anyone have solar panels on their home?

[Blonde Granny]

We had 10 solar panels on our house in Florida. They had to face the south, and we used them to heat the pool during the winter. Keeping the cover on the pool to reduce heat loss, we could easily keep the pool at 90 degrees. Our cost in 1996 was $10K for the 10 panels. At that time Florida was giving a no sales tax deal on any alternative heating methods, and that was a good price break.

Can solar panels now provide the power necessary to run a/c? Is it central AC or window units? Seems to me like a big job, and do you have a south exposure for the roof?

[Mardi Gras Audrey]

We have solar on our house.  I love it!  Our electric bill is $4-$5 per month (We have PG&E).  We have a 3500 sq foot house with an inground pool (Big pump). Our house is at like 75 degrees (DH likes it cooler) and it has been 95+ degrees (Last weekend over 100) the last few months.

We purchased the house with the solar already installed so we didn't have to deal with the installation so that was nice. PG&E will let you do "time of day" billing where you get credit for the kwH based on what time of day you produced it.  So we get credits for daytime production (at highest/peak cost) and then buy power back from them at night (lowest/off peak cost) when we are home/using the energy.

We probably produce more than we use (Just 2 of us and some cats) but I have no issues paying a few bucks every month for the infrastructure/grid to be maintained. 

[garion2003]

Aug 19, 2015 15:50:35 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

thanks, @empressspunkles. the roof is brand new, and the structure was reinforced as part of the renovations with the flip. you can see the new beams in the crawl space, we went poking around during home inspection. I can easily see people not considering the additional weight on the roof though... hopefully people learn from that story!

umm....I have Eversource, aka NSTAR. the Cape is ridiculously more expensive for utilities than Metrowest was....which is complete BS b/c there's a power plant right here at the other end of the Canal. but no, that power has to be sent up to wherever it goes, and we pay thru the nose for what we use.    I have National Grid for gas, so it's been running $20.xx/month since we turned the heat off. whatever minimal gas for cooking and hot water use, it seems quite steady.

I started filling out the Mass Save form online, but it was asking for way more detail than I can remember offhand. I'll finish filling it out probably Friday when I'm at home during the day.

I had Mass Save come out a month or so ago. They will also blow in insulation in the parts that needed it, they will also help fund window replacement (of old single pane windows). I have the details at home but it seemed reasonable, and they also had a low interest loan with a 7 year period. I'm waiting on other issues with refinancing, but once those settle out am thinking of having the insulation and windows done (it would only be 7 windows in total).

[steph08]

Aug 19, 2015 15:02:43 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 19, 2015 14:41:34 GMT -5 midjd said:

How many kWh do you use in a month? $200/mo doesn't seem extreme, but I guess it depends on your electricity rate. 

last bill was 668 kWh, the month before was 402. looks like Feb/March (the first 2 full months in the house) were around 250 kWh.

With kWh that low, I can't see solar panels really saving you a lot of money.

Our most recent electric bill was 1110 kWh (A/C window units suck up a lot of that) and it says our monthly average is 901.

[chiver78]

Aug 20, 2015 7:39:40 GMT -5 garion2003 said:

Aug 19, 2015 15:50:35 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

thanks, @empressspunkles. the roof is brand new, and the structure was reinforced as part of the renovations with the flip. you can see the new beams in the crawl space, we went poking around during home inspection. I can easily see people not considering the additional weight on the roof though... hopefully people learn from that story!

umm....I have Eversource, aka NSTAR. the Cape is ridiculously more expensive for utilities than Metrowest was....which is complete BS b/c there's a power plant right here at the other end of the Canal. but no, that power has to be sent up to wherever it goes, and we pay thru the nose for what we use.    I have National Grid for gas, so it's been running $20.xx/month since we turned the heat off. whatever minimal gas for cooking and hot water use, it seems quite steady.

I started filling out the Mass Save form online, but it was asking for way more detail than I can remember offhand. I'll finish filling it out probably Friday when I'm at home during the day.

I had Mass Save come out a month or so ago. They will also blow in insulation in the parts that needed it, they will also help fund window replacement (of old single pane windows). I have the details at home but it seemed reasonable, and they also had a low interest loan with a 7 year period. I'm waiting on other issues with refinancing, but once those settle out am thinking of having the insulation and windows done (it would only be 7 windows in total).

interesting. if you wouldn't mind digging that out, could you share the details?

when I get around to doing the windows, I've got 3 sets of 2 windows, 5 single windows, and a big bay window in the living room. all are single pane.

[chiver78]

Aug 20, 2015 7:54:09 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Aug 19, 2015 15:02:43 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

last bill was 668 kWh, the month before was 402. looks like Feb/March (the first 2 full months in the house) were around 250 kWh.

With kWh that low, I can't see solar panels really saving you a lot of money.

