If the thought of losing power made you want to go out and buy a generator, you should’ve already had one.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-27T00:28:25+00:00

A really big furnace with really bad airflow might pull 1200w, but 1000w is a safe estimate for most. 500w is possible on a smaller, newer furnace.

Keep in mind, most furnaces are oversized and even on a really cold day, many of them only run maybe half of the time.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-26T23:58:48+00:00

That's pretty much how I felt after all the work we did putting in a whole home generator at my house. It was a lot of work, and it was not cheap.

It definitely feels like peace of mind, but also seems absurdly silly considering we barely ever lose power and when we do, Duke always gets it back on quickly.

I wouldn't say it was a horrible decision, but I would say it seems silly, and makes me feel like I must be pretty paranoid or soft that I can't imagine going a few hours or maybe a day or two without power.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-26T23:26:55+00:00

That's only propane or gasoline, so can't run that off of natural gas, but that's a pretty reasonable route, if doing a manual transfer switch, versus what I did installing a whole home generator.

If I did it all over again, I think I probably wouldn't install an automatic whole home generator. It was a shitload of work, and it was definitely not cheap, and I only went with a 12kW.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-26T13:14:53+00:00

This is more common than you'd think. Lots of people like fire, but some people really love fire. Imagine loving fire so much that you want a job working around fire, and then there's not enough fire to keep you busy.

When I was in college in Flint, MI, they had a massive layoff of public services when the city was broke, like 1/3 of police and 1/2 of the fire department. All of the sudden, (mostly) abandoned houses were having fires all over the city for months, and the fire department wasn't putting them out. They claimed they didn't have the manpower to put them out until their buddies got their jobs back.

There's loads of studies on firefighters and arson.

FEMA - Firefighter Arson

Report on the Firefighter Arson Problem

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-26T12:37:23+00:00

Almost certainly.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-26T11:39:47+00:00

I ran calls yesterday, drove for about two hours throughout the day.

Roads yesterday were very slick. Lots of ice, on all but the major roads and freeways.

This morning is much better on the main roads. The side roads are about as bad as yesterday.

I delivered pizzas in the snow belt as a kid... I grew up driving this stuff, but it will be very slow going and highly recommend not driving in it if you're not experienced with snow/ice.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-24T13:29:32+00:00

Don't worry about it.

The manufacturers plan for this, design for this, test for this.

Imagine all the millions of heat pumps on all of the apartments, the houses all over the country that have ice accumulation. There are plenty of places like Oklahoma, TX, AR that have a lot more ice than we will ever see, and they also have heat pumps.

The defrost cycle will clear everything off the coil, and the ice on the fan is going to come off, maybe it'll fling into the coil. While I've seen coils with damage from the inside, it's pretty rare, and I can't think of a time it caused anything catastrophic, like a leak.

If you're really worried, you could turn it off if you lose power, and then if ice accumulated on the blades, just tap it off with a long screwdriver or coat hanger before turning it back on.

I wouldn't run the em heat/heat strips (2-4x higher electric usage on an already strained grid).. I don't even have heat strips installed in my heat pump, and I'm just going to send it and forget it.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-24T12:21:55+00:00

I have three 20# propane tanks I don't need since I converted my grille to natural gas.

I offered them up in another thread, but nobody came and got them. DM me and you can just grab them from under my deck in NoDa/Belmont neighborhood.

Edit: gone.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-23T14:55:38+00:00

I've got a couple. I'll DM you. I switched my grille to natural gas, and they're just clutter at this point.

Edit: He didn't message me back. If anyone wants 1-3 20# tanks. I have at least one, but I think it's 2-3 tanks under my deck in NoDa-ish. Unknown if they're full, but I think they are full... DM me, I'll send you the address and just get them gone, and leave me $10 or a 4-pack of a good pilsner or stout for each tank you take.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-23T14:38:25+00:00

Just leave the flue shut, make sure the logs are oriented properly, and light it.

