Texas Heat!

[Bird]

Jim, I've had 2 sprinklers running the last 3 hours; hope to save some grass.

 

[jinman]

Bird, I just can't imagine what people's electric and water bills are going to be for the next month.:shocked: My daughter has a 2400 sq ft 2-story house in Hurst with a pool. Her electric bill last month was $695 and the water/sewer/garbage bill was $200. No telling what it will be for Jul-Aug when she gets her bill. She only has a postage stamp yard in front and a tiny yard around the pool in back, so watering the grass should not be that much.

My electric bill last month was $314 with all my watering and running the pump for 7-8 hours every other day. My aerobic septic system runs continually and my house is smidge over 2000 sq ft of living area. Our coop electric is similarly priced to electricity in town, so I don't know what makes my daughter's bill so high.

 

[pacerron]

Pacerron: [/B] I was in our local Lowe's yesterday and bought a couple of sprinklers for my aerobic septic system. They had a whole box full of the Rainbird P5-R sprinklers for $6.17 each. With my 10% military discount, that's $5.55 each. Amazon wants $9.53 for that exact same sprinkler head.

Jim,
Thanks for the Lowes's info. I will check next time we go that way. Before moving to the country Lowes was only a couple mile from where we lived.
I miss going there just to browse around, get ideas, and spend money.
I enjoy, "wheeling and dealing", my dad was a good teacher. The prices of things are marked up so much anymore to cover credit expense, even if you don't use it, security losses, and other things, they have plenty of margin.
Even after knocking them down thousands on my last car purchase, walking out a few times, etc. and them saying that was the absolute lowest price I hit them for the military discount. They finally agreed. Even the guy at USAA was amazed.
Getting back to the heat..
It is so hot our plum tomatoes are growing together as siamese twins to share the water.
It is so hot our law makers have to take a 5 week vacation.
Ron

 

[Western]

It is so hot our law makers have to take a 5 week vacation.
Ron

:laughing: Ron, that's because they had to work last week!!:laughing:

I guess I will learn a little about my wells integrity, I have a small area I water, maybe 3000 sq ft., plus the flower beds. (Mulch has done double duty and made a huge difference in the beds too). My root system on the grass must be very shallow still, 30 minutes of water and it perks right up.

The Bermuda I planted by seeding, 2 different strains, or hybrids mixed together in the front I planted last year. Same in a strip I had dozer work done at in the back, I planted this year. The St Aug. of course was sod.

Spots that get the sun all day, I could water every day to keep it looking like the grass in the part shade areas.
I think I am the only one on my little dead end county road, that is mowing.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Well got another leak,and as I was saying there is 5 other houses on same well.I cant find the leak(looked 3hrs yesterday)and looked this morning. But we have some neighbors that havent even lifted a finger to help find it!!! Taking brake,it hot!!! Just about got what houses are good ruled out(auto.waters pain in butt) and some people will not stop using it (the water)long enough for us to figure it out(they claim it was an accident)!!!!Last month we went from 40lbs to 60lbs water pressure,second leak since(last one was mine and a easy find, no help was offered(total time off 2hrs).

 

[Western]

I bet if they loose water they'll get involved.

I walk my "line" and look for green spots. Easy to do now, everything is wintertime Brown.

 

[foreman Etexas]

I bet if they loose water they'll get involved.

I walk my "line" and look for green spots. Easy to do now, everything is wintertime Brown.

Nothing!!!Walked water line R.O.W,nothing green,nothing wet. Main line is 3ft deep,only time will tell!!!
Losing about a lb a min.with everything off to houses...........

 

[NativeSon]

It's 1:00pm and the temp is 106. That was the high yesterday. After living thru the heat of 1980 never thought I'd see it like this again in my life.

Charlie

 

[pacerron]

Nothing!!!Walked water line R.O.W,nothing green,nothing wet. Main line is 3ft deep,only time will tell!!!
Losing about a lb a min.with everything off to houses...........

Could it be the pipe going down in the well to the pump or the 90 degree connector near the top of the casing?

 

[foreman Etexas]

Could it be the pipe going down in the well to the pump or the 90 degree connector near the top of the casing?

Well guy has been called out!!!I have had all the fun I can take
But this is what its doing well builds pressure fine but once you put everyone back in service once it pulls down will never catch back up and then 0 pressure until you go shut everyone back in. There is no water around well site or down the pipe-lines I asume everyone but the one has checked under there house like i did, heck Im a( jack of all trades but master of none)called the pros in!!

 

[Western]

108* here so far.

I wonder if your well is still hitting water???

May be so low it has to recharge. Hope that's not the case.

 

[Bird]

We hit 100 around 10 a.m., 101 by 11 a.m. and only 107 now.

 

[pacerron]

Bird, I just can't imagine what people's electric and water bills are going to be for the next month.:shocked: My daughter has a 2400 sq ft 2-story house in Hurst with a pool. Her electric bill last month was $695 and the water/sewer/garbage bill was $200. No telling what it will be for Jul-Aug when she gets her bill. She only has a postage stamp yard in front and a tiny yard around the pool in back, so watering the grass should not be that much.

