I have 29 solar panels to take up every square inch of available space on my roof. Very expensive so I monitor the energy production as well as my usage almost daily. Even during the winter, on a cloudy day, I get some descent production:
@cengland0 29 Panels + that size pure sine inverter don’t come cheap - even after taxpayer subsidy. Grid-tied? (I guess would have to be for the subsidy.)
@RiotDemon I do give back to the grid. It’s a bit complicated how it works though.
In the daytime, I generate more electricity than I use so my meter runs backwards. At night, I take from the grid. It is like I’m using the electric company as a storage battery. I will not need a Tesla battery for any reason because of this.
For billing periods where I generated more than I used, they “bank” the additional production to be used on a later statement. You can carry over the additional production each month and if you have anything in the bank at the end of the year, they will cut you a check but they give you, I believe, 6 cents per kWh which isn’t that much.
I’ve had my system installed for 1 year and 6 days now so I just got a full year of usage data. The net amount (Grid minus Production) is a positive 2310 kWh during the full year. This means I did use 2310 kWh more than I generated which isn’t that bad considering I use that much during each summer month in Florida. At 11 cents per kWh, that is only $254 worth of electricity. If I don’t use any electricity, the electric company still charges an access fee of $20 per month so the cost just to bill each year is $240.
@RedOak I am using micro inverters. Each panel has a tiny inverter underneath instead of having one large inverter for the whole house. The benefit from this is that I can get a status from each panel separately. Also, if there is a shadow on one panel, the rest of the system performs fine. Regular inverters have a problem with that.
I didn’t have enough room on my south facing roof to hold all the panels so I also have some on my west roof. If you use a whole-home inverter, you will need to get a more expensive special one that is capable of handling two separate panel arrays. This doesn’t matter when using micro inverters.
RiotDemon I think it will take me 9 years to break even and then anything after that will be free electricity.
Regarding subsidies, there is a non-refundable one from the IRS. That is also complicated to understand but to simplify, just realize that you are not allowed to get more credit than you paid in taxes. Refundable tax credits allow you to get money back from the government even if you didn’t pay that much taxes – this subsidy does not work that way. Without that tax credit, I estimate it would have taken between 12 to 15 years to break even instead of the 9 years I estimate now.
@cengland0 got it - micro Inverters. The downside would be less efficient to go off grid should energy storage become more practical in the future.
That non-refundable aspect of the tax subsidy is a key one - good point! Can’t carry it forward either, right? That pretty much means the subsidy is only useful to wealthier taxpayers.
@RedOak Not sure if you can carry excess tax credit to the next year or not. Whether you can carry it over may depend on specifically what congress approved. I would speak to a tax expert like an enrolled agent. I pay so much in taxes every year that it didn’t matter to me.
Now, regarding if you can use those panels off grid, you cannot with a micro inverter because they do consume a little electricity from the grid to function. However, you cannot do that with a whole home inverter either. If the grid power goes out but it’s a nice sunny day, you still get no electricity to the house. The code requires that the inverter disconnect the house when the power goes out. This protects the linemen that are working on lines they think are turned off.
A whole-home inverter, if you get the right one, can have a single outlet where you can plug in a few devices directly into the inverter for use while the grid is down – not the whole house. But I would be careful what you plug into that outlet because it has the potential to turn on and off frequently when shadows go over your house.
There may be some special off-grid type of inverter that you can use with a Tesla wall to be completely off grid. I don’t know how those work or if they really exist.
@cengland0 that would be why I personally would resist micro inverter panels. But for grid-tied systems they make perfect sense as you note.
There certainly are code ways to build a system that disconnects from the grid when the grid goes down. That’s the way automatic generator installs work.
BTW, I regularly talk to the power company guys when our grid goes down. They assume people have generators running without shutting off the the grid line to their panel. Wouldn’t we assume the same?
There’s also a selfish reason to cut the panel to grid switch - why unintentionally power your neighbors with your genset?
There certainly are code ways to build a system that disconnects from the grid when the grid goes down. That’s the way automatic generator installs work.
Usually when you have a generator, you do not put power back on the grid like you do when you have solar. It can easily function just like my battery backups for my computers and entertainment systems. They still function without grid power but I never put any of that electricity back on the grid either.
