Good morning!!!!

[Tinhack]

Teens here too and I'm not liking it. But at least the snow is gone, and the wild animals will be able to find the feed I put on the ground. Yesterday, I had to chase a hog off so I could get to the bird feeders. He trotted off to the bush line and waited patiently while I filled the feeders and spread corn and sunflower seeds out. This isn't the one with the torn ear. This one is an old gray-haired hog with unusually long tail and legs.

My trail cams are all kaput, but I just got a window cam I'm going to try out. It sticks to the inside of the window and looks out. Except for the USB-C power cable, it's wireless and Wi-Fi enabled. I'l be able to monitor the feeding area on my phone. I've got to make a small shade for the lens somehow as the camera will be facing due south. Maybe soon, I'll be able to post pictures of this menagerie here.

 

[riptides]

Sounds like you are close to me. Going home now to refill the stove.

Maybe, we left Stafford some 20 years ago. In the southern end of Fauquier now.

 

[Thomas]

-4F clear sky day low teens for high,wood furnace purring like kitten.
Mrs. sent text at her office window outside -15F guess the cold settle in the valley over night

Outside chore done E muffin time. etc. for the Fisher plow

Plans for today... AM puttering in the basement,PM might stumble around outside or trip to town,try and purchase cleaning tool spray and grease clean plug ins for the Fisher plow Saturday...acting like bad connection now and than.

Enjoy your day all.

 

[Thomas]

Hope all goes well for you Buppies.

 

[txdon]

Good Morning! At 12:30AM the winds shifted from the NE to the SE and the temps went up slightly. Now 24˚F and the high for today will be in the 50s with sunny skies. We will be above freezing at 10AM so the citrus can be pushed out of the garage for a few hours, it will still be below freezing for the next two nights.
All utilities are up and running.

Yesterday we ran the under the counter ice maker through it's cleaning cycle and I lit the fire places for the first time since we moved here. Two have to be lit like a hot water heater with a switch on the wall that changes the gas flow, the other one just litghts with an open flame and a swoosh. One of the fire places, the water heater type, did not come on and I will have to order a new pilot assembly or mess with the twenty year warranty and hope there is not an original owner clause.

Drew, no way I could make it to the hot tube without walking on ice yesterday. This afternoon when all the ice is melted the pool robots are scheduled to work after their 2 day holiday.

The Farm is open for the baby animal (feeding) festival and half of the 200,000 tulips are up and are expected to bloom February 17th. Glad my shift does not start till next month when this polar vortex goes back where it should be - making glaciers.

 

[Spike56]

Good Morning from Central Texas.
At 6:30, was 21 degrees. What little snow we had yesterday melted very quickly once the sun came out.
Last year, the USAF accepted delivery of a new helicopter to replace the Bell Huey UH-1N. The Boeing MH-139A "Grey Wolf" is intended for transport, search and rescue and security patrols (mainly of ICBM fields).
Range 225 nautical miles, max cruise speed 155mph with a ceiling listed at 20,000 feet. Typically outfitted with (2) M240 7.62 machine guns and can carry (9) combat equipped troops.

Hope all enjoy the day.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Morning,
Ct, -2 to start going to 20 ! Sun is out now and hopefully stays out ! Yesterday some clouds came in keeping temps down ! Tomorrow temps should rise to close to freezing, and it is a work day so that’s a sliver of good news !

It looks like we will make it up to Vermont
On Friday to check things out before we go to the Dominican for 10 days for some warm weather reprieve !

Looks like another day on Kathleen’s treadmill in place of my 3 mile walk !

Did watch some instructional video on my sculptured rocking chair project, may get a little time out in the shop on Saturday but I’m sure it will be a couple hours to warm things up out there to be able to work !

Hope all have a good day !

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Still -8 and sun starting to shine. 64° in the room with pellet stove running.
Analog thermometer on porch says about -10, so I’ll believe the weather station.
If sitting in front of stove, my front is warm, back is cold. Can just feel the cold from the windows.

 

[LouNY]

-9° set a new low. Wow, didn’t expect that. Need to check how old fashion thermometer compares.

This has been a very cold January. Temps are below the geo system design temps. Bin data does not go negative for this area. The water loops are gaining very little temperature with this extended cold, and with snow on, keeping ground temps down.

Interesting, when we don't have a good snow cover the frost goes much deeper into the ground. Were the ground is blown clear of snow the frost will penetrate quite deeply when it's cold. But 10-12 inches of snow cover and the ground warmth will pull all the frost out of the ground and it will be thawed under the snow.
Back when we got more snow fall it was interesting (at times) spreading manure in the winter, using the wind blown ares in a field to get out up towards the higher areas of a field and spreading going downhill through the deeper snow as any spinning in the deeper snow and you'd spin down into muddy thawed ground till late in the winter.

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 5 going up to 21 and partly cloudy.
Not much done yesterday after work.
Dog is even starting to notice the cold, but still buries her head in the snow at every turn.

Spike - I hope this Boeing Copter was not out sourced like their Jets.

Can't believe we are warmer than many of those south of us.
Stay warm and be careful out there.

Be well,

 

[TMGT]

Maybe, we left Stafford some 20 years ago. In the southern end of Fauquier now.

