We finally have our home energy use where we want it! - Page 2 - Toyota Yaris Forums

TinyGiant · 10-22-2009, 04:41 PM

solar price vs savings is near impossible lol

CTScott · 10-22-2009, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TinyGiant

solar price vs savings is near impossible lol

Govt surplus is the way to go with solar. A buddy of mine in CA put in a 10KW system for $12K, using retired panels that were still at >85% output.

kustom play · 10-22-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTScott

Govt surplus is the way to go with solar. A buddy of mine in CA put in a 10KW system for $12K, using retired panels that were still at >85% output.

out here in phoenix solar works really well

to the point where it generates more then you use and the electric company sends you a check back to buy back power

+ APS and SRP out here have HUGE rebates, covers almost 80% of the cost

thebarber · 10-22-2009, 04:46 PM

congrats...we had an air circulator in our house in new brunswick, but we had electrical baseboard heating and it was an old circulator

also a nice feature is washer/dryer with programmable start times so you can run it while you sleep when the cost of electricity is low

kustom play · 10-22-2009, 04:58 PM

we have a pool and the air set on 78 and in the summer 114+ with running the pool filter for 8 hours the higest bill we ever got was 300

since its fall now and our night here in phoenix are about 68, i only have to run the pool filter for about an hour or 2, we really never use gas heat so our winter bills have been as low as 68 bucks

it kinda ballances out to like 150 bucks a month for a 4 bedroom home with a pool

127.0.0.1 · 10-22-2009, 05:22 PM

I bought a sweater, and saved thousands. what do I win ?

talnlnky · 10-22-2009, 05:56 PM

2 floor townhouse - 1000sq feet, electric bill varies from $27-$40. We've lived here for 16months, last month at $40 was the highest we've ever paid. I think its because we got busy and used the dish washer a lot instead of washing by hand.

Every light is CFL (some full spectrum/happy lights).
in the summer we ran the A/C for a grand total of about 10 hrs. and in the winter we'll hardly have to use the heater. THANK YOU 40F weather.... so much better than the sub 30's (-10F to 30F) I grew up with. If only there was half as much rain in the winter, and twice as much in the summer... then this place would be almost perfect (from a climate perspective).

When I buy/make a house in the future... I plan on having the water heater be 100% solar powered. From what i've read, the water heater alone will save you a lot on the elec bill. I also would want to having a "living roof" so as to better moderate temps in both winter and summer.

counterfiend · 10-22-2009, 06:00 PM

Iono where we are going to be just yet. I'm hoping somewhere in the 2k range for the year for energy usage. Our highest was at 180 for a month in the middle of the summer. But we had more insulation put it (alot more) and had some leaks and sills fixed as well. Made a huge difference.

Lafiro · 10-25-2009, 12:20 AM

Nice.

Kill-a-watt seems nice, but I honestly dont know what good it will do to save any power.

I rather install what you did on the main line to then see how much power is being used in total and have it on the network to view from anywhere, that would be hot!

Now I wonder if maybe one day it would be a good idea to install solar panels in the backyard? I dont know, I will research that at a later date.

CTScott · 10-25-2009, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lafiro

Nice.

Kill-a-watt seems nice, but I honestly dont know what good it will do to save any power.

I rather install what you did on the main line to then see how much power is being used in total and have it on the network to view from anywhere, that would be hot!

Now I wonder if maybe one day it would be a good idea to install solar panels in the backyard? I dont know, I will research that at a later date.

What I did turned out to be serious overkill. The TED system is really all that you need. Start with it monitoring the mains to watch your overall usage. The TED display device has a USB cable that allows you to generate reports and graphs on your PC.

Once you see the patterns, you can pick out some things, like in my case, when the electric clothes dryer was running. etc. When I first started monitoring I noticed that through the night we were using 3.5 kW. Shutting down some equipment that didn't need to be left on 24 hours per day, dropped that down to 1.4 kW.

BailOut · 10-25-2009, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lafiro

Kill-a-watt seems nice, but I honestly dont know what good it will do to save any power.

I've never heard anyone say that before.