@cengland0 I would sure love to go solar. They don’t call us the sun city for nothing. But I can’t afford the up front costs and the solar sales guys don’t think it’s worth it because I have low usage.
@moondrake I might have higher than average usage because I work from home. I’ve also bought this house in 1994 so I don’t think I’m planning on moving anytime soon. If I took the solar plunge back in 1994, I would be getting free energy right now but I waited too long and now I have to wait another 9 years to break even.
@cengland0 I bought my house in August 2016 with a 36-panel system the last guy purchased. I still haven’t paid anything more than the “grid maintenance fee” which is $21.60/month. I get plenty of sun in Phoenix.
@arthurpitterle That 36 panel system is awesome. I wish I had a roof large enough to hold that many panels.
Technically speaking, if you look at the electric company’s interconnect agreement, they state the maximum size you can add to your residence is 90% of your usage capacity. So that means you aren’t supposed to put in a system that pays 100% of your electric bill. I’m probably at my 90% limit.
Hard to see with this crappy scan of my interconnect agreement but it is 90%.
@cengland0@RiotDemon@moondrake@RedOak
Solar City installed panels on our roof in July 2010. Local electricity availability was getting uncomfortably close to capacity and suppliers were trying to avoid issues related to building new power plant(s). Solar City has a lot of experience w/ installations in CA, but has a different business model here in TX (I think they have similar arrangement in CO).
We signed up for a long-term lease: That means we don’t have the responsibilities (or up-front costs) of ownership. SC arranged for installation, integration with home electrical system and utility grid, AND pays for insurance. Also, if panels are ever damaged during lease period (from say, a hail storm) then SC must repair/replace. Our lease allows us to take them with us if we move or let new owners take over.
We prepaid our 15 year lease, tho there were other pmt options. Solar City got all the local utility and federal rebates (there were both available back then). We paid just under $4000 for everything, including the ginormous inverter, smart meter, & bringing our (1960s) fuse/breaker box up to code. Pretty sure it’s paid for itself already, tho it can be tricky to calculate cost/benefit when elect supplier’s bill is incomplete. The inverter has a transmitter sending generation info to the interwebs, so we can track by the hour via our account on SC site. The smart meter does track consumption vs generation. In the beginning, we were only paid about 1/2 of retail price per excess kwh, but as of last Spring: $.089/kWh charge vs $.072/kWh credit, so closer to 80%.
Can’t get a screenshot of annual production graph to load from here, but it’s about 45,000kWh (average 7,000kWh/yr)
@compunaut Confused. Are you generating 45,000 kWh or 7,000 kWh per year? My 29 panel system has generated 10,800 kWh last year and I paid a whole lot more than $4,000. Either way you got a good deal.
@compunaut that does sound like a reasonable price - although the panels should still be operating at 80% efficiency after 15 years - do you keep the system at that point or turn it in like a car? (As if Solar city and/or Tesla will still be around in 15 years.
Have not seen a lot hard evidence, but had heard those Solar city leases could make the home difficult to sell since not everyone wants to make that extra monthly payment. But I suppose your one-pay lease deal made that a non-issue.
@RedOak Solar City included a guaranteed minimum generation value (don’t remember the number) in the lease. If the panels’ efficiency rate falls off faster than expected (or they fail to repair a damaged panel), it’s conceivable that they’d have to pay us to reach that ‘floor rate’. As was discussed during the original sales presentation, they’d be more likely to replace old, poor-performing panels with new ones than to pay out $$.
Assuming, of course, that they’re still in business.
My power company sends out quarterly energy usage statements, comparing my usage to the neighborhood average, as well as the 10% most efficient neighbors. I love seeing my line on the chart consistently lower than even the most efficient neighbors. Not bad for a all electric 35 year old house with a 35 year old heat pump.
@RedOak My water bill is higher than gas plus electric if you annualize gas. Is does include trash collection, but water is the utility I use the least of the three.
@moondrake I hadn’t broadened the context like that but eyeballing ours, we’re not far off as well - adding electric + gas is very close on an annualized basis to our water bill. And we live well into what is considered a northern heating climate. Nothing temperate about it.
