mdhokie

Couldn't do that in Garrett! It was 30 when I arrived this afternoon, gusty with flurries. Supposed to get down to 13 tonight! Next week looks good for some spring skiing, highs in the 50s.

We worked with Tesla two years ago when they were ditching the solarcity name. At the time they scheduled a zoom meeting with an advisor who went over all of the equipment and layout on the roof, with detailed engineering diagrams. They submitted all plans, pulled permits, and sent a list of all the credits/rebates we would be eligible for. Once my mom paid the deposit, they submitted for permits and gave an estimated install date. The date slipped a couple weeks because of BGE. It wasn't the easiest process for my mom since everything was remote but for people used to doing everything online it seemed ok. Price was competitive. Install crew was professional and did a good job. At first they wanted to run a conduit on the outside of the house and we didn't think that would look good. Asked them to run it inside through a utility chase. They agreed but said they wouldn't fix the drywall holes needed (2x 12"x12" access holes to drill through top and bottom plates of a wall, and install metal conduit). I was fine with that since drywall is no biggie. They had all the panels up first day, second day they finished the wiring and subpanels/disconnect. Electrical was done well and kept all the conduit and boxes out of the way in the garage. It took BGE 6 weeks after the final paperwork was submitted to come out and swap the meter with a bi-directional one. Enphase also makes a good all-in-one system with panels and batteries. At the time the Tesla package was cheaper. I see @Mrs.J has the microinverter system! I think it would be easy to add on batteries in the future.

This is some great advice. If the break even isn't less than 10 years these days, your roof might not be ideal for solar. Or your power consumption might be higher than normal and the money would be better spent on house sealing/energy improvements. I wouldn't worry much about roof replacement either since most companies these days are familiar with the process of removal/reinstall. Obviously if you are 25 years in on a 30 year roof, you might want to look at getting a new roof prior to solar install.. I helped my mom through the process and we ended up with Tesla due to the powerwall battery storage and integration with the Tesla app. She also had to have it approved by HOA but they didn't raise a fuss. The new style panels and skirting really make it look like part of the roof line. She will go most of the summer (4-5 months) without using a watt from BGE due to the battery storage. Then 3-4 months she will be net positive (put more back into the grid than used), and the remaining couple months she uses the credits built up during the summer. At the end of the year she gets a check from BGE for the excess sent back into the grid. Her primary driver was also environmental but the savings will add up over the life of the panels (30 years).

over 72 hours

Go back and re read your post and PSUs post. Your covid posts tend to come off as your thoughts are perfect and if someone doesnt agree they are stupid. You use random data points from your bro then immediately discount what PSU said as an anomaly. A discussion also involves listening and I really havent seen you ever do that in these covid threads. Personally we decided 24 days in school wasnt worth the risk. Once we explained what the classroom was going to be like our daughter was fine with finishing virtual. She isnt a big fan but has done well and her teacher has done a really good job this year. We have organised several gifts from the class for her hard work and have done a couple personally. We were hoping to give out donuts and coffee for all the school staff when they return next week but decided that might be too risky. Hoping to do something at the end of the year to make the teachers feel appreciated. I know not all kids are doing well. Those with means found alternatives. I agree we missed on providing a safe place for those most at risk. Howard had very limited slots for kids to come in and have reliable internet and an adult watching them. They also had small groups return in the fall but were cancelled when our numbers spiked. I wish some of the stimulus could have gone to increase that capacity. I also hope we can offer tutoring and summer school for those that arent where they need to be at year end. Around 50% of Howard kids are remaining virtual, so this isnt a topic where there is a majority one way or the other. https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/howard/cng-ho-student-return-hybrid-form-20210212-eyn7jyq7lrhjbagjqac3elwvra-story.html

this convo is probably gonna be hidden but we chose to stay virtual in howard county and hope the transition back doesnt mess up the routine we've gotten into. The district is pretty much 50/50 on remain virtual or go in 2 days a week.

Sun has taken a toll on the western MD snowpack. I can almost see my driveway again. Untouched areas are still probably 18-24".

Ellicott City MD: 39.235085, -76.792567 Oakland MD (technically Swanton but no one knows where that is): 39.499707, -79.275274

lolol i was thinking about posting similar but know this place is already a powder keg waiting to go off on any post. Honestly hope it stops snowing soon so boating season isnt delayed . With the way things are going i will have snow piles into june.

I saw a slanty stick measurement in the obs thread!

Pretty sure eastern HoCo isn't gonna get another 3" either.

Back to pixy flakes here, I think 1" might be our max. Whitened up the ice piles though!

Might be the best flakes of the season here in HoCo, big fatties dropping from the sky like a UA jet engine.

Shoveling this sleet is no joke. Heavy as heck. I had an 18" pile of sleet at the corner of the house where it all rolled off the roof. There is an icy crust underneath.

@psuhoffman might be onto something regarding our new "normal". Looking at the soundings from IAD, the warm layer is only +1c, but it seems in previous storms that layer would be near 0 and rates would overcome any melting. Now it seems we cannot overcome the warm layer and require a perfect setup at all layers to score snow in/around the cities. Even the closer in n/w burbs are sleeting with this storm.

Hey at least philly is getting a good 6-10 inches!

we can't even do sleet right. If the NAM starts showing issues you know the storm is toast this winter. I know we ran ERS off but he was right about thr king this year.

absolutely nothing within the snowhole.

Homer Simpson Ten Foot Sandwich - YouTube

It did pretty well with the H in Colorado haha

Do you have a portable saw mill by any chance? A couple years ago I had a guy from up your way mill a couple oaks that I had taken down. Made some good furniture with them!

6-10" for the mountains would push seasonal total over 100". I would like to thank @nj2va for posting his winter wonderland pics the last several years for motivating me to look west!

This has been some great discussion and I thank you and the red taggers who have engaged. Could it be that the not ideal mid level low track now results in quicker warming than we have seen in the past? Where does the warm air come from, is it from the southern land or does the ocean water come into play here? Its almost like typical fall line storms are now fall line + 10 miles storms, meaning you need to be 10+ miles further north/west than in the past to get the same results, and those east of that line get mud.

Is the problem still at 700-800mb? Seems like soundings have consistently shown a warm nose and many mets in here have been pointing out southerly winds in the mid levels? This is all above my pay grade but would be interesting to compare the modeled mid level maps to previous storms and see what is different.

the first one wasn't the whole thing. a6 just posted the whole event map.