How did your solar fare during the January '24 freeze?

[rodrick]

Another good heat source is a pellet stove on low it uses only 75 watts and a 40 lb bag of pellets will run about 24 hours a option for those that don’t have wood or ng

 

[DIYrich]

We looked at those too, and decided against it. At least for now. There's no good place to install one with the layout of the house. It grieves me a little because we have 45 acres or so of mostly red oak.

 

[JRH]

Uhhh,,I dint know it was over…Simply put, ( it’s Friday morn ) we have a Foot of snow and ice now …..it’s about 12 F and sleeting this morn and going back to about Zero F till Monday…mostly cloudy ………

On the upside I did get a lot of practice scraping ice from the panels in 30 mph winds…They say that builds charactor…..!

BS…..I say it freezes yer ass off.

J.

 

[Mattb4]

After a couple of days of warming with above freezing the frigid air is back for a weekend stay in my area. Back to having to supplement the wood stove with grid supplied electric heat since the exterior wall my batteries are against gets too cold. Using one of those point and shoot thermometers I measured the temperature at 35F at base of wall just a few minutes ago. The outdoor temperature has dropped overnight to 14F and is continuing to drop. And "Oh joy" freezing rain forecast for Monday. At least I start this next round of weather with fully charged batteries thanks to the last 2 days.

Cabin fever time. When your face freezes if you go outside it really puts a damper on things.

 

[timselectric]

All panels were clear of snow, yesterday. (Mother Nature)
But covered by snow again, this morning.
20 degrees warmer, today. But the cold is returning, tonight.
I will attempt to clear the panels as best I can, this time. Because we're getting a weekend of sunshine hopefully. ?

 

[EastTexCowboy]

I've looked at those as well, along with the wood fired boilers. I don't think that's a route we want to go but I've thought about buying one and sticking it back. The biggest complaint I've seen in reviews is the volume of wood required, but maybe they have improved the efficiency. I may take another look. Typically we don't get that much below freezing days but these last 3 years have been atypical for sure.

 

[Hogheavenfarm]

Our house is already "tri-fuel", wood, electric, and oil, but I am adding a pellet stove which will be installed right next to the wood stove for those blizzardy days when I don't want to or can't get to the wood pile due to snow. I can run the pellet stove on solar and a dozen bags of pellets will hold me over until the snow can be cleared. Even then, going out to take care of animals and chickens has to be done, as well as clearing off the panels. No break in this weather until Monday night for us, snowing now and warmed up into the 20's, but back to 12 tonite I hear.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

Uhhh,,I dint know it was over…Simply put, ( it’s Friday morn ) we have a Foot of snow and ice now …..it’s about 12 F and sleeting this morn and going back to about Zero F till Monday…mostly cloudy ………

On the upside I did get a lot of practice scraping ice from the panels in 30 mph winds…They say that builds charactor…..!

BS…..I say it freezes yer ass off.

J.

We're getting another round this weekend as well but nothing as bad as yours. Mid 20s at night. For a lot of the country it's been pretty brutal. I wish I could take 10 degrees off last August and slap it onto this January.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

Our house is already "tri-fuel", wood, electric, and oil, but I am adding a pellet stove which will be installed right next to the wood stove for those blizzardy days when I don't want to or can't get to the wood pile due to snow. I can run the pellet stove on solar and a dozen bags of pellets will hold me over until the snow can be cleared. Even then, going out to take care of animals and chickens has to be done, as well as clearing off the panels. No break in this weather until Monday night for us, snowing now and warmed up into the 20's, but back to 12 tonite I hear.

I hear ya on taking care of the animals. That's one area I just won't compromise. My daughter is in northern Arkansas and runs cattle. They have been miserable. Tractors wouldn't start or died after a few minutes running. Side by side wouldn't start. pipes burst that never have before. But you still gotta get feed to the animals and break ice. They had five calves born in this mess. I lectured her again on bull management. ? Hope you get a break soon!

 

[Q-Dog]

We're getting another round this weekend as well but nothing as bad as yours. Mid 20s at night. For a lot of the country it's been pretty brutal. I wish I could take 10 degrees off last August and slap it onto this January.

Same here. The main problem is many of the houses around here are built on piers and most do not have insulated floors. I added some insulation under our house, but I didn't finish before my recent back problems stopped me. And the floors can get really cold when it is below freezing outside.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

Same here. The main problem is many of the houses around here are built on piers and most do not have insulated floors. I added some insulation under our house, but I didn't finish before my recent back problems stopped me. And the floors can get really cold when it is below freezing outside.

Those piers do great for storm surge but yeah, they're cold in winter. I have several friends on Trinity Bay. Talked to one before the freeze and she was planning on just shutting off the water and draining pipes.

