Cutting power use to the bone.

[bnold]

Yikes! Don't think I'd want your electric bill!! We don't use much more than that a month.

And that is often where there is such disagreement on solar and paybacks, ROI, etc…

If my typical usage was 100kwh/month, I’m not even sure what I’d do with all that extra money, that would be a decent raise! Definitely wouldn’t have solar.

My solar generated about $3,000 worth of power last year and I still had hefty power bills (looking to expand generation). About 20MWh. (Tracking about $3,500 this year with higher rates)


At 1,200kwh/year for Oaktree, the monthly connection fee would be the majority of my bill, I’d be less than $500/yr all in for power.

 

[Dftodd]

Good insulation makes a huge difference. Nothing so modern here, just an 1830s vintage farmhouse, but it's plank construction so that means 4" thick solid wood walls (lotsa fun updating wiring in outside walls!). No idea what the R value is of them, I did add 1" foam board between the strapping for drywall in the 2 rooms I gutted (kitchen & bathroom). 2nd floor ceiling is a bunch of poured in Zonolite-type stuff with 6" fiberglass over it. Holds the heat/cool quite well for an old house.

I agree about the insulation and will add that the windows and doors make a huge difference as well.

We had a couple issues when we purchased our last home. Insulation was 3.5" deep in the attic. Attic had a burned out exhaust fan. So the attic didn't ventilate.

We also had double pane windows with the aluminum frames.

The windows wicked the cold in the winter and that first summer we realized that the attic needed to be addressed when heat radiated into the house from the attic.

After that first winter I came home with 32 bags of blown in insulation and the machine to install it.

Added 10" of insulation to the attic. And that last bag of insulation was used to cover the main ductwork for the air handler.

I also had a roofing company come in and replace the roof and install ridge vents.

Between the two we saw a huge savings in our electric bill that summer. And boy was it hot outside!!!! The month of August we were seeing Temps from 105° to a couple days it hit 120°

Ac would kick on for 20 minutes, twice an hour during the day and maintained a nice 74° temp inside the house.

A year later we replaced the aluminum framed windows with modern high efficiency windows.

Our electric bill made another drastic drop.

Heat pump would kick on for 15 minutes once an hour during the hottest part of the summer

 

[Diggin It]

I've been using about 12KwHrs a day on average recently. Last month or so has seen highs in the upper 80s, but lows in the 50s. I open everything I can at night to let that cool air in, then close most of it during the day to keep the cool in. House can drop to 68/69 in the morning and only gets to about 77 or 78 late in the afternoon. AC hasn't been on for over a month.

I keep lights on in most rooms nearly full time, just so I don't have to fumble about for a switch. But nearly every light inside and out is LED and they don't pull 200 watts total. Many are less than a watt.

I use a mix of LP and electric for heat since I pulled the wood stove, but I only keep the house at 65 or less and wear sweats. Light bulbs for heat doesn't make sense here as it would cost more than what I do.

 

[5030]

We have been curtailing juice use as well as our per KWH rates increase. Only big 'draw' now is the shop but, it's on a separate meter and 3 phase.

Living expenses keep increasing, the value of the dollar keeps decreasing and everything is getting more and more expensive so it's prudent to conserve as much as possible.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Another source of wasted energy that many overlook are all those tiny LED lights on appliances and electronic devices. Sure, each individual LED doesn't use much but many homes have several dozen burning 24/7. Just turn off the lights and walk around the house at night. You'll be amazed at how many there are.

Some LED's in hard wired appliances or those used frequently are difficult to turn off. You can however, unplug infrequently used devices like cell phone chargers, A/V equipment, PC's, etc.

One estimate I read claims the average home wastes 100 watts per hour, which is equivalent to 2.4 KWH per day or 72 KWH per month!

 

[Rustyiron]

I will challenge your statement that green energy is not real.

