Re: Grand Apagon - Electricity (not) in Spain

On 5/11/2025 12:25 PM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

Not with pine needles in a corner of the roof shaded by said tree!

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Ok...

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Most frontier style roofs, here, have a wall that surrounds the
roof (three sides) above the roof level.  So, there is always a
dead spot where debris accumulates (you can see it swirl in these
little pockets as the wind blows).
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And, depending on the season, the sun may be lower in the sky
thus creating a permanent shadow near that wall.
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We have one "bad spot" where I regularly "harvest" 20-30 cubic
feet of pine needles, several times each year.  I use a "snow
shovel" to lift them up over that wall and down onto the ground,
below, where I can later rake them up and discard them.
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Pine needles acidify the "solution" formed when wet.

 I had a place near the beach with such a flat roof. No pines over there.

Pines are some of the few "tall trees" that we have, here -- easily
growing to 50 ft.  Their needles shed continuously (not at a single
season like deciduous trees).
A neighbor with three such trees recently felled theirs.  This appears
to have dramatically reduced the accumulation on the roof (despite
a 25 ft pine being located nearby).
I suspect the number of such tall pines falling in local microbursts
may have played a part in their decision to remove the trees.  Previously,
they had claimed any of the trees falling on our property would be treated
as "act of god" in terms of insurance coverage.  I suspect they eventually
realized said trees falling onto THEIR property would similarly be treated!
oops!

Because the power cords of the UPSs are longer than the power cords of
each of the workstations AND THEIR ASSOCIATED PERIPHERALS.

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I'd just use a cable extender.

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You need to have multiple receptacles on the load end as there
are multiple loads to be plugged to each UPS.  I.e., use an
outlet strip.  Hey! A UPS can act as an outlet strip!  :>
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The UPS per workstation was a handy approach as it let me power down
(or up) everything that the workstation would typically need,
beyond just the "CPU".  E.g., scanners, digitizing tablets,
external drives, etc.

 Sure, yes. My extenders have multiple receptacles, typically 3, and 5 metres. There are many choices in the supermarket or in Amazon. Many have a switch. Some of them have surge protection and filtering.

My "outlet strips" support 6 receptacles, fused and with switch/indicator.
But, these need to be secured to <something> to avoid flailing around
as connected loads are moved, rearranged, etc.
The UPSs fit nicely atop each associated tower.  Even without the mass of
their internal batteries (removed in favor of the upstream UPS), the
UPS sits in place -- presenting its display (and controls) to the
front where they are easily accessed.  The USB port lets the workstation
talk to the UPS while the NIC lets the network talk to it.
And, they are essentially free (my outlet strips were $30/each).  Their value
lies in the lead content of their batteries which, if depleted, have no value
to *me* (so can be left behind).