real big deal.

Don’t think Minnesota think Virginia they just aren’t ready for it.

+1 Lived in Richmond VA for a couple years, and northern-me was horrified by how flimsy the house construction was. (And this was not a cheap home!) So, yes, although I mock the current "OMGz, it's ten degrees in [wherever]!" I know their homes and schools simply aren't built for these temps.

PS It's -40F here in Central MN this morning. Schools have closed for 3rd day.

 

[aja8888]

-36 F at Tomahawk, WI this morning at SIL's house.

 

[aaronc879]

-36 F at Tomahawk, WI this morning at SIL's house.

Two hours southeast of there we broke our daily record low of -22 with a morning low this morning of -26. My heater was on 20.5 hours yesterday and likely around the same today. That's compared to a typical 7-11 hours per day during normal winter temps.

 

[38Chevy454]

Talking about furnaces, I am on a heat pump primary with propane as backup. In this cold it is pure propane, been burning through a lot I am sure with the furnace running for long time periods. Good thing had the in-ground 500 gal tank filled last week. All it takes is money to refill it back up!

 

[iloveyoga]

We managed to escape central Iowa yesterday, via Chicago, for Key West. A miracle!

 

[Walt34]

Maybe it's me. I'm not minimizing the dangers and painfulness of this cold snap, not at all.

But it seems to me the media is making this into Armageddon.

Really, it does wear thin. Yeah, it's cold outside. Happens every winter, sometimes more than others. This is news?

Gimme a break.

We left the house late this morning about 11:00 to go the the gym, temperature was 14°. After that we went to the grocery store, it had warmed up to 16°. Last night it went to -1°. Okay, colder than normal but hardly radical. When it gets to -20° is when it is way outside normal for this area. Maybe, just maybe, that will be news. Other places, -20 this time of year is a heat wave. Folks deal with it.

Sure am glad we have natural gas heat though, and paid extra for extra insulation when the house was built.

BTW, the high for Sunday is forecast to be 53°. I might grill some burgers.

And yes, before retirement I was one of those "essential people" who did not get the day off because it was cold outside. We put on long johns, same as people did since long johns were invented.

 

[Ronstar]

I agree - media is blowing the cold weather out of proportion. It was cold for 2 days in Chicago and the media is going batsh*t crazy. But they make more $ when they have something extreme to report on. Showing how they set railroad tracks on fire and stuff like that. And that makes national news? They’ve been setting railroad tracks on fire for as long as I can remember. At least it will be 50° in Chicago on Sunday and all this ‘news’ will end.

 

[EastWest Gal]

The forecast for 2/1 where I am in PA was for cold temperatures (high of 18) and about an inch of snow. It snowed all day and we got 3 inches. We got out and shoveled late afternoon, and it was downright beautiful-no wind, the snow was the texture of sugar and weighed literally nothing. I’m in no shape to ski this year, just started working out after a hiatus, but the perfect three inches of powder made me jealous of the local skiers and snowboarders.

 

[MRG]

Starting snowing yesterday around noon. I ran the snowblower around 4 PM and only picked up a few inches. This morning it was deep, seems like another foot fell overnight.

Wet, heavy snow and lots of it. It was all the snowblower could do. Most was done in low gear, some places I could only move a foot and let it catch up.

DirecTV was out because the dish was coated. The snow out there is all I can walk through, waist deep. Soon the county will plow and dump several feet into the driveway. I guess it didn't forget how to snow.

 

[W2R]

Starting snowing yesterday around noon. I ran the snowblower around 4 PM and only picked up a few inches. This morning it was deep, seems like another foot fell overnight.

Wet, heavy snow and lots of it. It was all the snowblower could do. Most was done in low gear, some places I could only move a foot and let it catch up.

DirecTV was out because the dish was coated. The snow out there is all I can walk through, waist deep. Soon the county will plow and dump several feet into the driveway. I guess it didn't forget how to snow.

I guess it didn't! Wow! That's a lot of snow. Take care, don't overdo, and I hope it melts off soon.

It's already 70F here, which was yesterday's high. I love our warm weather in the winter, although in the summer the New Orleans heat can be pretty brutal.

 

[REWahoo]

It's 76 here with a forecast high of 87, which will break the record for the date.

 

[W2R]

It's 76 here with a forecast high of 87, which will break the record for the date.

I'm envious! What terrific weather for mid February.

 

[MRG]

I guess it didn't! Wow! That's a lot of snow. Take care, don't overdo, and I hope it melts off soon.

It's already 70F here, which was yesterday's high. I love our warm weather in the winter, although in the summer the New Orleans heat can be pretty brutal.

I might like some warmth for a couple days...

DirecTV kept going out, not from the snow on the dish, it was the 40 inches of snow on the roof. Had to get a roof rake and knock it down some. I'm not supposed to work overhead like that and I do know why.

 

[Walt34]

Things got a bit windy yesterday afternoon, all night, and into today. We lost power for about 12 hours and after two hours of that I hooked up the Honda EX4500 generator. That's enough to power the gas furnace motor, refrigerator, freezer, computer and a few lights so at least we had heat (overnight low 28° F) so that was important and didn't lose any frozen food. Normal power came on a bit after midnight but then went off again for two to four seconds about every 20 minutes all night and into the mid morning. It was so regular that I'm thinking it was a power company circuit breaker cycling. In the 16 years we've been here that is a record outage since all the power lines in the development are underground.

