what on earth does electricity cost near you?

   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #721  
NorCal just went to summer rates for electric power, and I got my PG&E bill yesterday.

My usage is the same (11-12KWh/day), but my bill went up 23%, to $122. As utility rates increase, and solar becomes less expensive (or increases at slower rate), more and more situations will benefit from some sort of solar installation. IF you don't move in a few years. 8y is the commonly-used payback period.

Boring, passive ways of saving energy (e.g. concrete construction) still don't get much traction vs. hi-tech solutions.
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #722  
Yep… 360 kWh a month is year round average but the cost has quadrupled since I started paying moms bills.

Nothing really to cut back on unless more clothes on the line but I’m not here all the time…

LED lighting is one of those miracles that come along once in a Blue Moon… as Microwave in the 60’s.

Some say Induction Cooking is similar but I can’t say…

Last November the house across the way put up a 60’ strand of micro LED bought online for holiday decoration.

Almost 9 months of nightly use and still working and lit all night… simply amazing from a 6x6 inch solar panel charging the battery during the day…
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #723  
NorCal just went to summer rates for electric power, and I got my PG&E bill yesterday.

My usage is the same (11-12KWh/day), but my bill went up 23%, to $122. As utility rates increase, and solar becomes less expensive (or increases at slower rate), more and more situations will benefit from some sort of solar installation. IF you don't move in a few years. 8y is the commonly-used payback period.

Boring, passive ways of saving energy (e.g. concrete construction) still don't get much traction vs. hi-tech solutions.
Don't get me wrong, I would love a concrete earth home, but it is just a little more expensive than a solar array on an existing home with a sunny roof. Rather like the cost to double the wall and window insulation on our house that has no reasonable ROI.

I find it interesting that for many applications in the US, it is cheaper to put solar panels on a roof for heating than it is to put a solar air or water heater on a roof for heat.

All the best,

Peter
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #724  
I find that some "warm" areas are adverse to insulation - American south, and Australia spring to mind.... it's just not done, to the extent I'm used to here.

Wire up extra tons of A/C.... that's a different story :cool: .

Rgds, D.
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #725  
Homes built to sell are the bulk here with large builders building out tracts.

It is less common to find homes built with much thought far into the future as upgraded insulation, windows, roof, etc...

Gone are the days when Utility Company offered incentives for all electric Medallion Homes of the 60's and water companies gave special rates to golf courses and such.

If the plan is to own forever as many of my Euro friends do with property passed down hundreds of years the mindset is very different.

10, 20, 30 year or longer paybacks make sense...

Not so much when average family moves every 7 years if this number is still correct.
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #726  
Just spoke to one of my friends in Austria and the energy situation in Europe is anything but certain...

Electricity escalating and natural gas may not be available...

About 20-25 years ago Natural Gas and Propane knocked the socks off heating oil and electricity and many took the plunge saving lots with short payback for converting to gas.

Austria building code which required new construction to have chimney for wood combustion even if buried in the wall now look very far sighted because there is a surge in demand for wood and wood stoves...

There are still planners that remember what happens when self sufficiency is secondary or replaced by the Green Movement.

Nuclear Power is getting new life as is Coal and Biomass is viable...

Not much room to expand hydro but mountainous country's have the advantage being able to have Hydro where mostly flat geography doesn't.

I am surprised how PV panels are making inroads in Northern latitudes plus Wind is viable in some coastal areas...

Not much geothermal options for most...

Even back in the 70's solar rooftop water heaters or pre heaters were embraced... as well as methane digesters just started making inroads to small family dairy and pig farms...
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #727  
What kinda crack are they smoking at that site? It says a bit over 15c/KWh for San Jose, CA. My bill is very complicated (e.g. generation is separated from delivery), but I paid $99 for a total of 343 KWh for the month. That comes out to be 29 cents ave for each KWh that month.

The next KWh I use would be 51.03 cents during peak hours, and 48.4 cents otherwise.
It's probably before all the usage fees and other charges are added in. My electricity usage is only around $20 to $40 a month. Fuel surcharge is $40, line usage is $$, ect..... total electricity bill was $150 for this month.
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #728  
I find that some "warm" areas are adverse to insulation - American south, and Australia spring to mind.... it's just not done, to the extent I'm used to here.

