[crash]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

In The Villages, I am happy to have an all electric house with a heat pump. If the power goes out for an extended period, I will get in the car and drive to the nearest hotel with power.

So will everyone else so good luck getting a room.

[Kgcetm]

Some developers can’t extort $ they demand from the gas company but can from the electric company. Take a look at The Villages built south of 466A. All electric. Residents lose because the developer couldn’t squeeze more from the gas company.

[M2inOR]

Originally Posted by jabacon6669

This is not true. I have a Fujitsu heat pump, and it makes heat down to -15 below zero. There are no heat strips. Those units in my house in Maine blow hot air, that I can attest to down to -5 degrees below zero. Haven't seen it colder than that. Mitsubishi will make heat down to -5 degrees below zero. I have a mini split system with three heads that operate off of 1 36k condenser, ones a 18k head that heats and cools our all glass 12' x 30' Florida room. One is a 12k that does the same for a 16' x 25' family room, and the third is a 6k which does a back hall and lav. This is now my primary heat. My propane run FHW baseboard with 4 zones has now become our back up.

Centigrade or Fahrenheit?

Here is a better explanation of the efficiency of heat pumps you mentioned.

At What Temperature Is a Heat Pump NOT effective?

[Kgcetm]

Houston Texas streets were iced an their airports closed. One size doesn’t fit all of Mother Natures disasters.

[davephan]

We have EM electric heat on one of our two heat pumps. We also have many radiator type space heaters we brought from Minnesota. We had the space heaters just in case our furnace quit working. I bought those space heaters after two years in a row, where I had to call the much more expensive emergency service to repair the furnace. With the space heaters, I could limp by and have the regular furnace service.

We already signed up to have a whole natural gas automatic start up electric generator installed. There’s a huge backlog for installations, and it won’t be installed till around May.

But there are water pipes in the attic, which concern me if an Arctic Blast ever hits Florida. Maybe I should try to have a way to drain the pipes installed before an Arctic Blast hit Florida, if that ever happens. The lawn and shrub irrigation system has no connection for an air compressor to blow out the water. Maybe I should install a blow out connection and buy an air compressor, just in case I ever need to blow out the sprinkler system.

It might not be a bad idea to do things to prepare for an Arctic Blast in Florida, if that ever happens in the future. The people in Texas probably wish they would have prepared better.

Keeping many cases of bottled water is an easy way to start preparing for emergencies. The generator is the next east step. Having a way to drain and blow out your water pipes would be a smart thing to do, before the crisis begins, if the crisis ever happens in Florida.

[rmd2]

Originally Posted by crash

So will everyone else so good luck getting a room.

A big outage in Maryland forced me to go to a hotel and the closest room I could get was 50 miles away in another state.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by jabacon6669

The best insurance against power outages, which can happen anywhere, for many reasons, is a whole house generator. Propane or Natural gas is the best. Switches on automatically when the power goes out. Ours is propane operated Genrac. Which I can monitor from the villages all winter. It runs every Wednesday at 2pm for 5 minutes as an exercise. Best investment we or anyone could make.

Amen, it does no good to have gas without electricity to run the blower. Wood backup is the only other alternative to a propane powered generator system. I too had a heat pump up north for 19 years and never had a problem with it and that was in the early years when they just started to install them.

[Alana33]

My friends in Austin with 2 cats and 2 parrots and themselves to try to keep warm, finally had power restored after 86 hours in freezing temps.
It's been quite the ordeal for them. They're definitely stressed, fatigued and upset at the cascade of failures with their electrical grid, lack of planning and redundancy failures with the water system.
Hopefully, they'll continue to have power kept on even if it's only on a rotation system.
After living in the Virgin Islands all my life, before moving to FL, I've always had a whole house generator.
When we get blasted with Cat 4 and 5 hurricanes, it's not unusual for our electrical grid to be down for 3 - 4 months, sometimes.
But we're not in freezing temps and snow.
The home I purchased here has electric heat plus a fireplace which I've never used, (I'd have to find a YouTube video on how to properly use it) a huge stack of chopped wood behind the fenced in area at the back of the .50 acre property. After hearing about my friends ordeal in freezing temps, I looked at it with new appreciation.
I may never have to use it but it's there.
After Irma blew thru up here in 2017,
I purchased a whole house propane generator for this home. 10 days without power up here is totally different than being without power in the VI as most homes and businesses are equipped with generators, there.
I truly can't imagine dealing with all they and other affected Texans have had to endure in freezing conditions. Hope they get help and things back to some sort of normalcy, soon without too big a cost of life.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by rmd2

A big outage in Maryland forced me to go to a hotel and the closest room I could get was 50 miles away in another state.