Our most recent electric bill was 1110 kWh (A/C window units suck up a lot of that) and it says our monthly average is 901.

wow.....I am surprised that my usage is still pretty low in comparison to some others. I feel like I'm using way more this summer than I ever have (still probably true) but it's only about half what you use. my AC is central, plus that window unit in the upstairs bedroom. that window unit only runs when the roommate is home, but we've got the central and an oscillating fan in the living room that both run 24/7. can I ask how big your house is, and what else you're running? other than the cooling, we've got the basic appliances and a radio on. not much else.

[ArchietheDragon]

here is my usage chart.   ~1700sq ft house.  central air.

[midjd]

Aug 20, 2015 8:18:13 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 20, 2015 7:54:09 GMT -5 steph08 said:

With kWh that low, I can't see solar panels really saving you a lot of money.

Our most recent electric bill was 1110 kWh (A/C window units suck up a lot of that) and it says our monthly average is 901.

wow.....I am surprised that my usage is still pretty low in comparison to some others. I feel like I'm using way more this summer than I ever have (still probably true) but it's only about half what you use. my AC is central, plus that window unit in the upstairs bedroom. that window unit only runs when the roommate is home, but we've got the central and an oscillating fan in the living room that both run 24/7. can I ask how big your house is, and what else you're running? other than the cooling, we've got the basic appliances and a radio on. not much else.

Not Steph, but our house is 3500sf, built in 2010, very few east/west facing windows and some shade trees on 3 sides. We use about 1000-1400 kWh a month, and that's with the a/c set at 75 at night and 78 during weekdays. The fish tank pump (on 24/7) and snake's heat lamp (on 12/7) burn up a lot of that... plus we do a lot of laundry. When we first moved in, our usage was more in the ~700 kWh/mo range.

We used an average of 500 kWh or so a month when we rented an ~800sf house built in the 50s (also with gas heat). So IMO your usage is pretty low for a house your size. 

[steph08]

Aug 20, 2015 8:45:01 GMT -5 midjd said:

Aug 20, 2015 8:18:13 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

wow.....I am surprised that my usage is still pretty low in comparison to some others. I feel like I'm using way more this summer than I ever have (still probably true) but it's only about half what you use. my AC is central, plus that window unit in the upstairs bedroom. that window unit only runs when the roommate is home, but we've got the central and an oscillating fan in the living room that both run 24/7. can I ask how big your house is, and what else you're running? other than the cooling, we've got the basic appliances and a radio on. not much else.

Not Steph, but our house is 3500sf, built in 2010, very few east/west facing windows and some shade trees on 3 sides. We use about 1000-1400 kWh a month, and that's with the a/c set at 75 at night and 78 during weekdays. The fish tank pump (on 24/7) and snake's heat lamp (on 12/7) burn up a lot of that... plus we do a lot of laundry. When we first moved in, our usage was more in the ~700 kWh/mo range.

We used an average of 500 kWh or so a month when we rented an ~800sf house built in the 50s (also with gas heat). So IMO your usage is pretty low for a house your size. 

That makes me feel a little better, but I do wonder at our usage now that chiver and Archie's kWh are so low (and your house is 2.5 times ours, mid! 1400 square feet here). Seems like we shouldn't be using that much.

Of course, I wondered that at our old house as well. We must be energy hogs, but I don't know how!

*back to your regularly scheduled solar panel discussion*

[sesfw]

We have just a single solar panel for our water heater. We've talked about total solar but it isn't cost effective for us. Our home is total electric (in AZ) and our power bill dropped by 1/3 ($50).  With all the rebates and such our payback for out of pocket was 19 months.

We've had this for 7 years with no problems.

[Deleted]

For a news story about the impact of a leasing agreement for solar panels on the ability to sell a house, see:

www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-harney-20150322-story.html

I am sure there are other stories.

[tskeeter]

Aug 19, 2015 14:17:52 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

working on the insulation problem concurrently    and the drafty windows are next year's project. I already spent way too much this year on the house.

it's just really shocking to my wallet to see the price jump that comes with using AC all the time (I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't have the dog...) even at mid-70s temps. I figure it's worth a day of my time to have a couple companies come out to check out the house and run some numbers to see what kind of savings I could get from a solar setup. the local electric company just sucks at life, and they keep raising their rates.    my house is in complete sun for almost all of the day, so solar seems like a good idea to pursue. if it doesn't end up making sense, I won't go that route.

yogiii, my house is a hair under 1200sf, built in 1960.

One of the best things you can do to reduce your summer time A/C bill is to shade your house.

When we first moved into our house, there weren't any window treatments.  And one side of the house faces the afternoon sun.  With nothing on the windows, both A/C units were running wide open every afternoon and the best we could do was to keep the inside temp at 85 - 90 degrees (even with low e windows).  Our first step was to stick plastic garbage bags on all the west facing windows.  Then you could actually keep the afternoon temp below 75.  Replaced the garbage bags with honeycomb blinds.  Temperature control and the electric bill got better.  Added a lattice patio cover across most of the west side of the house that keeps the windows shaded until 5:00 PM, or so.  Temperature control and electric bill got even better.  Trees now getting big enought to throw some shade on the south wall of the house (and A/C condensers) for part of the day.  Looking forward to electric consumption dropping even more.

