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The problem is it's the coldest night in about 30 years. Here in Austin, it's just past midnight, and it's already down to 13°F (-10.5°C). It hasn't been that
by adrianmonk 6y ago
The problem is it's the coldest night in about 30 years.
Here in Austin, it's just past midnight, and it's already down to 13°F (-10.5°C). It hasn't been that cold here since December 23, 1989.
Also, a lot of Texas homes have electric heat (except in the northern part of the state). Winters are relatively short and mild.
Many homes use electric heat pumps as the heating source. They're energy-efficient and easy to install in a home which has AC, so generally a good choice. But they get less and less effective as the outside temperature drops, so a backup electric heating coil kicks in, which uses way more electricity.
- sn9 6y agoAnd with windchill, it's well below 0°F. I've lived in Texas all my life and can't remember the last time that happened.
- Scoundreller 6y ago> And with windchill, it's well below 0°F. You won't feel the windchill inside, but it will amplify the impact of draughty buildings/poor insulation.
- sn9 6y agoYeah it's crazy. The water pressure in my apartment has dropped so much I basically don't have running water. The upstream pipes must be mostly frozen. Luckily I stocked up on soup before all this so I'll last until the freeze breaks.
- enraged_camel 6y agoIt has been snowing like crazy’s I just lost power too. Time for bed. :)
- criddell 6y agoJust about every Texas building has air conditioning which is blasting for those 100 days of summer where it's often above 100 degrees. I'm surprised that a few days of cold is a bigger load than the crazy heat of summer.
- unpolloloco 6y agoI'd think it's the difference between cooling 30F (100->70) vs heating 60F (10->70)
- criddell 6y agoThat makes sense. Edit: Now that the sun is up and shining through our windows, the duty cycle of our (natural gas) furnace has dropped way off. I'm pretty sure our energy usage today will be less than on a 100 degree day.
- xyzzyz 6y agoCooling from 100 degrees to 70 uses much less energy than heating from 10 to 70.