For us the closeness of the numbers comes down to whether we have more than a few A/C days in the summer.
Our sneaky village moved (buried) our trash collection fee on our property tax bills. (Really a hidden, unvoted millage increase.)
I don’t freak out about it. My power bill is consistently almost half the price of anyone I ever talk to, which is a little surprising because the house I rent is older and the windows don’t insulate very well.
Newer a.c., all energy efficient lighting, turn off lights/ceiling fans when I leave the room, insulated curtains in my bedroom, curtains in the living room that I never open to let the hot sun in… Either I’m extremely lucky, or I’ve gotten good at not wasting it.
I have noticed if I look at the energy usage on particular days, whenever I have company, have to turn the a.c. colder, and am using the oven, it spikes a ton. I usually use the cooktop for cooking most of the time, which uses less energy. Or I’ll use the grill outside to not heat the house.
@RiotDemon you have conversations about power consumption with the people you talk to? How does that come up in conversation? ‘Hey Bill, what did you have for dinner last night?’ ‘Oh, about 6kw of energy, you?’
@elimanningface lol. Usually it’s people I work with. It tends to happen in the summer. Someone will inevitably complain about their power bill because of their a.c. running a lot. So I’ll straight up ask how much their bill is and how big their house is. If there’s other people around, they’ll chime in and tell me their info as well. Sometimes during cool periods like we are having now, people will talk about how much they save during the winter.
When I lived with my parents, we compared with our one neighbor. We were always half of hers as well.
@RiotDemon that newer A/C unit can make a big difference if you live in an A/C climate. Our 20+ yr old A/C unit guzzles juice but since we only have a few A/C days per summer, the payback isn’t there to replace it before it dies. I thought it died last summer but Mr. Google showed me it was simply a blown capacitor. $27 and back in business!
So in our case the oven & A/C use about the same amount of electricity. Of course using the oven on an A/C day is a double (triple?) whammy since the A/C has to run extra to take that oven heat out of the house. As you note - grill day.
@RedOak I got bored of the local HVAC service companies telling me my 35yo heat pump couldn’t be repaired anymore. About 6 or 7 years ago I used YouTube and various forums on the interwebs to learn how the system works, and have (so far) been able to repair it myself. A couple capacitors, a blower motor, condenser motor, blower squirrel cage and a relay over those years and it’s still chugging away. Not only managed to nurse this thing along for a few more years, but with the added benefit of saving hundreds on service calls and obscene retail markups the companies charge for parts (as much as 100% markup on fans and motors, and 200%-400% on small parts like caps and relays).
@ruouttaurmind Love it! Kudos! There’s great satisfaction in proving the dump wrong isn’t there?!
Next for me - do I want to mess with installing one of those wonderfully reasonably priced Pioneer mini-splits (from Amazon) - to take the edge off our upstairs?
The reviews are solid but there seem to be stories about needing to buy an HVAC vacuum pump to evacuate the lines - in spite of the compressor being over-charged.
Rent for my apartment includes all utilities, so I don’t stress over the bill. I do make sure to turn off lights and turn the sink all the way off, though. That’s just common sense.
I watch it all the time. My husband’s shop is here and his equipment (welding machine, grinders, drills, etc) are all run off of electric. We have tiered ratings and we get hit pretty hard.
There’s nothing we can do about what he runs, so I’m really cautious about what I run. I quit leaving the PC on during the day (I use a refurbed laptop). It’s brutal in the hot summers, since we don’t run the A/C unless it’s humid (we have a pool, so there’s our cooling system). Last September we put in a clothesline for laundry.
Earlier this month we replaced our washer and dryer. With rebates the washer was practically free (Samsung replacement for the Samsung exploder). We paid an additional $100 for the dryer to get gas since it’s cheaper than electrical.
At some point, we’d like to go solar, but that would mean a new roof as well. And the money isn’t there for that.
I am pushing for him to change out the pool pump to solar. We’ve cut WAY back on running that. It’s the largest suck on energy at this house that we have. (He didn’t believe me, but the energy usage chart our electric company has for individuals changed his mind on that; the pool was set to start at 4 in the morning, and that’s when our usage spiked and stayed heavy until it went off.)