That doesn't seem very far to go.

[Dlbonivich]

Actually in Texas that is not true. As is Florida Texas is flat, the utilize electric fans to push gas through the lines to your home. Once gas is no longer in the lines if there is no electric there is no gas. Lived in TexS for Hurricane Ike. No electric for 15 days. People died from heat. Neighbors had the fancy generac and it stopped working on day 2

[Alaska Butch]

Well first off heat pump technology has greatly improved. Next, gas still need electricity to move and run your electronics in your gas heater. I know you talked about a generator but what of when the cost becomes insane which it will. If your serious you need a wood stove. Take it from a 44 year Alaskan that has had back up for as many years.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

In The Villages, I am happy to have an all electric house with a heat pump. If the power goes out for an extended period, I will get in the car and drive to the nearest hotel with power.

But while you’re checked into the hotel that still has power and heat, what’s happening to your home, when the pipes are freezing and breaking?

That seems like a solution if you’re just renting a vacation home on a very temporary basis. In that case, you don’t own the home, and someone else has to clean up the mess and pay for the damage.

If you own your home, drained or blew out your pipes, in the attic and under the lawn, then maybe then maybe staying at a hotel that has electricity, heat, and water, is a viable solution.

[OhioBuckeye]

Originally Posted by amexsbow

As I have lived in the South since 1946, I have seen a lot of extremes in the weather. The one thing it has taught me is NEVER OWN A HOME WITH A HEAT PUMP.
The recent debacle in TEXAS should make everyone sit up and take notice.
The heat pump is not efficient below 40 degrees.
During extreme cold, below 25 degrees an electric heat strip takes over to provide heat.

A home with natural gas will have hot water, a stove that works, a gas fireplace that works and the ability to have an emergency generator to provide electricity during extreme cold or during electrical outages.

I can be a witness to what you said. We live in Argyle, TX. Of all things why would builder put a Tankless Water Heater outside ours is & ours froze & bursted this week & water got inside one room in the house. Now we’re on a waiting list to get it fixed & no water anywhere in the house.listen to Amexsbox about Heat Pumps. We lived in TV for 8 yrs. Oh yea, some people had TWH in their garages & they bursted in there too. Texas right now is a real mess right now!

[Lottoguy]

That nearest hotel might be in the next state. Many will also be thinking the same thing.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by OhioBuckeye

I can be a witness to what you said. We live in Argyle, TX. Of all things why would builder put a Tankless Water Heater outside ours is & ours froze & bursted this week & water got inside one room in the house. Now we’re on a waiting list to get it fixed & no water anywhere in the house.listen to Amexsbox about Heat Pumps. We lived in TV for 8 yrs. Oh yea, some people had TWH in their garages & they bursted in there too. Texas right now is a real mess right now!

Are you thinking about getting a natural gas or propane whole house generator for your home now?

Did you have a supply of about 12 to 20 cases of drinking water? I only have 5 cases of drinking water in my home. Maybe I should buy another dozen cases of drinking water to help prepare for emergencies. If you wait for the crisis to already happen, then the store shelf’s will be empty! They make collapsible water storage containers that could be filled with water while you still have water, for non-drinking water use.

Maybe after you have your pipes replaced, you could have a way to drain or blow out the pipes. To protect the water pipes in the attic or under the lawn, you’d need a way to remove the water before it freezes. Several space heaters would keep the inside of your home warm enough so that it doesn’t get close to freezing inside the house. Maybe that instant water heater could have a drain on it.

One thing I thought about the Texas Arctic Blast disaster is turning off your water main valve, before that valve freezes and the valve can’t be turned!

After going through that disaster, are you going to make changes to your home, so you can respond better to that situation, in case that type of disaster ever re-occurs in your lifetime?

The Texas Arctic Blast disaster certainly started me thinking what things I could do to prepare to respond to that type of disaster, in advance, in case it ever happens in Florida. Like preparing for hurricanes, you can’t wait till the last minute to start responding to the disaster.