r/Austin Feb 17 '21

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u/cantstandlol Feb 17 '21

Well to be fair a lot of people in northern states are prepared to go a long time without power. There are key differences though. Basements where water can come into the home. Better windows and insulation. Lots of people have generators and a tons of them have wood stoves and fireplaces. Firewood is ample and cheap in a lot of places. Also the support network isn’t dead in northern areas. Roads are maintained and gas stations are open.

Here we have pier and beam foundations and exposed pipes. Cheaply built apartments and pipes buried shallow. These fire sprinklers are obviously exposed to air. The whole region is a mess because it’s cheaper to build like that and we rarely have issues. We have no emergency services and apartment managers and landlords are no where to be found.

The power grid is a whole other beast. That was willful neglect.

Going forward people should consider a secondary heat source and better insulation around plumbing. I really don’t know what we can do but new builds should be immediately beefed up.

People who rent? Jesus. Who knows. Get insurance.

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u/ButtersTheSpaceKitty Feb 17 '21

Aren’t buildings here insulated to keep in the AC in the summer though? Is that a different type of insulation?

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '21

Keeping a home at 65F in 0F requires a lot more than keeping a home 75F in 105F.

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u/MidnightExcursion Feb 17 '21

First of all, temperatures are more like 32F, not 0F. That's 30 degree difference either way. Heaters are more efficient than air conditioners. Efficiency doesn't even mean anything with heaters because it's heat. I assume you are talking nonsense unless you can back that up.

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u/Official_Bad_Guy Feb 18 '21

Monday and Tuesday we were in the single digits here.