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Summer Banter, Observation and General Discussion 2018


CapturedNature

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My electric bills are around $60 a month in the summer and $40 in the winter for around 230-280 kWh. The extra $20 is from running a dehumidifier in the basement, which can get a little damp in this weather. No air conditioning needed FTW. 

Propane budget plan is $179 a month for 11 months. Propane is much cheaper than oil, and pretty much all newer houses around here are using propane.

I'd like to put solar panels up too, but that will have to wait until my finances can handle the upfront cost of getting it. 

Green Mountain Power is offering Tesla Powerwalls for $1500 (or $15 a month for 10 years) through a pilot program that provides customers with backup power in the event of an outage and the utility with a means of easing electric grid strain during periods of high demand by having homes draw power from the Powerwalls and not from the grid during such periods, saving GMP money by not having to generate extra power. https://greenmountainpower.com/product/powerwall/

I'm on the waitlist to get mine installed.

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6 minutes ago, wxmanmitch said:

My electric bills are around $60 a month in the summer and $40 in the winter for around 230-280 kWh. The extra $20 is from running a dehumidifier in the basement, which can get a little damp in this weather. No air conditioning needed FTW. 

Propane budget plan is $179 a month for 11 months. Propane is much cheaper than oil, and pretty much all newer houses around here are using propane.

I'd like to put solar panels up too, but that will have to wait until my finances can handle the upfront cost of getting it. 

Green Mountain Power is offering Tesla Powerwalls for $1500 (or $15 a month for 10 years) through a pilot program that provides customers with backup power in the event of an outage and the utility with a means of easing electric grid strain during periods of high demand by having homes draw power from the Powerwalls and not from the grid during such periods, saving GMP money by not having to generate extra power. https://greenmountainpower.com/product/powerwall/

I'm on the waitlist to get mine installed.

AC is a must. A dew over 65 requires it.

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1 hour ago, wxmanmitch said:

My electric bills are around $60 a month in the summer and $40 in the winter for around 230-280 kWh. The extra $20 is from running a dehumidifier in the basement, which can get a little damp in this weather. No air conditioning needed FTW. 

Propane budget plan is $179 a month for 11 months. Propane is much cheaper than oil, and pretty much all newer houses around here are using propane.

I'd like to put solar panels up too, but that will have to wait until my finances can handle the upfront cost of getting it. 

Green Mountain Power is offering Tesla Powerwalls for $1500 (or $15 a month for 10 years) through a pilot program that provides customers with backup power in the event of an outage and the utility with a means of easing electric grid strain during periods of high demand by having homes draw power from the Powerwalls and not from the grid during such periods, saving GMP money by not having to generate extra power. https://greenmountainpower.com/product/powerwall/

I'm on the waitlist to get mine installed.

Propane isn’t much cheaper. I pay $200/mo for 11 months of oil which includes yearly maintenance/cleaning with 24/7 support, all parts included besides the boiler crapping out. The market violitility has increased on propane, almost making the difference not as it once was. Most newer homes here are going with propane though, it’s deff the ‘cleaner’ of the two. 

Solar energy is the next big ticket item, as you, but just waiting for the tech and pricing to improve. 

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Could I ask who you get it through?
Dodge oil. Every fill-up over last 6 yrs less than $2/gal. But it's not the price, it's the little propane we use. Fill it once and top it off once per year. Use about 400gal/yr or less than$800. We use it for radiant heat and cooking. But to be fair we get a lot of sun through windows in winter and have wood stove we use frequently.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

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13 hours ago, Brewbeer said:

I'm the one accessing my roof, but it is only to clean the gutters.  Hasn't been an issue for me yet.  The system includes an external shut-off switch (required by code I believe) so the system can be rendered inactive from the outside of the house in case the FD needs to get on the roof to destroy it.  I'm not worrying about shingle replacement, as the roof was re-constructed and re-roofed at the same time the panels went up.  I'll be 80 when the shingles need to be replaced, if I'm still around.  

I have several friends with area fire departments and they have all said that roof top panels are extremely difficult for them to work with.  It slows down venting the roof if needed and even with a shut off switch the panels or series of panels are still active with light.  Also the panels themselves are an encumbrance for them.  One of them even mentioned a house that they lost because they couldn't get proper access to vent.  They've all said they would put them on the ground which is what I would do when I have the money.