 

[Mattb4]

Another advantage of the wood stove is you can cook your meals on it. I just got done cutting all the vegges and adding beef to a large pot for soup that will cook all day on the stove. This will be my dinner the next few days and no electricity is needed.

 

[labeeman]

Same here. The main problem is many of the houses around here are built on piers and most do not have insulated floors. I added some insulation under our house, but I didn't finish before my recent back problems stopped me. And the floors can get really cold when it is below freezing outside.

I have one of those houses also two years ago I put skirting all around the house the temp under the house only dropped to 35° with the outside temp at 18° I am in the South Lousiana Lafayette area.

 

[labeeman]

Those piers do great for storm surge but yeah, they're cold in winter. I have several friends on Trinity Bay. Talked to one before the freeze and she was planning on just shutting off the water and draining pipes.

My grandparents lived on the Trinity Bay.

 

[labeeman]

My system did ok for the freeze batteries dropped to 45 KWH took two days of sun to recharge to 95 KWH

 

[Q-Dog]

I have one of those houses also two years ago I put skirting all around the house I am in South the temp under the house only dropped to 35° with the outside temp at 18° I am in the South Lousiana Lafayette area.

I am a 2 or 3 miles north of you, just barely across the parish line. I cover the north side to keep the wind out. It helps a bit ... but still have cold floors.

 

[HalfBaked]

My loads fall to a minimum outside of summer cooling. This year I'm using a propane heater. Next year will be wood heat.

This is the first winter with my new system. I knew my SCC is over panelled to the point when it's 4⁰f outside the VOC will be over 150v. A couple mornings ago, I thought I might need to disconnect an array. It was 4⁰ as the sun was coming up. I watched the array voltage climb to 145v @ 7⁰. I trusted my calculations and lived through it, but that was scary close.

Edit to mention I haven't had to run the generator since September, loving it!

 

[labeeman]

I am a 2 or 3 miles north of you, just barely across the parish line. I cover the north side to keep the wind out. It helps a bit ... but still have cold floors.

I cover all around and it has helped a lot in not having to drain the pipes as they never freeze now. You may be closer to me than that as I am only a mile from the parish line.

 

[JBoffgrid2022]

For me, the most important lesson was this. Without a separate heating source, and if you're in a climate where temps drop below freezing for multiple days, you are not going to be able to sustain the same level of comfort with solar alone. I mean you can, but the cost of panels and batteries and the associated support for those is going to be hard to justify for simply covering needs for a few days a year. If you're in a cold climate you probably already have a different heat source. If you're in a more temperate climate you may want to consider one. This should be especially important to newbies, reinforcing that you should be realistic in expectations and plan accordingly. Even with lowered thermostats and other reductions in use you may run out of battery fairly quickly. Of course, there are many factors and my example is likely not typical so there's that. Heating a 1200 sq ft home with good insulation, high effieciency heat pumps, and proper management would be much more doable.

What is the efficiency lost for btu output on lower temps when using a heat pump? I was always told here in Maine that although a heat pump can provide heat, it is not recommend as a primary source of heat simply because the technology lacks the ability to be efficient sources of heat due to low ambient outdoor temps. We've always used wood stoves, pellet stoves, etc because they produce so many BTU's for the money. My wood stove is rated close to 40,000 BTU's and it heats up our entire house to 80 degrees with only $20 worth of wood!

Also, if I'm not mistaken, Texas electricity costs are at $0.14/kWh. Does that mean it would cost you 180kWh x $0.14 = $25.20?
That's not terrible honestly, considering the costs of switching your heating source over as well as any offset you're getting from the solar.

F 500 V3 Oslo | Wood stoves - Traditional

F 500 V3 Oslo - Wood stoves. Tax Credit Approved

www.jotul.com

 

[labeeman]

What is the efficiency lost for btu output on lower temps when using a heat pump? I was always told here in Maine that although a heat pump can provide heat, it is not recommend as a primary source of heat simply because the technology lacks the ability to be efficient sources of heat due to low ambient outdoor temps. We've always used wood stoves, pellet stoves, etc because they produce so many BTU's for the money. My wood stove is rated close to 40,000 BTU's and it heats up our entire house to 80 degrees with only $20 worth of wood!

Also, if I'm not mistaken, Texas electricity costs are at $0.14/kWh. Does that mean it would cost you 180kWh x $0.14 = $25.20?
That's not terrible honestly, considering the costs of switching your heating source over as well as any offset you're getting from the solar.

F 500 V3 Oslo | Wood stoves - Traditional

F 500 V3 Oslo - Wood stoves. Tax Credit Approved

www.jotul.com

An air-to-air heat pump in your area is not recommended due to the low COP (less than 1) at the low temps you get however a water-to-air heat pump COP can be as much as 3 or more.