All-electric systems not dependable – yet
I just finished reading the Town Crier’s Dec. 25 letter to the editor, “LA council: Revisit ban on natural gas.”
City officials, please listen up! You do not want to ban natural gas from stoves, water heaters or heating –yet.
Two years ago I had an HVAC system installed that would use either gas or electric, as I knew I’d be installing a solar electric system. I was going to have the 40-year-old floor heater removed until one of the men told me to leave it in in case the power went out. That turned out to be very wise, even though I also had a backup battery installed with the solar system.
Due to circumstances, I came to understand my HVAC system hadn’t originally been properly set up, and I needed to turn it off for the last week until tech support could be reached. I could do this because I still had the floor heater, while I had freezing temperatures in my yard.
The solar system and backup battery are working fine. I knew the benefit of the battery from living with a solar system off the grid in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Without a backup battery, if the electricity goes off, you need a generator, which uses gas and creates a lot of noise. The indoor propane heaters I’m acquainted with, by experience, still should have ventilation, no matter the instructions.
With PG&E doing rolling blackouts and generally being irresponsible to its customers, we cannot yet depend on all-electric, no matter how green we want to be.
Betty Byrne
Los Altos
Thanks to founders of Zimbabwe run
Bravo to Ellen and Bill Clark for their enthusiastic support of the Run for Zimbabwe Orphans and Fair.
I have known Ellen for 40 years and she has always been a dynamo!
Congratulations and thank you to both of them.
Cathy Kordsmeier
Los Altos
