How can the Southern power grid handle months of blistering heat with everyone blasting air conditioners, but can’t handle two days below freezing?
In: 1150
1. Different equipment is used to heat and cool.
The heating equipment is not as well-maintained or efficient as the cooling equipment. It won’t work as well and is more likely to break. The cooling equipment gets a lot more use and attention so it is simply better. It has to be. But people in warm climates don’t spend a lot on heating equipment.
2. Parts can freeze.
intense cold can freeze components, causing breakage. Heavy snow and ice can weigh down and break roofs and coverings, exposing parts to breakage, freezing, etc. Water getting inside things can then turn to ice and expand (water is the thing that gets bigger when colder, unlike pretty much anything else). This makes water pipes burst and anything full of water can break too.
3. Water is not good for electrical equipment.
Snow is wet. Ice is wet. Rain is wet. And when things freeze, they can contract (get smaller) allowing gaps where moisture can get inside things it normally couldn’t. Also rubber gaskets and seals freeze and lose their ability to be flexible and maintain their seal. So moisture gets in and shorts out equipment.
4. Snow and ice prevent people form accessing equipment quickly and easily so fixing repairs takes much longer in cold.
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