https://mobile.twitter.com/NWSSaltLakeCity/status/1404949205588742146
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Here comes the well-predicted heat, yet for some reason many power plants are mysteriously offline…
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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.
I feel bad for people who live anywhere in this country aside from New England (and parts of Atlantic coast) or Pacific Northwest.
Southwest through TX is going to be a desert soon.
Midwest will mostly be flooded.
Southeast is going to be underwater or hit by heavy hurricanes multiple times per year.
Just bought our first house 2 years ago near the MA/NH border and climate change definitely guided our hand on where to buy. Climate change is here, and before I pay my 30 year mortgage off it will be affecting all the regions I mentioned.
I hope I’m wrong.
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Depending on which veggies you want to save and how much room you have to work with you can drive down some 2x4’s and attach a sun cover to filter how much sunlight hits them. The temp will still affect them but without the direct sunlight it’ll give them a fighting chance, my parents live in Houston and my mom’s veggie garden could not survive the harsh heat and sunlight and since she set up a shaded area it’s been doing much better
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Here in the lovely Shenandoah Valley, we had dry, crunchy, “go mow the dust” lawns in early June, now the monsoons are here and we are keeping an eye out for the Ark. We have a spring on our property, so irrigation is not a problem, and the crops are handling the high-80’s to low-90’s temps OK, but folks, it’s June! The shit doesn’t get hot and dry around here until August. It’s a little worrisome what comes next, but the long term forecasts I have seen seem to indicate that we will be OK into the foreseeable future. Not so true in a whole lot of the country. Buckle down people, another “hoax” is gonna devastate our world.
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Given the reliability of the Texas[-only] grid, my partner and I have started our serious-minded search for a reliable, robust dual-fuel generator in the 3000 watt range.
We already agreed we need a transfer switch wired in to our side of the main breaker.
The heat’s bad enough that our 14 year old dog is unlikely to live through an outage of more than a few hours. We can only walk him morning or evening, the way he’s handling outdoor temperatures now.
If anyone wants to discuss their experience or share their knowledge about home-scale electrical generators, I’ll be putting up a new topic on this new research project in “general” in 5, 4, 3, 2…
ETA:
and
Neal Stephenson's got a new book coming... with a climate change plot:
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I lived for a few years without AC in Central Texas.
I hear you.
Since you may be able to get one of these more easily in Mexico, and if you have any opportunity to drive two large hooks into solid wood ceiling joists or wall studs, this undyed cotton string hammock (Mayan hammock) + a box fan was the only way I made it through hot summer nights. I am hoping you live in a place with an understanding landlord and a cooperative constructed building.
For illustration purposes only, and behold the occupant is lying correctly in it:
Don’t forget 2 hammock thimbles to save the wear and tear on this investment:
When it gets dirty from sweat, gently lower it into a basin with water and the least amount of dish soap you can manage. Soaps can linger on fiber and sometimes makes dirt stick to it more than just rinsing with water. Drip dry in the powerful summer sun to sterilize. UV is one helluva disinfectant.
When all else failed, I’d take a cold shower in a t-shirt and boxers, climb out soaking wet, the box fan already running and pointed at the hammock, and then I’d climb in it. I slept on the diagonal, which kept my spine straight.
Good luck.
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Does your home get gas service? A gas generator is pretty reliable, just gotta make sure you maintain it but works great as far as not needing to worry about fuel. (Disclaimer i work for a gas utility)
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Sadly, nope. Neither propane nor natural gas.
We have no recourse, it’s part of the restrictive covenants in our very very southwest “Austin” subdivision. Ugh.
We are exploring the options for a dual-fuel genny (propane and regular ol’ gasoline). This hybrid has a few upsides but unfortunately rules out a super quiet Honda genny (they don’t make dual fuel models AFAICT). More research is needed.
I am being driven slightly mad by the learning curve re home scale electric generators because even the storage of a 20-pound propane tank on our property is a gray area, O Grey Devil, and much community effort has been poured into a years-long project to make our community a Firewise Community. So having a potentially dangerous tank o’ gas that can splode good is not a widely popular decision and I [likely] will have to fight my HOA for the right to even have one.
Frankly, I believe most of the Firewise practices are simply a balm for the less-than-completely aware that, come a big fire around here (and we did have a 9-alarm fire in 2006, <1 mile away, 60MPH winds), it’s pretty much KMAGYOYO.
That’s just the bitter realist in me, looking at all this Juniper asheii and limestone hills around me, our one single community well (sole source drinking water), and the utterly fucked up factors stacking up in California et al.
There but for the Grace of Jah go I.
There’s a two-lane road outta here, it’s a mile to the two-lane ranch road, and we have a ton of newbies who just moved here from… wait for it… California [as you are no doubt aware].
I pray every day.
Not to the Xtian deity.
But for mercy from all the spirits on our entire living, suffering home planet.
ETA: link, comment added
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My AirCon friend would agree with your power company. In extreme hot and cold many folk max out their heating/cooling settings which gives very little more for a lot more energy consumption… law of diminishing returns, therefore blackouts where no one has cooling.