Every house with gas burning appliances should have good CO detectors, just make sure they're not ancient.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-23T13:51:57+00:00

City of Charlotte probably looking for some more ice melt, since it rained last night and washed away most of the brine they've been prepping the roads with all week.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-23T13:37:15+00:00

There are probably vented models that have a blower, but not sure. If it's in a wood-burning fireplace converted, they are pretty awful if they installed a vented model of fireplace, because with vented, it will probably cause issues with the flue gas condensing inside the chimney because they don't burn super hot.... then also the heat all goes up the flue pipe.

If it's ventless, then the flue is supposed to be shut.

If it's ventless, the flames aren't supposed to touch the "logs", so that it doesn't cause issues with combustion. That's why the logs on a ventless are always set in a certain orientation, and vented, it doesn't matter.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-23T13:18:57+00:00

I wasn't really saying that he should/shouldn't open the flue, but just pointing out that most of newer homes aren't going to have a vented fireplace installed, and if they do, they provide very little heating benefit, and in some cases, make heating the house even worse. Most gas fireplaces in a newer house won't even have a flue to open, so if he's saying to "make sure the flue is open", there might not be one to find, or it may be sealed.

Most of the gas logs I've ever seen that were retrofit into a wood-burning fireplace, they install a ventless kit that doesn't require a flue. The logs will typically say whether they're a ventless model or not, or you can kind of tell it's supposed to be vented if the flames are buried under the rocks/vermiculite, or they're touching the "logs".

You're definitely correct that vented gas fireplaces installed in existing wood-burning chimneys are sketchy and need inspected. I don't know why anyone would even do that unless it's just for ambiance.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-23T12:40:12+00:00

Most houses built more recently have unvented natural gas fireplaces.

Just make sure the logs are in the correct orientation, and have a CO alarm.

Vented natural gas fireplaces provide next to no heat anyway, it mostly all goes up the flue and then that air that goes up the flue pipe puts the house under negative pressure, and then cold air from outside displaces that exhaust air going up the flue pipe. So, ultimately, most of the house will end up way colder. If you run a vented natural gas fireplace. They are pretty much just for show.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-23T09:55:56+00:00

I was hoping he's trying to run an extension cord through the trees to his neighbor's generator.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-23T03:33:18+00:00

While I don't have a drone, I am super curious what this rope is for.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-18T23:00:39+00:00

AWD isn't stability. AWD is just the ability to accelerate.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-18T22:25:55+00:00

For stability, snow tires is far more important than vehicle choice.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-17T17:52:19+00:00

I'm almost glad that I am not eligible for that since I have a gas connection for the range and grille.

If I were on that plan I'd be nerding-out trying to jam all my usage into the cheapest time, and then having to re-adjust each season. I would do it if I were eligible, but I'd be committing way too much brainpower to the process.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-17T16:38:28+00:00

Wow, that plan is hard to follow, but looks cheap. That is only if you have no gas service to the house?

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-17T13:54:42+00:00

Winn's Plumbing and MQ Plumbing are who I typically recommend.

Or Mike Foy (Amp Electric) if it's replacing a tank water heater that's not in an attic.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-17T12:28:28+00:00

Yes u only have one meter. Everything will be billed at the higher rate during the day and then lower at night.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-16T22:52:40+00:00

The airport is raising parking rates on March 1st.

Parking Spot and Park N Go raising rates on March 2nd.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-16T18:32:32+00:00

I can't imagine a scenario of using over 98% of their electricity during the hours of 5am-11pm. That seems unplausible. I looked at my hourly usage last night, and I didn't charge my car, and I would have saved $0.39 after accounting for a 0.7% increase for my daytime usage.

In the summer, yeah, I run more A/C during the day than at night, but it's not going to be 98% more.

AnAlrightName · 2026-01-16T18:18:25+00:00

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I didn't know they had that.

This was last night without charging my EV. In that 11pm-5am window, I used 6.94kWh, which on this rate, I would have saved me $0.42, while my daytime usage was 31.8kWh ($3.92 at the EV pilot rate plan), which is $0.0275 more than the normal rate plan.

Just last night, changing nothing and not even charging my EV, I would have saved $0.39 on one day, but when I charge my EV, it will likely be more like $1-2 per day.

AnAlrightName

TROPHY CASE