Our utility company provides free current power usage boxes that zigbee wirelessly connect to our “smart meter” on the back of the house and to the Internet. So via an app we can see the impact of turning on or off an appliance/whatever.
And of course the good ol’ Kill-a-watt energy monitoring plug does a nice job of reporting usage of whatever you plug into it.
But I find the competing Rosewill device from Newegg better and more flexible - and only 15 bucks:
@RedOak I like that Rosewill device better than the Kill-A-Watt for items like the refrigerator. Cannot see the data on the screen when the measuring device is behind the fridge.
I pay more for on-peak usage during the summer months, so I keep a keen eye at that time. I pay a lot less for super-off-peak hours, which is when I charge my car.
I am very frugal when it ones to the electric bill. I use only sunlight for lighting during the day. I mainly used my Tablet and cell during the day. I work really hard to keep the bill down. But the trouble starts when hubby gets home in the evening and on the weekends. For some reason he has to have every light on possible. I get so mad because he can’t seem to lift his hand 8 inches or so to turn the lights off when he leaves a room. It’s like I’m the Mom going behind him making sure everything is turned off…
@connorbush That’s better than a perpetual motion machine.
@connorbush Sadly, some people believe this.
@connorbush The trick is to plug it in the wall to get the power going and then quickly move the plug.
If you don’t regularly max out the amp rating of your home wiring, you’re just wasting copper.
I have 29 solar panels to take up every square inch of available space on my roof. Very expensive so I monitor the energy production as well as my usage almost daily. Even during the winter, on a cloudy day, I get some descent production:
@cengland0 how long until you make your money back? Do you have enough to sell to the grid?
@cengland0 29 Panels + that size pure sine inverter don’t come cheap - even after taxpayer subsidy. Grid-tied? (I guess would have to be for the subsidy.)
@RiotDemon I do give back to the grid. It’s a bit complicated how it works though.
In the daytime, I generate more electricity than I use so my meter runs backwards. At night, I take from the grid. It is like I’m using the electric company as a storage battery. I will not need a Tesla battery for any reason because of this.
For billing periods where I generated more than I used, they “bank” the additional production to be used on a later statement. You can carry over the additional production each month and if you have anything in the bank at the end of the year, they will cut you a check but they give you, I believe, 6 cents per kWh which isn’t that much.
I’ve had my system installed for 1 year and 6 days now so I just got a full year of usage data. The net amount (Grid minus Production) is a positive 2310 kWh during the full year. This means I did use 2310 kWh more than I generated which isn’t that bad considering I use that much during each summer month in Florida. At 11 cents per kWh, that is only $254 worth of electricity. If I don’t use any electricity, the electric company still charges an access fee of $20 per month so the cost just to bill each year is $240.
@RedOak I am using micro inverters. Each panel has a tiny inverter underneath instead of having one large inverter for the whole house. The benefit from this is that I can get a status from each panel separately. Also, if there is a shadow on one panel, the rest of the system performs fine. Regular inverters have a problem with that.
I didn’t have enough room on my south facing roof to hold all the panels so I also have some on my west roof. If you use a whole-home inverter, you will need to get a more expensive special one that is capable of handling two separate panel arrays. This doesn’t matter when using micro inverters.
RiotDemon I think it will take me 9 years to break even and then anything after that will be free electricity.
Regarding subsidies, there is a non-refundable one from the IRS. That is also complicated to understand but to simplify, just realize that you are not allowed to get more credit than you paid in taxes. Refundable tax credits allow you to get money back from the government even if you didn’t pay that much taxes – this subsidy does not work that way. Without that tax credit, I estimate it would have taken between 12 to 15 years to break even instead of the 9 years I estimate now.
@cengland0 got it - micro Inverters. The downside would be less efficient to go off grid should energy storage become more practical in the future.
That non-refundable aspect of the tax subsidy is a key one - good point! Can’t carry it forward either, right? That pretty much means the subsidy is only useful to wealthier taxpayers.
@RedOak Not sure if you can carry excess tax credit to the next year or not. Whether you can carry it over may depend on specifically what congress approved. I would speak to a tax expert like an enrolled agent. I pay so much in taxes every year that it didn’t matter to me.
