I’m a Texas native and I feel one easy change here is simple and cheap. We should popularize the concept of utilizing residential transfer switches and portable generators for emergency backup. It goes along with our go-it-alone philosophy that ultimately the property owner should be responsible for ensuring power when it’s needed. Also, it’s such a super rare weather event (historically) that would ever cause that type of issue again. It also solves for all the minor power losses we have due to old infrastructure, branches falling on overhead cables, etc.

It’s really cheap. Ive done it for a grand total of $2000 most of which was to get a real beefy generator so I could just power my whole house instead of only a few circuits. Most people think an installed appliance like Generac or some battery/solar option are the only options, and those often run $15-20k and up. We don’t always need instant switchover, but if it doesn’t come back on in a couple hours I pull out the generator.

Apartments and other MF properties will need to approach it differently, but I don’t think it’s possible and reasonable to just let the property owners take ultimate responsibility. After all, most my outages aren’t grid failures they’re some localized wire/transformer issue that is unavoidable.

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quickthrowman 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

> It’s really cheap. Ive done it for a grand total of $2000 most of which was to get a real beefy generator so I could just power my whole house instead of only a few circuits.

Are you talking about something like a 7.2kW portable with a 60A manual transfer switch? I could see that costing around $2000, which is substantially cheaper than a Generac. I found a portable Kohler with 7.2kW for ~$1500.

Instead of a transfer switch, you could shut off the main circuit breaker or pull the meter and backfeed the panel through a 60A 2P breaker, that would save some dollars.

Just make sure that you disconnect from utility power before backfeeding and be absolutely certain to disconnect the generator before switching back to utility power, you don’t want to find out what happens when a generator isn’t in sync with the utility frequency :) Rapid unintentional disassembly, lol.

	▲	conductr 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		I might not be using the correct term, I had an electrician install it, but I just flip a switch and it cuts off the grid including back feed then the power in is through what I think is commonly called an RV panel allowing for generator connection. Do agree on operation and order of things, I have it written in the boxes. My generator is the biggest one harbor freight sells. Might not be that beefy but I also don’t need much electricity during these events. I wouldn’t run laundry or my central AC but it’s enough to keep my pool pump running (we don’t winterize here, run nonstop during freezes as they are short enough the pool water never drops enough). Also, this model runs of natural gas which is a big plus for me so I don’t have to keep up with fuel. Keeping fridge running and furnace running is my highest priority but since all my lights are LED I don’t have to think about them. I’m giving the harbor freight one a shot first, my hope is that it last a long time since I’m putting little time on it. If longevity is ab issue I’d probably spring for a kohler or Honda next time. I may add a soft start kit to hvac as last summer we had some outages long enough to be uncomfortable, twice cost us our fridge contents which is expensive and annoying. But primarily, winter protection is highest priority for me as the risk is highest

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e40 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I agree, but I read that a lot of the people who had terrible problems that winter a few years ago, many were low-income residents of TX. I think $2,000 for a generator is a nonstarter for them.

	▲	conductr 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Everyone had problems that winter. It was pretty universally felt. How you recover from it is where your economic status changes your experience. If you are under insured or can’t come up with your insurance deductible you’re pretty screwed but we can’t solve all the worlds problems with this alone. So my general albeit cold sounding response is “Doesn’t matter.” We should have the expectation that it’s owner responsibility first. After that, we can devise subsidies and such to ensure everyone can retrofit their house. There’s a ton of levers to work with once you admit that the grid and power transmission isn’t some god like thing that never fails You can’t hinder progress because someone can’t afford it. They maybe did have the money if it meant a few bucks a month on their bill, but they were never told this risk existed, we all thought we lived in a modern enough country that we would never be without power for an entire week. But we also have never seen freezing temperatures for a solid week either, not in anyone I knows lifetime including some 90 year olds. Once I know the problem exists, I’d rather spend the $2k and have a solution at hand than take on the full system costs of winterizing/prepping for a once in a century(?) snow storm. That would perpetually make my energy cost go up by 10% or more. It’s the smarter solution with better ROI if people DIY the contingency.