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POWER TALK
LETTERS
Solar Heat Works
Your solar article (July 2008) seems to be oblivious to the day-in and day-out solar thermal power plants of the parabolic trough design. We have partnered in the past with Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in making this type of green power more efficient for the last few decades while turning a profit for the investors year after year. The newest solar thermal power using the parabolic design was put on line earlier this year in Boulder, Nevada, by a few of my former coworkers who now work for Acciona.
Gordon “Solar Homer Simpson” Bishoff
Control Room Operator, Kramer Junction Solar Thermal Power Plants, Mojave Desert, California
More on Heat Pumps
Just in case you are keeping score, I would like to pass along my experience with heat pumps, which was the subject of two letters in your September issue. If the ambient temperature gets down below 40 degrees, you are in trouble with a heat pump. If it gets below 30 degrees, you are going to be cold unless you utilize the emergency heat strip supplied in most all heat pump units.
James Roundtree
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative
Good Track Record for 24 Years
I have two homes with heat pumps, and the one I am living in now has been serviced by heat pumps since 1984. I have replaced the compressor unit twice in 24 years.
Our winters can be very cold, but my heat pumps have kept me very comfortable all these years. On very cold days, the backup heat strips do come on line, and it certainly does cost more during the coldest months but not unreasonably so.
I have used Lennox, and my current system is Trane. Both worked very well.
Ernest Wells
CoServ Electric
Our Pumps Work
We have two heat pumps in our current home, and we love them. The downstairs unit is older than and not as efficient as the upstairs unit. Both the letter writers in the September issue need to have their heat pumps checked out. Something seems very wrong.
Tim Bennett
United Cooperative Services
Sizing Up Heat Pumps
In the September 2008 issue, two readers were bashing the performance of heat pumps. As a licensed HVAC contractor, I’ve installed many heat pumps and have one installed in my personal home.
What I see over and over again is poor-quality installation, poor equipment sizing and poor communication from the contractor to the homeowner. If a heat pump is sized and installed properly, it will keep your home comfortable at a competitive cost, especially in this climate. A qualified, experienced contractor will be able to make the determination if the equipment is properly installed and operating correctly—although please note that I did not say the cheapest contractor.
Scott Snyder
Fannin County Electric Cooperative
Eating Good
I recently made the Aegean Shrimp Nueces that was featured in the September 2008 issue of Texas Co-op Power. It was wonderful! The feta cheese and olives made it taste like a true Greek feast. This recipe will certainly be repeated at my house. I also made the Mandarin-Pecan Spinach Salad that was located on the same page as the Aegean Shrimp Nueces recipe sponsored by the Texas Pecan Board. It, too, was a winner. My family ate good that night!
Kay Morse
Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative
KEEP HARVEST TIME SAFE
The modern farmer, more than ever, relies on heavy equipment to bring in the crops. This year, before heading out to the fields, farmers should make sure they know the locations of power lines and take into account their equipment sizes, especially if they are using something new. Also be aware that even if a clearance was safe last year, something as simple as soil buildup could make it hazardous this year.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, contact with overhead power lines has accounted for more than 450 on-the-job deaths in the United States from 2003-06, the latest statistics available. Of those, 35 occurred on farms.
Keep in mind these safety tips:
• Equipment should come no closer than 10 feet from overhead lines. Even if a line is not directly contacted, electricity can arc.
• When moving equipment from field to field, always lower any attachments—even if you’re only moving it a few yards.
• Use a spotter when moving big equipment or big loads. And never attempt to move a power line in your path—always contact your co-op for help.
HAPPENINGS
Hungry for a good time? Pour on the fun at the 20th annual Heritage Syrup Festival in Henderson. The festival, running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 8, has a lot on its plate, including folk art demonstrations and antique tractor and car shows. But the sweetest attraction is the ribbon cane syrup, made the old-fashioned way with a mule-powered syrup mill.
From the syrup-making on the Depot Museum grounds, the festivities spread six blocks to Heritage Square in the National Register Historic District. A hay-ride shuttle will operate all day between the two locations, with a bevy of activities and demonstrations on tap, including storytelling and clog and square dancing performances. While the syrup cooks, folk artists will demonstrate lace-making, rope-making, basket-making, blacksmithing, woodcarving and quilting.
For more information, call 1-866-650-5529, ext. 800, or (903) 657-4303 or visit www.depotmuseum.com.
A HISTORIC EL PASO BEAUTY
The jewel of El Paso’s nearly century-old Camino Real Hotel, which once gave visitors a bird’s-eye view of skirmishes across the border in Ciudad Juárez during the Mexican Revolution, is its magnificent Dome Bar. The two-story room, lined with rose-colored gypsum columns, is dominated by a 25-foot Tiffany stained-glass dome that illuminates a central circular bar. The magnificent space is complemented by the Dome Restaurant, which features stained glass windows and large crystal chandeliers.
An expansion in 1986 and a renovation that began in 2004 added modern looks and conveniences to the Camino Real complex, which opened in 1912 as the Paso Del Norte Hotel. The hotel’s original two towers, designed by architects Trost and Trost, who were responsible for more than 200 buildings in El Paso, flank a central courtyard that gives every room a view. The hotel is across from the city’s convention center, art museum and the renovated Plaza Theater.
—From Historic Hotels of Texas: A Traveler’s Guide, Texas A&M University Press, first edition, 2007
CO-OP PEOPLE: A Doggone Good Showing
Here’s to Bill McFarlin and Star, his Brittany spaniel, who were the classiest duo on CBS’s “Greatest American Dog” reality show this summer. Bill and Star, of Flint, are members of Cherokee County Electric Co-op.
The doe-eyed Star won many of the earlier competitions but was eliminated August 27 for using her doggie smarts on a stunt trick. She was supposed to leap off a tall gantry because McFarlin was calling her. She had a harness on but she didn’t know that, so she didn’t jump. Maybe she should have gotten an award for being “Smartest American Dog.”
As for the kindly McFarlin, he was the only contestant to give dog-handling tips to the other contestants.
WHO KNEW?
Nearly 50 years ago—on January 3, 1959—Alaska became part of the U.S., and Texas became offended. The admission of the 49th state, a behemoth in size, toppled Texas from its position as the nation’s biggest. Suddenly Alaska had the bragging rights. Natives of the upstart ex-territory joked that “all the oil is in Alaska and all the dipsticks are in Texas.”
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