Now, regarding if you can use those panels off grid, you cannot with a micro inverter because they do consume a little electricity from the grid to function. However, you cannot do that with a whole home inverter either. If the grid power goes out but it’s a nice sunny day, you still get no electricity to the house. The code requires that the inverter disconnect the house when the power goes out. This protects the linemen that are working on lines they think are turned off.
A whole-home inverter, if you get the right one, can have a single outlet where you can plug in a few devices directly into the inverter for use while the grid is down – not the whole house. But I would be careful what you plug into that outlet because it has the potential to turn on and off frequently when shadows go over your house.
There may be some special off-grid type of inverter that you can use with a Tesla wall to be completely off grid. I don’t know how those work or if they really exist.
@cengland0 that would be why I personally would resist micro inverter panels. But for grid-tied systems they make perfect sense as you note.
There certainly are code ways to build a system that disconnects from the grid when the grid goes down. That’s the way automatic generator installs work.
BTW, I regularly talk to the power company guys when our grid goes down. They assume people have generators running without shutting off the the grid line to their panel. Wouldn’t we assume the same?
There’s also a selfish reason to cut the panel to grid switch - why unintentionally power your neighbors with your genset?
@RedOak
Usually when you have a generator, you do not put power back on the grid like you do when you have solar. It can easily function just like my battery backups for my computers and entertainment systems. They still function without grid power but I never put any of that electricity back on the grid either.
@cengland0 I would sure love to go solar. They don’t call us the sun city for nothing. But I can’t afford the up front costs and the solar sales guys don’t think it’s worth it because I have low usage.
@moondrake I might have higher than average usage because I work from home. I’ve also bought this house in 1994 so I don’t think I’m planning on moving anytime soon. If I took the solar plunge back in 1994, I would be getting free energy right now but I waited too long and now I have to wait another 9 years to break even.
@cengland0 I bought my house in August 2016 with a 36-panel system the last guy purchased. I still haven’t paid anything more than the “grid maintenance fee” which is $21.60/month. I get plenty of sun in Phoenix.
@cengland0 The technology then wouldn’t have the yields of recent years. 20+ years ago, it was about $8-10/watt.
@arthurpitterle That 36 panel system is awesome. I wish I had a roof large enough to hold that many panels.
Technically speaking, if you look at the electric company’s interconnect agreement, they state the maximum size you can add to your residence is 90% of your usage capacity. So that means you aren’t supposed to put in a system that pays 100% of your electric bill. I’m probably at my 90% limit.
Hard to see with this crappy scan of my interconnect agreement but it is 90%.
@cengland0 @RiotDemon @moondrake @RedOak
Solar City installed panels on our roof in July 2010. Local electricity availability was getting uncomfortably close to capacity and suppliers were trying to avoid issues related to building new power plant(s). Solar City has a lot of experience w/ installations in CA, but has a different business model here in TX (I think they have similar arrangement in CO).
We signed up for a long-term lease: That means we don’t have the responsibilities (or up-front costs) of ownership. SC arranged for installation, integration with home electrical system and utility grid, AND pays for insurance. Also, if panels are ever damaged during lease period (from say, a hail storm) then SC must repair/replace. Our lease allows us to take them with us if we move or let new owners take over.
We prepaid our 15 year lease, tho there were other pmt options. Solar City got all the local utility and federal rebates (there were both available back then). We paid just under $4000 for everything, including the ginormous inverter, smart meter, & bringing our (1960s) fuse/breaker box up to code. Pretty sure it’s paid for itself already, tho it can be tricky to calculate cost/benefit when elect supplier’s bill is incomplete. The inverter has a transmitter sending generation info to the interwebs, so we can track by the hour via our account on SC site. The smart meter does track consumption vs generation. In the beginning, we were only paid about 1/2 of retail price per excess kwh, but as of last Spring: $.089/kWh charge vs $.072/kWh credit, so closer to 80%.
Can’t get a screenshot of annual production graph to load from here, but it’s about 45,000kWh (average 7,000kWh/yr)
@compunaut Confused. Are you generating 45,000 kWh or 7,000 kWh per year? My 29 panel system has generated 10,800 kWh last year and I paid a whole lot more than $4,000. Either way you got a good deal.