To top it all off, this morning we found the condensing unit for the central A/C had been blown off the mounting pad! That's a new one, I'd never seen that around here or anyplace I've lived. We pushed it back where it was but I haven't tried using it because it's still in the mid 40's and I'd like to wait unit temperatures are at least in the 70's before running the A/C to see if it still works. Running it when the outside temperatures are too cold can do damage but I don't know what the limit is so I'll wait.

 

[REWahoo]

Wow, Walt. That must have been some serious wind gusts to do that.

 

[W2R]

Wow, Walt. That must have been some serious wind gusts to do that.

I'll say! I have never seen that here, even after hurricanes, although I'm sure it must happen sometimes.

Walt, you might want to have your HVAC guys do the usual recommended annual checkup on it before you try turning it on, this spring. They'd probably find any issues that this may have caused.

I am too [-]cheap[/-] frugal to have these checkups done regularly, as I should, but I think they are only about $100-$120 or so.

 

[Walt34]

Walt, you might want to have your HVAC guys do the usual recommended annual checkup on it before you try turning it on, this spring. They'd probably find any issues that this may have caused.

I was an HVAC tech 47 years ago and while the controls have changed a lot the physics haven't. The two big issues with something like this are broken/leaking freon lines, and pulled wiring. In the early spring I'll test it out; if it works we're good to go. If not, being the mental giant that I am, I'll figure "something broke". Then I'll call the repair guy.


Oh, I'll probably poke around the wiring to see if something obvious pulled out but I realize that virtually all of what I knew about A/C controls stuff is now obsolete, and I don't have the (very expensive) tools, let alone certifications, to go into the sealed system.

 

[ivinsfan]

I was an HVAC tech 47 years ago and while the controls have changed a lot the physics haven't. The two big issues with something like this are broken/leaking freon lines, and pulled wiring. In the early spring I'll test it out; if it works we're good to go. If not, being the mental giant that I am, I'll figure "something broke". Then I'll call the repair guy.


Oh, I'll probably poke around the wiring to see if something obvious pulled out but I realize that virtually all of what I knew about A/C controls stuff is now obsolete, and I don't have the (very expensive) tools, let alone certifications, to go into the sealed system.

If it's broken wouldn't this be covered by your homeowner's insurance? Are you going to report it and open a claim "just in case"?

 

[Walt34]

If it's broken wouldn't this be covered by your homeowner's insurance? Are you going to report it and open a claim "just in case"?

Thank you, I hadn't even thought of that!

I've never filed a claim on a homeowner's insurance policy, but never had any storm damage to speak of either. If we do need a new condensing unit I'm pretty sure it'll be more than the $1,500 deductible on the policy.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and ask if they need copies of the photos.

 

[aja8888]

Thank you, I hadn't even thought of that!

I've never filed a claim on a homeowner's insurance policy, but never had any storm damage to speak of either. If we do need a new condensing unit I'm pretty sure it'll be more than the $1,500 deductible on the policy.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and ask if they need copies of the photos.

You may want to consider installing a few 90 degree metal brackets along the base that are lagged into the concrete pad and screwed to the condenser housing to hold it to the pad.

 

[Walt34]

You may want to consider installing a few 90 degree metal brackets along the base that are lagged into the concrete pad and screwed to the condenser housing to hold it to the pad.

It would be a bigger job than that I think. It's a plastic pad and while I didn't watch them installing it I don't think there is anything holding it in place besides the weight of the condensing unit. I didn't see any indication of anything going into the ground from the pad.

Here's a tight crop of one of the images I posted:

 

[samclem]

I've never filed a claim on a homeowner's insurance policy, but never had any storm damage to speak of either. If we do need a new condensing unit I'm pretty sure it'll be more than the $1,500 deductible on the policy.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and ask if they need copies of the photos.

Maybe check to see how much this is likely to cost? I've heard ugly stories of insurance premium increases after filling a claim, and if you'll only be getting a couple hundred after the deductible, maybe just pay it?

 

[Walt34]

Maybe check to see how much this is likely to cost? I've heard ugly stories of insurance premium increases after filling a claim, and if you'll only be getting a couple hundred after the deductible, maybe just pay it?

There is that, although Erie has been very reasonable with us on some car accident claims (DW has been hit three times over the last 20+ years, not her fault) so I don't really see increased premiums for something we have no control over.

But unless there is actual damage to the compressor itself (unlikely) any repairs will almost certainly be under the deductible anyway.

 

[aja8888]

It would be a bigger job than that I think. It's a plastic pad and while I didn't watch them installing it I don't think there is anything holding it in place besides the weight of the condensing unit. I didn't see any indication of anything going into the ground from the pad.

Here's a tight crop of one of the images I posted:

Maybe you can strap it to the house instead? Or sink a post at each corner to box it in?

 

[JoeWras]

Maybe you can strap it to the house instead? Or sink a post at each corner to box it in?

When it is strapped to the house, vibrations are transmitted to the structure. The drone sound can drive you crazy. My parent's home had this and I was not a fan. (Edit: accidental pun.) The pad provides better sound and vibration isolation.