In November this year it will be 4 years that we have had a 7.5k solar array online.
At that anniversary I expect to have generated 36 mega-watt-hours of juice.
About 22 kwh per day average. This has completely offset the monthly electric bill.
I've said before that my favorite thing is when one of us leaves a light on or something I say "do you think we get free electricity around here?"
She says "matter of fact, yes I do".


It is real. It is here. Pretending will not make it go away but your belief system is yours and YMMV

regards,

R

This is the way that it does work, of course depending on what various tax credits or subsidies.
But if it weren't for the "grid", that still has distribution and BIG costs in maintaining and improving. (that you're non solar neighbor is paying for)
I believe that it all falls apart without the local utility's involvement.
I don't know the answer to this but I know so far it's been mostly a subsidy or tax credit item for big investors with no real environmental concerns other than "virtue signaling" at cocktail parties in the beltway or wall street.

 

[Roric]

I've been using about 12KwHrs a day on average recently. Last month or so has seen highs in the upper 80s, but lows in the 50s. I open everything I can at night to let that cool air in, then close most of it during the day to keep the cool in. House can drop to 68/69 in the morning and only gets to about 77 or 78 late in the afternoon. AC hasn't been on for over a month.

I keep lights on in most rooms nearly full time, just so I don't have to fumble about for a switch. But nearly every light inside and out is LED and they don't pull 200 watts total. Many are less than a watt.

I use a mix of LP and electric for heat since I pulled the wood stove, but I only keep the house at 65 or less and wear sweats. Light bulbs for heat doesn't make sense here as it would cost more than what I do.

Good for you getting your KWH usage down.

We have used an average of 25KWH per day, 750 per month, 9000 KWH per year.
Our 7.5KW solar array produces about 9000 KWH per year so it has been a wash,
(not counting the myriad of added fees, charges and so on that make up our bill.)

After doing a litte figuring, we have moved to EV's for our transportation.
Namely, a 2021 Mitsubishi plug-in-hybrid and a 2023 Chevy Bolt (2LT).
Our added KWH for these vehicles is about 200KWH per month total.

Preliminary savings estimates are about $150 per month compared to our former vehicles.
Those could be averaged at 25mpg. Electric cost versus gasoline cost outlay.
Gasoline is still, much less frequently, needed for the Outlander but most trips
are made using the battery in it.

We don't drive a great deal but we have a all-wheel-drive for the snowy months
and road trips, and both are great for the small trips that are in the majority.

regards,

R

 

[Roric]

This is the way that it does work, of course depending on what various tax credits or subsidies.
But if it weren't for the "grid", that still has distribution and BIG costs in maintaining and improving. (that you're non solar neighbor is paying for)
I believe that it all falls apart without the local utility's involvement.
I don't know the answer to this but I know so far it's been mostly a subsidy or tax credit item for big investors with no real environmental concerns other than "virtue signaling" at cocktail parties in the beltway or wall street.

Please refer to post #30...

R

 

[Rustyiron]

Nothing is subsided to the degree of the so called "green energy". It's been a while since I've seen the numbers.
I wasn't downing your solar setup, mainly wondering how it could be more widespread (accessible/affordable) without penalizing the people who just can't jump in with increased electricity bills or massive tax dollars driving the fad for the well to do.
Our electric bill is only around $120/month, we just don't use much electricity with a small, super insulated home with a large shop. Both heated with wood via hot water radiant from a gasification wood boiler with very efficient mini split heat pump. Solar just doesn't "pencil out" for us at our usage. From what I've understand Maine is in the top 5 for the highest electricity rates, the latest big jump was for solar subsidies. This is basically irrelevant with our use, but there's a lot of old/low/fixed income folks in this state that are really going to have problems this winter largely due to current energy policies out of DC.

 

[Roric]

I can only ask that you take a closer look at subsidies.
The solar and EV and wind subsidies are minuscule when stood against existing oil, natural gas and nuclear. Take as long as you want with that.
All these are out of D.C.

regards,

R