@cengland0 --Tried to edit but browser crashed–
45,000kWh TOTAL since 07/2010 (which works out to 7,000kWh/year so far)
@compunaut that does sound like a reasonable price - although the panels should still be operating at 80% efficiency after 15 years - do you keep the system at that point or turn it in like a car? (As if Solar city and/or Tesla will still be around in 15 years.
Have not seen a lot hard evidence, but had heard those Solar city leases could make the home difficult to sell since not everyone wants to make that extra monthly payment. But I suppose your one-pay lease deal made that a non-issue.
@RedOak Solar City included a guaranteed minimum generation value (don’t remember the number) in the lease. If the panels’ efficiency rate falls off faster than expected (or they fail to repair a damaged panel), it’s conceivable that they’d have to pay us to reach that ‘floor rate’. As was discussed during the original sales presentation, they’d be more likely to replace old, poor-performing panels with new ones than to pay out $$.
Assuming, of course, that they’re still in business.
The county where I live supposedly has the cheapest electricity in the U.S…now I just need to buy a Tesla.
My power company sends out quarterly energy usage statements, comparing my usage to the neighborhood average, as well as the 10% most efficient neighbors. I love seeing my line on the chart consistently lower than even the most efficient neighbors.
Not bad for a all electric 35 year old house with a 35 year old heat pump. 
@ruouttaurmind Not me. I’m not horrible on the graph, but many are better.
It may be the computers I leave on all the time.
@craigthom It’s pretty easy for me to outperform the neighbors… just me and my roommate in a neighborhood that’s predominantly loaded with families.
@craigthom Me too. I think it’s that, the Tivos and the fridge that runs 24/7. It’s being replaced…
Living in California my eyes have been on water usage more than energy these last few years.
@huja damn right. Even tho we are surrounded by Great Lakes our water bill averages out to more per month than our electric bill by a painful amount.
@RedOak My water bill is higher than gas plus electric if you annualize gas. Is does include trash collection, but water is the utility I use the least of the three.
@moondrake I hadn’t broadened the context like that but eyeballing ours, we’re not far off as well - adding electric + gas is very close on an annualized basis to our water bill. And we live well into what is considered a northern heating climate. Nothing temperate about it.
For us the closeness of the numbers comes down to whether we have more than a few A/C days in the summer.
Our sneaky village moved (buried) our trash collection fee on our property tax bills. (Really a hidden, unvoted millage increase.)
@huja My water bill kept going up every month. Finally I noticed a neighborhood cat drinking from a spot in my yard.
You might think this was a new spring rising to the surface, but it was, in fact, a leak in my water line. It’s fixed now.
I don’t freak out about it. My power bill is consistently almost half the price of anyone I ever talk to, which is a little surprising because the house I rent is older and the windows don’t insulate very well.
Newer a.c., all energy efficient lighting, turn off lights/ceiling fans when I leave the room, insulated curtains in my bedroom, curtains in the living room that I never open to let the hot sun in… Either I’m extremely lucky, or I’ve gotten good at not wasting it.
I have noticed if I look at the energy usage on particular days, whenever I have company, have to turn the a.c. colder, and am using the oven, it spikes a ton. I usually use the cooktop for cooking most of the time, which uses less energy. Or I’ll use the grill outside to not heat the house.
@RiotDemon you have conversations about power consumption with the people you talk to? How does that come up in conversation? ‘Hey Bill, what did you have for dinner last night?’ ‘Oh, about 6kw of energy, you?’
@elimanningface lol. Usually it’s people I work with. It tends to happen in the summer. Someone will inevitably complain about their power bill because of their a.c. running a lot. So I’ll straight up ask how much their bill is and how big their house is. If there’s other people around, they’ll chime in and tell me their info as well. Sometimes during cool periods like we are having now, people will talk about how much they save during the winter.
When I lived with my parents, we compared with our one neighbor. We were always half of hers as well.
@RiotDemon that newer A/C unit can make a big difference if you live in an A/C climate. Our 20+ yr old A/C unit guzzles juice but since we only have a few A/C days per summer, the payback isn’t there to replace it before it dies. I thought it died last summer but Mr. Google showed me it was simply a blown capacitor. $27 and back in business!