Probably one of the hardest things for people in the 1st world to jump on to is living in the heat… People do this all over without tacking down power grids because they want it a “little bit more comfort”.
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Is your home a good fit for solar panels? additionally I believe there might also be some generators that have solar backups but this is a bit outside my knowledge. Either way solar panels on the home would be great if that’s something you can afford
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Growing up in Venezuela i lived in an arid area where AC was pretty needed, though i have been in homes that had no AC whatsoever and the problem is that if you live somewhere that has high humidity the heat is really difficult to manage. That’s not to say one couldn’t just deal with it but its certainly not easy.
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23 degrees C. What’s that in 'Merican?
I kid, I kid.
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or , i was wondering, heat pumps.
no idea how well those work in texas. im assuming about as well as basements maybe. i hear austin is all on bedrock
Man is a tool-using animal.
However.
Sometimes, people don’t educate themselves enough or take action on the minimal due-diligent things that we all know work when addressing living in comfort in hot / humid areas. I acknowledge I come from a place of privilege as an North American when I list these off the top of my head (I have to know about most of the following practices and construction details as part of my work life):
- ceiling fans switched on in the rooms you use, and only in the rooms you use
please for the love of popsicles and Jah turn off ceiling fans in unoccupied rooms, those fans are there to blow the heat off the surface of your skin much more than they are there to bestir the air,
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zone-cooling (including but not limited to “just cool the rooms you use, and shut off the vents for unused rooms, close those doors that are closeable”),
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proper wall insulation and outsulation,
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caulking and weatherstripping,
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attic treatments like radiant barriers and additional blown-in insulation,
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choosing high albedo (sunlight-reflective) roofing materials instead of stylish black or dark roofing material [unless you want to pay a lot of money for an engineered material that looks dark but has special heat-reflective properties],
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choosing high albedo exterior colors for wall cladding,
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competent double-paned windows,
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generously deep overhangs especially on the south and west sides of one’s house [here in Texas at least],
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highest possible SEER ratings for HVAC systems (and water heaters, and other energy pigs),
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gable-end venting,
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roof ridge venting,
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soffit vents,
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having big shade trees on the west and south sides of your living space if possible, for their wondrous and blessed evapotranspiration,
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drying one’s laundry on a clothesline instead of an electric or gas dryer (which can heat the house up, btw), doing one’s baking or cooking at dawn (or not using the oven or stove at all),
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not requiring people in offices to wear suits, ties, pantyhose, long pants, etc. so that the building doesn’t have to cooled like a friggin’ meatlocker (except for the server- and computer-rooms),
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and other “lifestyle choices” too numerous to mention here,
all contribute to human comfort inside a building in a hot climate. My partner and I have tried to nail down nearly all of these, as our finances and budget allow.
There are plenty of humans in North America who cannot afford much in the way of cooling themselves who rely on public cooling centers to make it through the hottest part of the day, if they are in an area where their local government has taken on that job.
I count myself lucky that I even have air conditioning.
It’s 95°F here and I just stopped mowing grass for today. Local relative humidity is 43%. A cold shower and air conditioning is heaven right now and I am grateful for them.
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Huh, this looks promising:
https://www.hotspotenergy.com/solar-air-conditioner/
Especially:
100% Solar Air Conditioner
NO AC Power or Grid Connection Required
SEER
On pure AC power when no free solar energy is used, official SEER is >22. SEER is “Seasonal EER” and is a way of describing an “average EER” and considers that the system operates under part-load conditions a majority of the time. Currently, there is no official test standard for testing SEER or EER based on whether or not the energy is paid for. However, if you perform a SEER calculation and include only the paid energy, this calculated SEER can be as high as SEER 75 or above when using solar along with AC backup power.
Ordering, Pricing & Specifications
The Manufacturer’s List Price on the ACDC12C is $1,895. ACDC18C cost is $2195. Solar panels, etc., are not included. Complete kits are also available, please call or email to discuss kit options.
Independent of grid, so no need to prevent electricity backfeed / have a transfer switch because this system never touches house wiring in the first place.
Obviously would need to figure in cost of solar panels… 
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Unfortunately in recent years the areas around Cancun have been plagued with ever-more frequent infestations of sargassum seaweed rendering the beaches stinky and nigh-unusable.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/1119558/
It’s almost as if humanity’s predilection for messing up the planet is getting to the point where even rich vacationers are going to experience the consequences.
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O to be a gardener in the vicinity of such riches.
Excellent composting material.
I’d be there with a truck, every day, to make windrows of it and using it for mulch.
Alas I must made do with uncheap Maxicrop and kelp powder.
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you don’t want to compost sargassum. not like kelp at all. sargassum has high levels of arsenic - not good on the veggies!
we get shit tons of sargassum washing up in the canals and on the beaches. summertime smells pretty fetid. BUT! mahi-mahi school under the large, floating rafts of the sargassum and they are fun to catch and goooood to eat!
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TIL! Never heard that tidbit before.
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