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11 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Other than Friday .. the next 11-15 days will require AC based on that rule .. and even Friday is dangerously iffy 

I don't know about 15 days but when all is said and done I need to go back and see how many days in a row I've put up lows 68°+.  It's been an impressive stretch & number of them since last month.

http://www.meteoguru.com/en/pro/ensembles/?latlon=41.95,-72.30

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25 minutes ago, MetHerb said:

I don't know about 15 days but when all is said and done I need to go back and see how many days in a row I've put up lows 68°+.  It's been an impressive stretch & number of them since last month.

http://www.meteoguru.com/en/pro/ensembles/?latlon=41.95,-72.30

I honestly cannot recall the last time I was under 70. There may have been one evening last week after a T-storm that briefly got to 69

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Here is a drone shot of my panels.

Screw oil and propane. I use my panels to power my heat pump forced air furnace for ac and heat. It has oil backup for those really cold days. But with my woodstove I rarely use oil unless im away.

I also heat my water with a heat pump water heater. My hot water heater uses 8 times less power than a conventional electric tank. Compressor uses 500 watts vs 4500 electric elements and it dehumidifies my basement. I got the heater for basically free a couple years ago through a utility incentive. 

 

FB_IMG_1533811044037-410x234.jpg

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12 hours ago, wxmanmitch said:

My electric bills are around $60 a month in the summer and $40 in the winter for around 230-280 kWh. The extra $20 is from running a dehumidifier in the basement, which can get a little damp in this weather. No air conditioning needed FTW. 

Propane budget plan is $179 a month for 11 months. Propane is much cheaper than oil, and pretty much all newer houses around here are using propane.

I'd like to put solar panels up too, but that will have to wait until my finances can handle the upfront cost of getting it. 

Green Mountain Power is offering Tesla Powerwalls for $1500 (or $15 a month for 10 years) through a pilot program that provides customers with backup power in the event of an outage and the utility with a means of easing electric grid strain during periods of high demand by having homes draw power from the Powerwalls and not from the grid during such periods, saving GMP money by not having to generate extra power. https://greenmountainpower.com/product/powerwall/

I'm on the waitlist to get mine installed.

Propane has way less btus then oil and outside the midwest its crazy expensive in New England. Another issue with propane is if you dont own the tank they can charge you whatever they want to fill it. 

VT use to do a monthly fuel report but stopped doing it in 2016. Still shows a good comparison on numbers though.

Screenshot_20180809-065308_Drive-1110x54

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With Central air / heating i got a big electric bill last january when we had the cold spell because the air handler ran a lot to heat the house, same in the summer, but add running the condenser on top of that in the summer. I keep the house in the low to mid 60's in the winter and don't put the AC below 74 at night (bedroom is set to 70 - have to sleep in the cold) and 75/76 during the day. oil heat

 

abolsolutely gross here this morning 76/76

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15 hours ago, butterfish55 said:

I've looked into these for my system. It's a great product with a couple problems. VERY expensive. About $6000 each and most residential systems need more than 1. Also, there aren't many available and the lead time to get them is very long. Lastly, there are only a couple contractors in MA that can even buy/install them. Like, as a homeowner (and someone with the knowledge to install it on to my system), I couldn't just call Tesla and order one....they'll only sell them to trained contractors.

Great product, but......not ready yet

I am not in my house for the long haul, will probably sell within the next 2-3 years, so not sinking $ into solar now

Waiting for TESLA (or someone else) , to not implode , and commercialize/scale their solar roof shingles and the powerwall bundle and build forever home in Florida. Want to be able to generate power there if a cane knocks power out for week(s). have friends there who suffered much last summer with the canes. thanks for the inside info on getting the work done, hopefully they'll figure out the qualified labor part as well over the coming years.  

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22 hours ago, dendrite said:

Normally we run around low $100s in the summer and low $200s in the winter when the rates increase during the cold season. Of course we usually use ~600-750gals of oil each winter too.

 

$$$$$$

Rates increase? I run around $140 summer, $104 in the winter for electricity and i burn oil as well.

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4 minutes ago, dendrite said:

NHEC blows.

No doubt, We don have that yet with CMP although there is a legal battle going on with a "Phantom" 3 mos rate spike last winter/spring with the two big wind storms that knocked out there grid.

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/04/11/about-97000-cmp-customers-saw-bills-increase-at-least-50-percent-this-winter/

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2 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

I honestly cannot recall the last time I was under 70. There may have been one evening last week after a T-storm that briefly got to 69

Are you talking dews or temps?  Dews were in the 50s July 29-31 and Aug 1.  If you are referring to the temps dropping below 70F.  Aug 4-6 they did.

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