So in our case the oven & A/C use about the same amount of electricity. Of course using the oven on an A/C day is a double (triple?) whammy since the A/C has to run extra to take that oven heat out of the house. As you note - grill day.
@RedOak I got bored of the local HVAC service companies telling me my 35yo heat pump couldn’t be repaired anymore. About 6 or 7 years ago I used YouTube and various forums on the interwebs to learn how the system works, and have (so far) been able to repair it myself. A couple capacitors, a blower motor, condenser motor, blower squirrel cage and a relay over those years and it’s still chugging away. Not only managed to nurse this thing along for a few more years, but with the added benefit of saving hundreds on service calls and obscene retail markups the companies charge for parts (as much as 100% markup on fans and motors, and 200%-400% on small parts like caps and relays).
@ruouttaurmind Love it! Kudos! There’s great satisfaction in proving the dump wrong isn’t there?!
Next for me - do I want to mess with installing one of those wonderfully reasonably priced Pioneer mini-splits (from Amazon) - to take the edge off our upstairs?
The reviews are solid but there seem to be stories about needing to buy an HVAC vacuum pump to evacuate the lines - in spite of the compressor being over-charged.
Rent for my apartment includes all utilities, so I don’t stress over the bill. I do make sure to turn off lights and turn the sink all the way off, though. That’s just common sense.
I watch it all the time. My husband’s shop is here and his equipment (welding machine, grinders, drills, etc) are all run off of electric. We have tiered ratings and we get hit pretty hard.
There’s nothing we can do about what he runs, so I’m really cautious about what I run. I quit leaving the PC on during the day (I use a refurbed laptop). It’s brutal in the hot summers, since we don’t run the A/C unless it’s humid (we have a pool, so there’s our cooling system). Last September we put in a clothesline for laundry.
Earlier this month we replaced our washer and dryer. With rebates the washer was practically free (Samsung replacement for the Samsung exploder). We paid an additional $100 for the dryer to get gas since it’s cheaper than electrical.
At some point, we’d like to go solar, but that would mean a new roof as well. And the money isn’t there for that.
I am pushing for him to change out the pool pump to solar. We’ve cut WAY back on running that. It’s the largest suck on energy at this house that we have. (He didn’t believe me, but the energy usage chart our electric company has for individuals changed his mind on that; the pool was set to start at 4 in the morning, and that’s when our usage spiked and stayed heavy until it went off.)
@lisaviolet a lot of people are surprised by the power consumption of a pool pump, even in a hot tub, even with no heater. Do you have it on a timer?
Putting easily isolatable things like a pool pump on solar can ease the implementation cost and break it into pieces.
@RedOak It is on a timer. And solar is in our future, for sure.
Our utility company provides free current power usage boxes that zigbee wirelessly connect to our “smart meter” on the back of the house and to the Internet. So via an app we can see the impact of turning on or off an appliance/whatever.
And of course the good ol’ Kill-a-watt energy monitoring plug does a nice job of reporting usage of whatever you plug into it.
But I find the competing Rosewill device from Newegg better and more flexible - and only 15 bucks:
@RedOak I like that Rosewill device better than the Kill-A-Watt for items like the refrigerator. Cannot see the data on the screen when the measuring device is behind the fridge.
If the lights come on that’s good. If they don’t, that’s bad.
I pay more for on-peak usage during the summer months, so I keep a keen eye at that time. I pay a lot less for super-off-peak hours, which is when I charge my car.
@PocketBrain You can use a Tesla wall to store some of your off-peak energy to use during peak hours.
@cengland0 but even the installer wholesale price of $3,000 for the remaining uncancelled smaller Powerwall model is quite a swallow.
My Volt has been giving me a “low fuel” warning for the last couple of weeks. I wonder what I should do about that…
I am very frugal when it ones to the electric bill. I use only sunlight for lighting during the day. I mainly used my Tablet and cell during the day. I work really hard to keep the bill down. But the trouble starts when hubby gets home in the evening and on the weekends. For some reason he has to have every light on possible. I get so mad because he can’t seem to lift his hand 8 inches or so to turn the lights off when he leaves a room. It’s like I’m the Mom going behind him making sure everything is turned off…
@teddy1781 invest in motion sensor lights?
Utilities included!