We are now in the fourth day of the heat wave.
Temperatures have been 3F short of the highest I have ever measured on my indoor thermometer (107F).
I am sitting in front of a box fan. Did I mention it is hot? 😉
I played my Linda Ronstadt LPs. The audio equipment does not care whether the ambient temperature is 10C or 40C.
Ed
Temperatures have been 3F short of the highest I have ever measured on my indoor thermometer (107F).
I am sitting in front of a box fan. Did I mention it is hot? 😉
I played my Linda Ronstadt LPs. The audio equipment does not care whether the ambient temperature is 10C or 40C.
Ed
The main effect that I have noticed is the transformer develops mechanical hum at around 10C.
Ed
Ed
I have found a new (non religious) interest in/of "The Four Horsemen" mentioned in "Revelations".
It appears they may be falling into place for 'god knows' what outcome. ( DAM NUCLEAR WEAPONS )
Whew - that’s hot for SF. We’ve had an exceptionally cool (and wet) summer here in the UK. In general UK summer temps are mid 20’s but in the heat wave year before last it hit over 40 at 3:30 pm in my patio at the back. Heat waves here never last more than 3-4 days. I’d hate to have to deal with 40+C for weeks on end like Phoenix.
There was a fantastic cartoon a few months ago. It has the 4 horseman riding along with their names (pestilence, war, famine etc) on the flags they’re carrying. Then a 5th one rides up and joins them. The other 4 turn the #5 and ask ‘who are you?’ ‘Misinformation’ he replies 🤣🤣
Miserable here... 105 at 3k ft of elevation... hot all night... Sierra Nevadas, nor cal.
I live off-grid, so even if I wanted to pick up a cheap window AC unit, it would mean running it off a generator (that kind of consistent heavy load is too much for my 6-cell battery rig, even if it is below the total output of the PV panels).
Been looking at these direct-DC 48v heat pumps... an Australian company started marketing them for off-grid use about 10+ years ago. They're expensive but, now there's generic made-in-china equivalents for $1,200. If only I had $1,200... but here is the nice option, made in USA, real-people customer service and bulletproof warranty. This is the unit I REALLY wanna buy:
https://www.hotspotenergy.com/DC-air-conditioner/
$2.1k for the base package, can add more zones on that pump. The "big house" 4-zone kit from them is 3.5k I believe.
Even on-grid, I think direct-DC for air conditioning makes so much sense... imagine having zero bill for heavy AC use... the pump & fan(s) run when the sun is on the panels, and that's it.
Of course, the system can be switched over to AC so if you're on grid, you have that flexibility. Man, I want one so badly.
Anybody here an electrical engineer? Is it possible to rig-up a typical heat pump to run on direct DC???
I've lived here 6 years but been in and out of the area long before that... I've never seen it above about 95 or 98 at this elevation. And that's during heat-waves, typical highs are more like mid 80s... It makes me sad - I live here because I NEED 65 nights. I can't stand this sweating through the sheets. Disgusting. I don't understand how people live in places like... idk, Guayaquil. Or Bakersfield. Whatever.
Been on Zillow looking at properties at high-elevation in Montana...
I live off-grid, so even if I wanted to pick up a cheap window AC unit, it would mean running it off a generator (that kind of consistent heavy load is too much for my 6-cell battery rig, even if it is below the total output of the PV panels).
Been looking at these direct-DC 48v heat pumps... an Australian company started marketing them for off-grid use about 10+ years ago. They're expensive but, now there's generic made-in-china equivalents for $1,200. If only I had $1,200... but here is the nice option, made in USA, real-people customer service and bulletproof warranty. This is the unit I REALLY wanna buy:
https://www.hotspotenergy.com/DC-air-conditioner/
$2.1k for the base package, can add more zones on that pump. The "big house" 4-zone kit from them is 3.5k I believe.
Even on-grid, I think direct-DC for air conditioning makes so much sense... imagine having zero bill for heavy AC use... the pump & fan(s) run when the sun is on the panels, and that's it.
Of course, the system can be switched over to AC so if you're on grid, you have that flexibility. Man, I want one so badly.
Anybody here an electrical engineer? Is it possible to rig-up a typical heat pump to run on direct DC???
I've lived here 6 years but been in and out of the area long before that... I've never seen it above about 95 or 98 at this elevation. And that's during heat-waves, typical highs are more like mid 80s... It makes me sad - I live here because I NEED 65 nights. I can't stand this sweating through the sheets. Disgusting. I don't understand how people live in places like... idk, Guayaquil. Or Bakersfield. Whatever.
Been on Zillow looking at properties at high-elevation in Montana...
Last edited:
Only thing I can imagineer is a "A/C KIT UNIVERSAL UNDERDASH EVAPORATOR 404-100 HEAT AND COOL 12V WITH ELECTRICAL HARNESS" off Amazon, <$600.
You still have to turn the compressor with a belt. That would be either from your spare utility gas engine, or a DC motor with appropriate pulley. Saves the conversion loss going from mechanical rotation to electrical current and back to mechanical rotation, as would be the case for a normal AC unit driven by a generator.
They dont give you off grid folks much of a price break, for a DC powered window AC unit...
I see they have the so-called "inverter" units, where they actually vary the speed of the compressor, instead of turning it on/off. I assume there's DC somewhere in that "inverter", perhaps like the VFDs for AC motors; roughly
Most of the ones I see are 3-phase output, which sorts rules out a cheap window AC unit. Who knows if you could stack your batteries to equal whatever the "Fixed DC Voltage" is, inside one of these, which would save the inefficiency of DC to DC converting 48V up to whatever it is, maybe 10X.