Stafford close to the Fauquier line here.

 

[riptides]

Stafford close to the Fauquier line here.

Sent you a PM.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Interesting, when we don't have a good snow cover the frost goes much deeper into the ground. Were the ground is blown clear of snow the frost will penetrate quite deeply when it's cold. But 10-12 inches of snow cover and the ground warmth will pull all the frost out of the ground and it will be thawed under the snow.
Back when we got more snow fall it was interesting (at times) spreading manure in the winter, using the wind blown ares in a field to get out up towards the higher areas of a field and spreading going downhill through the deeper snow as any spinning in the deeper snow and you'd spin down into muddy thawed ground till late in the winter.

It's the extended cold that really effects the geo system. Loop geothermal doesn't have the delta T in this cold weather like a pump and dump geo system like paul has. In an extended cold or heat spell, the ground temp doesn't change fast enough, the loops cant recover much. It's still better than an air system. Once you suck the heat out of the ground around the loop, it takes awhile to recover. The sun on the ground above helps the geo system in winter.
my units were both up to set point last night, and should recover later today.
With sun out, temp just hit -1 deg out at the weather station.
Upstairs we have been using an electic heater in our room, which is probably 1/4 the sq ft of the whole upstairs area. The geo upstairs dropped 6 deg last night with us keeping our room heated to 70 deg.
Next week it is supposed to get near 50 deg out.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 38F @ 5:45AM. Abundant sunshine. High 74F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Coldest day of the winter so far here, but still not cold enough to make a frost. Very thankful for the mild temps, but weather like this has a high price.

Made another SOS stew last night, this time with red and black beans, potatoes, rice, and with some tomatos and spices thrown in for good measure. Tasty and filling, I'm encouraged by these good early results. Time to hit the grocery store for more supplies.

Headed out in a bit to pick up a buddy and take them to a doctor's appointment, the first since the hospital stay. Hopefully will get the blood pressure meds adjusted, as trying to drive and work a day just isn't possible for them now. No sick days for landscapers, as it's no work, no pay for an independent contractor.

Happy Hump Day, folks.

 

[Popgadget]

It's the extended cold that really effects the geo system. Loop geothermal doesn't have the delta T in this cold weather like a pump and dump geo system like paul has. In an extended cold or heat spell, the ground temp doesn't change fast enough, the loops cant recover much. It's still better than an air system.

A closed loop system will cold soak the heat sink, weather it’s buried loops or a loop in a drilled and grouted well, as compared to an open loop system where the water is drawn from one well and returned to the aquifer via a second well. The open loop system has the entire aquifer as a heat sink and will provide water at about 55° regardless of the outside temperature. However for totally illogical reasons, many locales won’t approve an open loop system.

The good news is that a heat pump doesn’t lose much efficiency, just capacity as the evaporator is in low ambient conditions, whether it be water or air. It would be a safe bet that Dennis’ loop return is at least 20 degrees above the ambient when it is this cold outside.

The huge advances in heat pump efficiency pioneered by mini splits were a result of having a microprocessor control the entire process. They use a variable speed compressor, electronically controlled expansion devices and variable speed fans at both the condenser and evaporator.

This technology is just beginning to trickle into conventional heat pumps, and only partially adopted in the geo world.
I’m guessing that Dennis has variable speed loop pumps, but a single speed compressor (possibly two stage) and a fixed speed blower. That might be an ECM blower, but other then ramping up to speed, it likely runs at a single programmed speed rather than as part of a process control.
That is essentially the way mine works, but with a motorized ball valve to control the flow rather than a loop pump.

The bottom line is that a high end conventional heat pump is likely more efficient than a legacy geo system, almost certainly if it’s a closed loop system.

 

[Buppies]

7 this morning high in upper 20s

Today is Holly's birthday the big 70. Great tribute on Facebook by our son to his mom

Two more skin cancers on face oh boy rump scrape off just sore.

The cold will retreat for a little bit until end of month then return. Son had 5.5 in of snow at Pawleys Island SC

Prayers for all our Country

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Fixed speed loop pumps
2 stage scroll compressor
variable speed blower motor

I can control flow by adjusting ball valve manually.

When installed, this was pretty much the advanced system, not so today.

And no mechanical system permits required here.

 

[kenmbz]

Buppies - Happy birthday to Holly and hope they can get your skin cleared up without too much fuss.

 

[m7040]

good morning, COLD WARMING UP TO 17 brr

kept the oil fire going overnight really made it nice to get up. the mini split heats well even at low temps when needed so it is always an alternative to the wood stove

picked up an Apple Watch yesterday and learning about what it can do

picked up groceries and went to the appointment for the finger,
looks good and next appointment in a few weeks. the joint was pulled out of its socket so will take time to heal as well

Buppies, happy birthday to Holly. glad you are staying on top of your skin cancers

 

[wngsprd]

Fixed speed loop pumps
2 stage scroll compressor
variable speed blower motor

I can control flow by adjusting ball valve manually.

When installed, this was pretty much the advanced system, not so today.

And no mechanical system permits required here.

Sounds just like our geo. We also use the desuperheater for hot water generation.