My electric bill last month was $314 with all my watering and running the pump for 7-8 hours every other day. My aerobic septic system runs continually and my house is smidge over 2000 sq ft of living area. Our coop electric is similarly priced to electricity in town, so I don't know what makes my daughter's bill so high.

Jim,
Perhaps your daughter needs to do an electrical use audit. If the bill is way out of line the meter could also be faulty.
When you add your pond aerator and run it 24/7 probably be another $30 per month for you if it is 1 HP running on 110V.

 

[Bird]

Bird, I just can't imagine what people's electric and water bills are going to be for the next month.:shocked: My daughter has a 2400 sq ft 2-story house in Hurst with a pool. Her electric bill last month was $695 and the water/sewer/garbage bill was $200. No telling what it will be for Jul-Aug when she gets her bill. She only has a postage stamp yard in front and a tiny yard around the pool in back, so watering the grass should not be that much.

My electric bill last month was $314 with all my watering and running the pump for 7-8 hours every other day. My aerobic septic system runs continually and my house is smidge over 2000 sq ft of living area. Our coop electric is similarly priced to electricity in town, so I don't know what makes my daughter's bill so high.

My last electric bill was $263.19 and the water/sewer/garbage bill was $162.80. Of course, we just have a 1295 sq. ft. air-conditioned house. I did run the window unit in the shop for 30 minutes to an hour probably 6 or 8 days.

Our youngest daughter has a 2947 sq. ft. 2-story house in north Fort Worth with 2 separate A/C units; one for upstairs and one for down. The house faces the west and has some big windows on that side, but when they first moved in, they installed some kind of thermal screens; e.g., like a fabric on the inside that you can see out through it but not in from outside. I know the first year they were pleasantly surprised by how low their electric bill was; in fact no more than ours, so I'm going to have to ask what it's like this year.

Both their front and back yards are very small, but they do have a built-in sprinkler system, but I don't have any idea how much they use it. I'm sure they're having to water their landscaping a lot.

 

[jinman]

Our youngest daughter has a 2947 sq. ft. 2-story house in north Fort Worth with 2 separate A/C units; one for upstairs and one for down.

I think my daughter's biggest electric use is her air conditioner. They only have one unit. She said someone had suggested them going to a split system for upstairs/downstairs, but it seems to me that the cold air upstairs would just come rolling down the steps. There is a large family room upstairs that is open, and opening a bedroom door would allow air to empty out pretty quickly if all the doors aren't closed constantly. My daughter likes her bedroom very cool around 72 or less. That means the lower level of her house is probably less than 70 degrees. That's the primary problem in my opinion. The house on the west side of them is a single story house, so they get full sun on their west side walls on the 2nd floor. It all adds up. Another big user of electricity is the pool with a filter system that runs constantly.

 

[300UGUY]

We hit 100 around 10 a.m., 101 by 11 a.m. and only 107 now.

Did you Texans do something to upset the cosmos? Is Texas the "New Helll ?

 

[Bird]

Yeah, Jim, I don't really know just how much difference it makes, but I used to like to keep the temperature at 72 or less, and now we keep the thermostat on 76. I have ceiling fans running all the time and Margaret either wears a heavy bathrobe or is sitting under a blanket watching TV.:laughing: And I know even 30 years ago the pool we had cost us.

 

[Bird]

Did you Texans do something to upset the cosmos? Is Texas the "New Helll ?

You know there's some disagreement as to where and by whom the quote originated, but anyway, some have said, "If I owned **** and Texas, I'd rent out Texas and live in ****.":laughing: But it's only miserable, as far as I'm concerned, about 4 months each year.

 

[AGGIE00]

Bird, I just can't imagine what people's electric and water bills are going to be for the next month.:shocked: My daughter has a 2400 sq ft 2-story house in Hurst with a pool. Her electric bill last month was $695 and the water/sewer/garbage bill was $200. No telling what it will be for Jul-Aug when she gets her bill. She only has a postage stamp yard in front and a tiny yard around the pool in back, so watering the grass should not be that much.

My electric bill last month was $314 with all my watering and running the pump for 7-8 hours every other day. My aerobic septic system runs continually and my house is smidge over 2000 sq ft of living area. Our coop electric is similarly priced to electricity in town, so I don't know what makes my daughter's bill so high.

She should really look into spray foam in the attic. The advantages are tremendous and especially help with balancing a 2 story house. Once an attic is foamed correctly the temperature will be about 10 degrees higher than inside the house. Contractors are hungry right now and with electric bills like that the payback will come quickly.

 

[LarryD]

But it's only miserable, as far as I'm concerned, about 4 months each year.

From what I recall about my first 24 years in Texas, you are just getting into the "miserable" period.

When I was in Cairo, we had a new Engineering Security Officer arrive and she wanted to improve the video surveillance for the embassy in Saudi Arabia, in August!:shocked: I told her this would be better done in the winter months and to just trust me. We arrived to over 120º temps and I think she realized then what I was talking about. It was like sticking your head in an oven.