Attic insulation will make a big difference in A/C bills, too.  Our house has two garages.  One has the attic space insulated and the other does not.  Neither has insulation in the walls.  During the summer, the garage with no insulation in the attic is always 20 or 30 degrees hotter than the garage with the insualtion.  All from heat radiating through the ceiling. 

[kent]

Aug 20, 2015 8:39:58 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

here is my usage chart.   ~1700sq ft house.  central air.

WHAT?  I must be missing something here.  How in the hell can you use over 25,000 KWH's in one month?  Even if you were running a "grow house" for pot, I don't think you could use THAT much.  The same for a fleet of 100 Tesla's.  Help me out here because I am lost. 

[chiver78]

Aug 20, 2015 15:34:36 GMT -5 kent said:

Aug 20, 2015 8:39:58 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

here is my usage chart.   ~1700sq ft house.  central air.

WHAT?  I must be missing something here.  How in the hell can you use over 25,000 KWH's in one month?  Even if you were running a "grow house" for pot, I don't think you could use THAT much.  The same for a fleet of 100 Tesla's.  Help me out here because I am lost. 

are you doing a calculation somewhere? because I read this as July's usage of just under 600kWh....?

[ArchietheDragon]

Aug 20, 2015 15:43:25 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 20, 2015 15:34:36 GMT -5 kent said:

WHAT?  I must be missing something here.  How in the hell can you use over 25,000 KWH's in one month?  Even if you were running a "grow house" for pot, I don't think you could use THAT much.  The same for a fleet of 100 Tesla's.  Help me out here because I am lost. 

are you doing a calculation somewhere? because I read this as July's usage of just under 600kWh....?

that is accurate, but if you look closely , it looks like there are two bars for this July.  I don't know why, maybe they did two readings that month?  Seems confusing, but I have to imagine that July is more like 1100 kwh. 

[chiver78]

Aug 20, 2015 15:46:11 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Aug 20, 2015 15:43:25 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

are you doing a calculation somewhere? because I read this as July's usage of just under 600kWh....?

that is accurate, but if you look closely , it looks like there are two bars for this July.  I don't know why, maybe they did two readings that month?  Seems confusing, but I have to imagine that July is more like 1100 kwh. 

maybe because I have worked with many trend charts over my career, but I see a single bar. your x-axis line is centered on the bar and lined up with the indicator line at the bottom near the tag name "July"

hope that helps

[ArchietheDragon]

Aug 20, 2015 16:09:55 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 20, 2015 15:46:11 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

that is accurate, but if you look closely , it looks like there are two bars for this July.  I don't know why, maybe they did two readings that month?  Seems confusing, but I have to imagine that July is more like 1100 kwh. 

maybe because I have worked with many trend charts over my career, but I see a single bar. your x-axis line is centered on the bar and lined up with the indicator line at the bottom near the tag name "July"

hope that helps

Yea. But I think it's he bar to the left of that is part of July also

[chiver78]

Aug 20, 2015 16:51:11 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Aug 20, 2015 16:09:55 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

maybe because I have worked with many trend charts over my career, but I see a single bar. your x-axis line is centered on the bar and lined up with the indicator line at the bottom near the tag name "July"

hope that helps

Yea. But I think it's he bar to the left of that is part of July also

I only see one bar in the shot you posted....?

[kent]

Aug 20, 2015 15:43:25 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 20, 2015 15:34:36 GMT -5 kent said:

WHAT?  I must be missing something here.  How in the hell can you use over 25,000 KWH's in one month?  Even if you were running a "grow house" for pot, I don't think you could use THAT much.  The same for a fleet of 100 Tesla's.  Help me out here because I am lost. 

are you doing a calculation somewhere? because I read this as July's usage of just under 600kWh....?

OK, this is kind of creepy. The chart I saw was different than what got posted with my reply. The one I saw showed 25,000 KWH and this one makes sense. Damn, I wish I would have copied the original one - nope, haven't been drinking - don't drink.

[tskeeter]

Aug 20, 2015 15:46:11 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Aug 20, 2015 15:43:25 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

are you doing a calculation somewhere? because I read this as July's usage of just under 600kWh....?

that is accurate, but if you look closely , it looks like there are two bars for this July.  I don't know why, maybe they did two readings that month?  Seems confusing, but I have to imagine that July is more like 1100 kwh. 

Arch, what you are seeing is a rolling 31? month period.  Allows you to compare current consumption to the prior two years and then some.  Pretty common on utility bills.  Although the ones I've seen usually only show a 13 month period. 

[ArchietheDragon]

Aug 20, 2015 17:15:52 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Aug 20, 2015 16:51:11 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Yea. But I think it's he bar to the left of that is part of July also

I only see one bar in the shot you posted....?

If you start at Feb, there is an extra bar in there.   Maybe they just show it weird.