Its a tough problem, especially considering you need it tonight and by the time you order everything and get it to actually work, maybe the heat wave has passed. That's my situation - dog panting next to me - coolant ordered, coming this Saturday...
In my mind, I would stick with 'mains AC' heat-pumps and use high efficiency true sine inverters that can 'sync' in parallel.
A major cost & investment is obviously to have enough Solar Panel power.
When using Solar Power directly in the bright-sun heat of the day, batteries are actually of secondary importance, BUT
come cold-winter, batteries are of prime importance.
So much comes down to MONEY.
Last edited:
Honestly, that's border line politics.
Would you like to hear a story about how the records were being modified in the 90s to show the past was colder?
No kidding, I was working at JPL, on Seawinds... which was an early instrument to measure the winds over the ocean. I was working on the algorithms and dealt with global data sets from NOAA, NASA and other data repositories all over the World. I noted the discrepancy... and I wasn't the only one...
So, I don't believe the "new normal" because I saw the data being manipulated.
Their story didn't make sense... and I wasn't the only scientist complaining about it.
Last edited:
Well, yes, but the lows in Poulsbo dip to the 50s at night so it balances out.
We were in Bremerton a few years ago when it was well over 100F during the 4th... remember that?
We're a few miles off the Pacific here in Orange Cty so we get a nice marine layer until noon and then a good breeze.
Highs, West of the 405, are under 80. As measured in my atrium.
Even so, we recently spend a boat load of money on two brand new HVAC systems with five zones and variable speed fans. More efficient and much quieter than the not so old 24 year old system. We also put a new roof, one of them "cool" roofs that reflects 20% of sunlight.
So, we've been running the AC for a few hours in the afternoon keeping the house at 76. In the late evenings we open up the windows and let the air flow through again.
From my point of view, if the Bay Area people needed AC we would have much more reasonable regulations in California. As it is, our old AC could no longer be maintained and the cost of electricity, at 43 cents per KwH is astronomical. So we spent about $65K on the house this year.
Oh, btw, I also switched all of my PCs to micro form factors with RAIDs and NAS... all using energy settings.
Not counting the Clarity PHEV and the AC, our monthly power usage is under 800 KwH for three people in a reasonably large home. This includes running the Class A amps about 20 hours per week.
And, I have not yet powered up the big amps since coming back from vacation.
Highs, West of the 405, are under 80. As measured in my atrium.
Even so, we recently spend a boat load of money on two brand new HVAC systems with five zones and variable speed fans. More efficient and much quieter than the not so old 24 year old system. We also put a new roof, one of them "cool" roofs that reflects 20% of sunlight.
So, we've been running the AC for a few hours in the afternoon keeping the house at 76. In the late evenings we open up the windows and let the air flow through again.
From my point of view, if the Bay Area people needed AC we would have much more reasonable regulations in California. As it is, our old AC could no longer be maintained and the cost of electricity, at 43 cents per KwH is astronomical. So we spent about $65K on the house this year.
Oh, btw, I also switched all of my PCs to micro form factors with RAIDs and NAS... all using energy settings.
Not counting the Clarity PHEV and the AC, our monthly power usage is under 800 KwH for three people in a reasonably large home. This includes running the Class A amps about 20 hours per week.
And, I have not yet powered up the big amps since coming back from vacation.
Spoke to family back in South Africa yesterday. Snow in the Cape and Knysna which is on the Cape South Coast at about the same latitude as California is north of the equator was -3 C during the night. In general, the southern hemisphere is cooler than the northern - lot less land mass and plenty of ocean.
The band around c 30 degrees north of the equator has seen temperatures steadily climb over the last 20 or 30 years. There’s a lot of land mass at that latitude, but the killer iao things is the high summer insolation because of the long days. IIRC Jaipur in India is the world’s hottest city. Phoenix can’t be far behind.
The band around c 30 degrees north of the equator has seen temperatures steadily climb over the last 20 or 30 years. There’s a lot of land mass at that latitude, but the killer iao things is the high summer insolation because of the long days. IIRC Jaipur in India is the world’s hottest city. Phoenix can’t be far behind.
Last edited:
That's because back in the 90s, you had to provide a tangible line of reasoning following data - whether truth or fiction. Today, such manipulative lengths are far too much trouble; all you have to do is pull a snowball out of a freezer and say "What global warming? I'm not seeing this here snowball melting! Am I right?"
Define “boat load” - From what I’ve seen those mini split systems are quite reasonable, and being DIY-installable saves $10k+ in installation fees and stacked margins. I’m planning to use them for my build in progress. The back room in the shop is going to get a 1.5 ton, rather than replace window units every 3-5 years like in the old place. I was on the fence between 1 and 1.5 ton, but since it’s only getting hotter every year I ought to get one that I won’t run to death. Going to put in R19 everywhere. I’m probably going with two units to get six zones in the house. And a separate ducted propane furnace. The cost of the house system will still be under the 20 grand I paid to have a single 4 ton dual fuel system installed at the old house. No single point of failure, and won’t need grid power when the grid goes down in the winter. The house is still ”empty”, except all our stuff is packed into it with two window units keeping everything from getting ruined. It’s well enough insulated that these things were cycling through the whole heat wave (compressors not running 24/7).
The roofs were silver/gray from the beginning. I asked the builder which one holds its reflective properties better over time - the “polar white” or the galvalume. The white roof on my old shop turned gray after 12 years.
Attachments
- Status
- Not open for further replies.