TTC ☆ OFFICIAL

I also have a feeling that there's gonna be record number of whole-house generators being installed across the state in the next few months...



Generac and Kohler are probably jumping for joy about now!

 

We've had that thought

 

Do most houses in Texas have gas or electric heat? I've looked at the websites for D.R. Horton and KB Home, and the new neighborhoods by those builders seem to mostly have gas heat; Back in 2012, my dad went to a reunion with his Navy flight school class and my mom and I went along. I was talking to one of the guys, who lived in Austin, and he said his house had a heat pump. My uncle inherited a citrus farm in Weslaco from his dad (which he ended up selling) and the farmhouse had a heat pump; If King of the Hill is to be 100% believed, then most houses and subdivisions in Texas have propane heat...

 

Electric heat for most houses.

 

Heat pump and hopefully not just straight electric forced air?

 

Electric heat pumps and central air

 

Where I live we don't have gas, ground is all limestone and can't run the supply lines easily.

 

And this pretty much all of Texas, even suburbs of DFW, Houston, San Antonio, etc...?

I remember looking at new homes for sale in your area (specifically Waco and a place called Mercedes) and the spec sheet said the houses came with either one or two heat pumps depending on how big the house was; D.R. Horton had brand new homes in Laredo for like $100K that had heat pumps as well. Are you aware of any neighborhoods in Texas that have gas heat? As you are finding out, heat pumps are damn near useless once it gets below freezing!

 

So people who want gas for their stove or pool heater go with propane?

 

My house is in a metered propane community. We have about 9,000 gallons of propane that feed the homes. Bit with out electricity still no heat. Electronic ignition and flame detection. Purge blower for unburnt gas before the burners light. All prevent operation with our power.

BUT... I can still have still have heat thanks to some creative plumbing and big boy rules take affect. Meaning know the risk mitigate the risk and take responsibility for your actions and the outcome turns out bad since I am sure you would violate numerous fire and railroad commisson rules ... hypothetically speaking of course

 

So instead of paying to fill up your own tank every so often, it's included in the HOA fee? Does your house have a heat pump or just a straight-cool central A/C?

 

Most just go electric for stoves

 

As long as it's smoothtop and not coil element; Every house my parents ever owned (and two they rented) that had an electric stove had coil elements and those things were a bitch to keep clean! Every house my parents have ever on the East Coast (Two in Virginia and three in Pennsylvania) between 1990 and the present day has had gas heat, but of those five, two strangely had electric stoves. My dad was in the Navy for 25 years so we moved a lot!

 

What I've seen is glass top in most places I've been except on base.

 

Also, does your house have electric strip heat backup for when the heat is defrosting or it is too cold for the heat pump to function properly?

 

I've never heard of that.

 

There is a gas meter and we pay the propane company directly.

We have a standard ac unit no heat pump.

 

My grandma has a propane tank in her backyard and has propane stove

 

Time for some HVAC 101!

Not sure if you know how an air-source heat pump works, but it’s operation is a lot similar to a refrigerator; If you’ve ever felt the bottom of a fridge, you’ve probably noticed that there’s warm air coming out. A refrigerator does not blow cold air, but rather it removes warm air from inside of itself.

An air source heat pump functions just like a straight-cool A/C unit in COOL mode, but difference between a heat pump and a conventional air-conditioner is a device called a reversing valve; When the unit is switched into HEAT mode, the valve reverses the flow of refrigerant. The heat pump moves warm air from the outside ambient air into the house.

Heat pumps are not very efficient when it gets below like 35 degree, and when it’s very humid and or very cold, they tend to freeze up easier than in more mild and dryer temperatures. As a result, they have to defrost every so often (generally every 60 to 90 minutes). In order to defrost, the reversing valve switches and reversed the flow of refrigerant, essentially switching the unit and into COOL mode. The condenser fan is not spinning, but the unit is still essentially air-conditioning the house; Chances are that the homeowner does not want the A/C on when it’s in the 30s or 40s outside, so most heat pumps are fitted with electric strip heat that goes into overdrive in order to heat the cold air that results from a defrost cycle.

The auxiliary heat also acts as backup heat to give the heat pump an extra boost when it is really cold, or as emergency heat when it is too cold for the unit to functional at all or when the heat pump is malfunctioning. This can get incredibly expensive to run. Some systems incorporate a natural gas, propane, or oil furnace as backup instead of electric heat. I’ve heard that some heat pumps at houses in mild climates like Arizona and South Florida do not hav electric backup heat installed. An HVAC tech in the Phoenix area who goes by the username of “HackFreeHVAC” on YouTube has discussed this in a couple videos; Homeowners end up with their heat pump cooling the house down every time it defrosts!

I know that temperatures like those being experienced across Texas right now are uncommon, but I always thought it got cold enough in Texas that houses with heat pumps would have electric backup...?

 

I am the only person in my entire subdivision who owns a show shovel. I bought it 25 years ago while stationed in Spokane. It’s made it around the block and shoveled everyone on the street.

For y’all northerners, a lot of new construction is all electric (like my house) because they can get them built faster than waiting on adding gas - especially in areas where it isn’t nearby. My HVAC system is also 2-piece; an A/C unit and a separate furnace, all shoehorned up in the attic because we can’t have nice things like basements and deeply buried water lines. They can’t really bury them very deep because much of our soil is clay and it sinks and swells with moisture content.

This freezing surface pipes thing sucks, but want to know what else sucks? Trying to cool off in the shower when it’s 110 outside, and the “cold” water coming out of the tap is also hot. That suuuuuucks too.