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Texan here. I tried, on Thursday, to buy a space heater; not only was the hardware store out, they told me a list of other places around town that were also ou

Texan here. I tried, on Thursday, to buy a space heater; not only was the hardware store out, they told me a list of other places around town that were also out. Most homes use natural gas for heat, but I think a lot of space heaters are probably turned on right now. I also have to wonder how an everyone-videoconference-from-home society changes electricity usage? Not saying it has a significant impact, just wondering. It is odd for Texas to have peak electricity usage in the winter; especially anywhere other than north Texas, we usually get threatened with rolling blackouts when it's 110 degrees and everyone has their A/C cranked up, not in the middle of the winter.

ddreier 6y ago
Several articles have said that only 40% of homes in Texas use natural gas for heat. https://climatecrocks.com/2021/02/14/the-eyes-of-texas-are-on-ercot/ https://climatecrocks.com/2021/02/14/the-eyes-of-texas-are-o...
- enraged_camel 6y ago
  That actually makes sense since the lower half of the state rarely gets cold enough to warrant a complex heating setup.
- bob1029 6y ago
  I have lived in Texas all my life and this figure surprises me. Every home I have ever lived in or rented has had a gas furnace, even if some of the appliances are electric. I've never even lived north of ATX, so this makes even less sense to me. Why would we be building out all these homes in the Houston area with insanely powerful gas furnaces? The home I am in right now could easily get to 80F+ in this current ambient weather if I let the furnace run constantly. But, my 5 ton AC struggles in the summer to pull 30 degrees of delta. This stuff really staggers me sometimes. As a counterpoint, I also have a friend who lives in the downtown area with new construction (completed late 2019) and its a heat pump/resistive setup. He is on griddy and not having a good time right now. Perhaps its some economics thing with home builders and supply chains, rather than rational application of engineering talent.
Krisjohn 6y ago
> I also have to wonder how an everyone-videoconference-from-home society changes electricity usage? Not saying it has a significant impact, just wondering. Well, anecdotally, my office is the only room that doesn't need heating.
- mdip 6y ago
  Yup, year-round I have a window open in that room. It's 10 outside, today, but a balmy 77 in my office.
  - o-__-o 6y ago
    I powered on all of my servers tonight and opened the window. I’m probably part of the problem
jjeaff 6y ago
I'm thinking it must take quite a bit more energy to heat all those big sprawling Texas homes to a comfortable temp during the day than the relative efficiency you can get for heating a building full of tightly packed offices. But this would be more of an issue with cooling since it is hotter mid-day. Whereas with cold, it gets colder at night, and most people are at home at night anyway.
- TylerE 6y ago
  OTOH, the homes are probably gonna be heated somewhat anyway, even if no one as homes, and if the offices are shutdown, it's probably a net win.
deniablenexus 6y ago
> I also have to wonder how an everyone-videoconference-from-home society changes electricity usage? Not saying it has a significant impact, just wondering I work in the industry in TX and we've seen noticeable changes in both usage patterns and amounts. Most notable in the early morning hours as people are waking up and getting ready to work. A whole lot more people are waking up, checking emails, and keeping lights on at home rather then driving to the office.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
tgsovlerkhgsel 6y ago
If you have anything else that can use a significant amount of power (e.g. electric stove/hotplate, kettle, gaming rig, bitcoin miner), it's just as efficient as a space heater. This also means that if your alternative is running a resistive heater, there's no meaningful extra cost to e.g. mining cryptocurrencies with your GPU (assuming you have decent cooling so your components don't get damaged from overheating).
- foxhop 6y ago
  Thats a terrible idea. Get traditional light bulbs and warm your body and a small room.
  - fastball 6y ago
    Why is that a terrible idea?
foxhop 6y ago
Get incandescent light bulbs and heat a small room. I use a 200 watt bulb to keep me toasty at my desk in Connecticut Zone 6B

ddreier 6y ago

Several articles have said that only 40% of homes in Texas use natural gas for heat. https://climatecrocks.com/2021/02/14/the-eyes-of-texas-are-on-ercot/ https://climatecrocks.com/2021/02/14/the-eyes-of-texas-are-o...

enraged_camel 6y ago
That actually makes sense since the lower half of the state rarely gets cold enough to warrant a complex heating setup.
bob1029 6y ago
I have lived in Texas all my life and this figure surprises me. Every home I have ever lived in or rented has had a gas furnace, even if some of the appliances are electric. I've never even lived north of ATX, so this makes even less sense to me. Why would we be building out all these homes in the Houston area with insanely powerful gas furnaces? The home I am in right now could easily get to 80F+ in this current ambient weather if I let the furnace run constantly. But, my 5 ton AC struggles in the summer to pull 30 degrees of delta. This stuff really staggers me sometimes. As a counterpoint, I also have a friend who lives in the downtown area with new construction (completed late 2019) and its a heat pump/resistive setup. He is on griddy and not having a good time right now. Perhaps its some economics thing with home builders and supply chains, rather than rational application of engineering talent.

Krisjohn 6y ago

> I also have to wonder how an everyone-videoconference-from-home society changes electricity usage? Not saying it has a significant impact, just wondering. Well, anecdotally, my office is the only room that doesn't need heating.

mdip 6y ago
Yup, year-round I have a window open in that room. It's 10 outside, today, but a balmy 77 in my office.
- o-__-o 6y ago
  I powered on all of my servers tonight and opened the window. I’m probably part of the problem

jjeaff 6y ago

I'm thinking it must take quite a bit more energy to heat all those big sprawling Texas homes to a comfortable temp during the day than the relative efficiency you can get for heating a building full of tightly packed offices. But this would be more of an issue with cooling since it is hotter mid-day. Whereas with cold, it gets colder at night, and most people are at home at night anyway.

TylerE 6y ago
OTOH, the homes are probably gonna be heated somewhat anyway, even if no one as homes, and if the offices are shutdown, it's probably a net win.

deniablenexus 6y ago

> I also have to wonder how an everyone-videoconference-from-home society changes electricity usage? Not saying it has a significant impact, just wondering I work in the industry in TX and we've seen noticeable changes in both usage patterns and amounts. Most notable in the early morning hours as people are waking up and getting ready to work. A whole lot more people are waking up, checking emails, and keeping lights on at home rather then driving to the office.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

tgsovlerkhgsel 6y ago

If you have anything else that can use a significant amount of power (e.g. electric stove/hotplate, kettle, gaming rig, bitcoin miner), it's just as efficient as a space heater. This also means that if your alternative is running a resistive heater, there's no meaningful extra cost to e.g. mining cryptocurrencies with your GPU (assuming you have decent cooling so your components don't get damaged from overheating).

foxhop 6y ago
Thats a terrible idea. Get traditional light bulbs and warm your body and a small room.
- fastball 6y ago
  Why is that a terrible idea?

foxhop 6y ago

Get incandescent light bulbs and heat a small room. I use a 200 watt bulb to keep me toasty at my desk in Connecticut Zone 6B