My electricity audit, done with nothing but a Kill-A-Watt and multimeter:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4295

Lafiro · 10-25-2009, 04:13 AM

The reason why I said that is because the first ad I ever saw for it was to save electricity and I thought that's impossible because anything plugged in will use electricity and will draw the same whether some device is behind it or not.

But now from your post I understand the reason for it. And it's something I will myself do very soon. There are just too many things in the house plugged in and like 32circuit breakers in the box. So it would be good to know what's using the power and what can be completely disconnected when not needed.

Thanks for the explination

10-22-2009, 04:41 PM	#1
TinyGiant Tiny Giant Clothing View User's Garage Drives: 2008 Blazing Blue Yaris 3D LB Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Rochester, NH Posts: 3,394	solar price vs savings is near impossible lol __________________ Sold the yaris... rocking an 89 vw cabriolet now :)

10-22-2009, 04:46 PM	#4
thebarber daily driver View User's Garage Drives: the #wrecho Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,877	congrats...we had an air circulator in our house in new brunswick, but we had electrical baseboard heating and it was an old circulator also a nice feature is washer/dryer with programmable start times so you can run it while you sleep when the cost of electricity is low __________________

10-22-2009, 04:58 PM	#5
kustom play pink wheels are cool View User's Garage Drives: 07 liftback Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Phoenix Posts: 1,407	we have a pool and the air set on 78 and in the summer 114+ with running the pool filter for 8 hours the higest bill we ever got was 300 since its fall now and our night here in phoenix are about 68, i only have to run the pool filter for about an hour or 2, we really never use gas heat so our winter bills have been as low as 68 bucks it kinda ballances out to like 150 bucks a month for a 4 bedroom home with a pool __________________ http://www.4055design.com

10-22-2009, 05:56 PM	#7
talnlnky Audio Junky Drives: 08 liftback Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Spokane, Wa Posts: 1,412	2 floor townhouse - 1000sq feet, electric bill varies from $27-$40. We've lived here for 16months, last month at $40 was the highest we've ever paid. I think its because we got busy and used the dish washer a lot instead of washing by hand. Every light is CFL (some full spectrum/happy lights). in the summer we ran the A/C for a grand total of about 10 hrs. and in the winter we'll hardly have to use the heater. THANK YOU 40F weather.... so much better than the sub 30's (-10F to 30F) I grew up with. If only there was half as much rain in the winter, and twice as much in the summer... then this place would be almost perfect (from a climate perspective). When I buy/make a house in the future... I plan on having the water heater be 100% solar powered. From what i've read, the water heater alone will save you a lot on the elec bill. I also would want to having a "living roof" so as to better moderate temps in both winter and summer. __________________

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10-22-2009, 05:22 PM	#6
127.0.0.1 Banned Drives: '10 Yaris5drHB+99 4runner LTD Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: NE Posts: 672	I bought a sweater, and saved thousands. what do I win ?

10-22-2009, 06:00 PM	#8
counterfiend Banned Drives: 2005 Ford Focus Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, tx Posts: 140	Iono where we are going to be just yet. I'm hoping somewhere in the 2k range for the year for energy usage. Our highest was at 180 for a month in the middle of the summer. But we had more insulation put it (alot more) and had some leaks and sills fixed as well. Made a huge difference.

10-25-2009, 12:20 AM	#9
Lafiro Drives: 06 Yaris Sedan Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 694	Nice. Kill-a-watt seems nice, but I honestly dont know what good it will do to save any power. I rather install what you did on the main line to then see how much power is being used in total and have it on the network to view from anywhere, that would be hot! Now I wonder if maybe one day it would be a good idea to install solar panels in the backyard? I dont know, I will research that at a later date.

10-25-2009, 04:13 AM	#12
Lafiro Drives: 06 Yaris Sedan Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 694	The reason why I said that is because the first ad I ever saw for it was to save electricity and I thought that's impossible because anything plugged in will use electricity and will draw the same whether some device is behind it or not. But now from your post I understand the reason for it. And it's something I will myself do very soon. There are just too many things in the house plugged in and like 32circuit breakers in the box. So it would be good to know what's using the power and what can be completely disconnected when not needed. Thanks for the explination