Wire up extra tons of A/C.... that's a different story :cool: .

Rgds, D.
That's something I noticed as well but mainly in older home. House we purchased here in 2010 had about 3.5" of insulation in the attic. Had one elctric exhaust fan in the roof to vent the attic heat. Fan motor was locked up.

You could feel the heat radiating down from the attic in the summer.

I had a new roof installed with Ridge vents to take advantage of all the soffits.

As well as adding 10" of insulation in the attic.

Home also had old aluminum framed windows that wicked the heat and cold into the house. Replaced those with high end double pained windows.

Electric bill dropped $60 a month. Windows and insulation payed for themselves in 10 years.

Newer homes are being built to better standards. Minimum of 10" of insulation. Vinyl double pained windows, ect.....

Can't really say I'm a fan of the heat wicking of the current brick home we are in now though. New build, brick, probably 2x4 walls, so only 3.5" of insulation. But honestly if we had some trees, and 2x6 walls, it would be a huge difference though. But I can't really complain since it's a rental.

I already plan on a window update, as well as insulation and attic venting when we purchase a new home if they haven't already been done.
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #729  
Don't get me wrong, I would love a concrete earth home, but it is just a little more expensive than a solar array on an existing home with a sunny roof. Rather like the cost to double the wall and window insulation on our house that has no reasonable ROI.

I find it interesting that for many applications in the US, it is cheaper to put solar panels on a roof for heating than it is to put a solar air or water heater on a roof for heat.

All the best,

Peter
I designed our house to have passive solar features but we did not go overboard with the design. It is not that hard to design in these features and our house is 2x6 construction with brick veneer. We do have a finished concrete floor for several reasons, but from an energy perspective, it adds mass which helps moderate the temperature. The trick is to not let the mass get too hot or cold depending on the season...

Years ago, I attended a renewable energy course that was taught by a builder who had built quite a few homes with solar power installations. The PV supplemented the energy usage and in no way replaced the need for grid power. One of the interesting conversations we had was about PV panels to heat water vs a water heater. He had stopped using water heaters, I think because of cost and maintenance issues, but at some price point, it would make sense to just add PV panels to the roof to heat water.

A local guy had solar hot water panels on his roof. His house had a fire and he had to rebuild. He did not reuse the undamaged hot water panels and he has advertised the panels for years, but has gotten no takers, even though the heaters were FREE.

Later,
Dan
 
   / what on earth does electricity cost near you? #730  
Just spoke to one of my friends in Austria and the energy situation in Europe is anything but certain...

Electricity escalating and natural gas may not be available...

About 20-25 years ago Natural Gas and Propane knocked the socks off heating oil and electricity and many took the plunge saving lots with short payback for converting to gas.

Austria building code which required new construction to have chimney for wood combustion even if buried in the wall now look very far sighted because there is a surge in demand for wood and wood stoves...

There are still planners that remember what happens when self sufficiency is secondary or replaced by the Green Movement.
...
Europe was having an energy crisis at the end of last year due to their government policies. That got worse in the early winter, and then nosedived with Putin's War. it is going to get really nasty this fall, if not sooner.... The US is having energy crisis because of government policies and it is going to get really bad here if there is not a change.

Ireland had to form a coalition government in the last year or so. The two big parties that usually go in an out of power, did not have enough votes to form a government, so they had to band together with the Green party. The head of the Green party was made a Minister and one of the things he controls is Climate.

A few months ago, well into the energy crisis, he announced that due to some small number of debatable death cause by coal burning, that NO solid fuel burning would be allowed after this summer. This include peat, wood, coal, and I think pellets. Now, many people in rural Ireland depend on solid fuel for heat, especially wood and peat. The Minister has not provided any idea on how these homes will be heated next winter if the ban went into affect. The stupidity of this is astounding. Even if the Irish Government would pay to retrofit heat pumps into these houses, they do not have the HVAC techs and suppliers, to do the work. Course, all of these new heat pumps would require electrical power, at a time of increasing energy prices, and it would almost certainly be impossible for the Irish grid to supply the power....

The Irish government appear to be about to fail, everyone is looking at the UK, but Ireland has similar issues. I don't think anyone has a clue how this is going to pan out.

Later,
Dan
 
 
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