Electricity usage

[ultrarunner]

My usage was 34kwh per day in western NY. I was able to drop is to 7kwh per day. Those air conditioning units are hogs. Last bill was $366 highest I have ever saw it.

Impressive drop in usage.

 

[ultrarunner]

In the 3100SF house we average 14KWH a day in summer and 20KWH day in winter months and pay $.25KWH (elec dryer, gas stove, oil boiler for heat and DHW).

The garage has a 7.2KW solar system on its own service entrance, which generates 8100 KWH a year and they pay us same rate for over production as we pay for the house. So effectively we pay for 1500-2000 KWH a year or $500 plus the $30/month meters/connection fee.

The buyback for excess production has been cut way back for new installs.

The meter fee last I checked is around $15 month.

Yesterday, I was running numbers for a friend and figured out his koi pond with pump filtration, aerator and UV light on 24/7 is costing about $5 a day.

My only question is if it is possible to cut back and his opinion was no…

A 20% reduction in run time would save a dollar a day or $30 a month…

 

[Carl_NH]

Yes, I am grandfathered into net metering at the current "delivered" price per KWH and this went away in 2020. Now net metering you get the cost of electricity, not the delivered cost so around .09 cents per KWH.

I looked into expanding our array to 10KW from 7.2 - panels and inverter installed was like 12K for 9 more panels, and I would need to "reapply" and lose my grandfathered net metering. No go.

 

[ultrarunner]

I’m grandfathered also but it is for 20 years and the it resets…

Some neighbors have sweet deals on non owned systems.

One home had a grow operation with lots of solar and the place went foreclosure and bought by a lawyer.

The solar company did not protect its lien status at the foreclosure sale.

The solar company threatened to remove the panels and the lawyer said not happening as you lost your rights at foreclosure…

Lawyer did say he is willing to negotiate a new contract and they came to terms… and he really made out… at least for the contract term.

Home had so much excess production he went all electric and added a in-ground pool…

 

[grsthegreat]

My usage was 34kwh per day in western NY. I was able to drop is to 7kwh per day. Those air conditioning units are hogs. Last bill was $366 highest I have ever saw it.

Yeiks….thats like a few light bulbs. My problem is i have a 4000 sf home. Why, i dont know. Thees only 2 of us.

 

[MarkF48]

The 'Rate per KWH' is a the supply and distribution rate combined plus any added fees. Wife and myself, electric hot water, electric stove/oven, well water supply. Two window mounted AC's occasionally used in the Summer, dehumidifier in the cellar in the Summer. Laundry gets hung out when weather cooperates rather than using the clothes dryer.

 

[jk96]

Yeiks….thats like a few light bulbs. My problem is i have a 4000 sf home. Why, i dont know. Thees only 2 of us.

Same here. I see some of these numbers posted and wonder how that's even possible. But then again like you we are 4,400 sq ft. All electric, no gas. 2 water heaters. 2 refrigerators. 2 deep freezers. A washer and dryer that seems to run non stop. Solar was well worth the investment.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yeiks….thats like a few light bulbs. My problem is i have a 4000 sf home. Why, i dont know. Thees only 2 of us.

For the long winters it’s nice to have spacious inside space…

 

[ponytug]

Same here. I see some of these numbers posted and wonder how that's even possible. But then again like you we are 4,400 sq ft. All electric, no gas. 2 water heaters. 2 refrigerators. 2 deep freezers. A washer and dryer that seems to run non stop. Solar was well worth the investment.

Speaking from experience, high efficiency washers and dryers made a huge difference to our energy consumption. (Front loaders use less hot water, and high spin cycle gets more water out of the clothes, and a heat pump dryer uses a small fraction of the energy in a standard electric dryer. So less hot water gets used, less of it ends up in the dryer, so we save energy several ways. But then we have solar, but it is not unlimited, so energy use does matter, at least to us.

All the best,

Peter

 

[rontaki]

Speaking from experience, high efficiency washers and dryers made a huge difference to our energy consumption. (Front loaders use less hot water, and high spin cycle gets more water out of the clothes, and a heat pump dryer uses a small fraction of the energy in a standard electric dryer. So less hot water gets used, less of it ends up in the dryer, so we save energy several ways. But then we have solar, but it is not unlimited, so energy use does matter, at least to us.

All the best,

Peter

I consider my electric clothes dryer to be a solar dryer if being powered by the solar panels.