The most cost effective alternative energy and how I slashed my power bill over 35% over the past 12 months

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dana on June 13, 2009 at 5:38am

Well - I know I have lowered my energy use by replacing the poopy aluminum frame, single pane windows that came with my 1982 house. Using my solar clothes dryer (clothesline) has helped. Plus putting computer stations & tv/electronic on one of those strips that I can shut off has helped too.

My guesses - replaced windows, improved insulation, energy survey, new ductwork? Am I close??

Permalink Reply by Jeff on June 13, 2009 at 5:55pm

sorry, none of those things were done during my experiment. The previous owner had replaced all the windows with low E glass, added cellulous insulation to the attic, and updated the AC and ducts before we moved in. We have not commissioned an energy survey.

Permalink Reply by Judy Tobar on June 13, 2009 at 8:35am

Okay, I'll bite! Our house is just a little bigger than yours and of a similar age, and we used 18,000 kWh over the last year, most of which was off-peak. (I just looked it up at the SRP web site.) Soooooo, I imagine your electric needs would be similar. I know I still need to do some insulating and change the windows when finances allow, which should hopefully lower it a little bit more. Also, we're getting solar panels this summer, which I'm very excited about. But I'm really really anxious to learn new ways to cut down energy usage so please do tell!
Judy

Permalink Reply by Jeff on June 13, 2009 at 5:57pm

Be careful with solar panels...It's a gamble if they will really save you money.

Permalink Reply by Jeff on June 13, 2009 at 9:50am

The SRP online calculator:
suggests a home like mine will use 20,420 kWh annually, with 13,070 kWh ( 64 %) used for cooling & heating.
FYI, the actual energy use of my home w/o heating and cooling was 690 kWh per month average.

Permalink Reply by Judy Tobar on June 13, 2009 at 11:02am

wow! I'm impressed! But how do you manage without cooling? I think I only used my heater about 2 or 3 times all winter, so heating is not a problem, but we haven't been able to manage without some A/C, though I do make an effort to keep it to a minimum. I'm sure the majority of energy use in AZ goes for A/C so we definitely need to learn some alternatives.

Permalink Reply by Jeff on June 13, 2009 at 12:07pm

Clarification - we use heating and cooling. The point of my last post was to document the energy usage of the home w/o heating and cooling to provide a baseline of comparison. I arrived at this figure by taking the historic average of our energy use over the past 4 years in March and April compared to March & April of 2009 (when I know we did not use heating or cooling for sure) The figure of 690 kWh is not that impressive really and could easily be cut in half I'm guessing. SRP's calculator estimates right around the same amount.

The average temp in May was 5 degrees warmer this year than last, yet my power use was down 15 % compared to last year for the same period. Cooling was used during this time. Energy use was reduce throughout the year as well, so it's not all heating and cooling.

Other guesses.....

Permalink Reply by Lorelei on June 13, 2009 at 1:53pm

Two years ago, we reduced our energy usage by more than 25% by installing a solar hot water heater (a 5K system cost me 800 after the feds, the state and SRP gave me rebates; AND I got a larger capacity new water heater) . The next year, we replaced aluminum framed windows with double pane vinyl, and replaced the dark asphalt roof shingles with white. Also added an attic fan and vents, saving an additional 10%. This summer, it is going to be attic insulation to get my 1500 Obama tax rebate for energy saving home improvements, which will be a wash (cost me 0 dollars) once I get my refund. I am hoping for an additional 5% savings after the insulation is brought up to code.

My house is about 2300 ft2 with a new 400 ft2 enclosed patio addition. The patio addition was put in the same year as the new roof, and the energy bills still went down 10%. I cool the addition with an evaporative cooler in dry months, and a window air conditioner in the wet months. It was insulated, and also has double pane windows.

Permalink Reply by Julie Hall Allison on June 13, 2009 at 2:54pm

OK, now I've checked back to your posting a few times to see what your secret is: so SPILL already!

I'm going forward with solar electric on my 1700 ft2 house this summer - 24 rooftop panels are projected to supply 90% of my annual electric consumption. My new meter will work in both directions, so whatever I generate but don't use is credited back to my account. I expect my bill to be close to zero (other than hookup fees) for the forseeable future. The life expectancy of my panels is 25 years, but there is some deterioration after about 15-20 years of service.

APS is paying half - over $13K, which is based on the amount of power I generate; I got a good deal on the panels which are considered 'close-outs' by the manufacturer - that made a big difference in my bottom line. With tax credits from Arizona (only $1K) and the federal government (around $8K) my actual cost is around $4.5K on a $27K systen. Tax credits are applied against income, but can be put forward year over year until completely used up. Such a deal I couldn't refuse.

Now it's your turn - if you please...

Permalink Reply by Jeff on June 13, 2009 at 5:38pm

Julie, your deal sounds too good to be true are you sure about your math there? Make sure you are factoring your credits correctly. Solar electric sounds really good when you talk to the salesperson. Even looks good on paper. However, you must carefully factor in the cost of many things such as financing, power, maintenance, percieved realestate value, and the environement.

So, is solar electric such a wise investment in an urban area? It's really hard to tell. Even SRP's website tells you the anticipated payback on a system is 20 years. It's a gamble and I prefer to work in known quantities.

Permalink Reply by Judy Tobar on June 13, 2009 at 9:28pm

We're getting a similar deal as Julie, and I did verify everything with my tax lady before we signed to make sure it's all legit. (Although the SRP rebate will be lowered slightly this month so in the future the deal won't be quite as sweet.) Although more important than saving money is that I believe they create less waste and damage to the environment in the long term. I know the panels have to be manufactured which takes a lot of energy and resources, but once installed they won't continue to burn fossil fuels or suck up our precious water. And they are more efficient because the electricity is created on site, rather than being transported over long distances.

Permalink Reply by Jeff on June 15, 2009 at 2:34pm

Cradle to cradle, it is debatable if the current PV solar technology available for residential use create less environmental damage than other forms of electrical generation available in this climate. "Although more important than saving money is that I believe they create less waste and damage to the environment in the long term." Faith based environmentalism is a dangerous thing, I prefer to work in known quantities : ) We also considered solar PV, a couple of years ago and again this year....We have elected to plant trees instead of panels at this time. In the future, we will address the again, but right now, I just can't believe the hype and do not wish to prepay my electricity in the form of solar panels. Remember, SRP and many other utilitiy providers estimate the payback for solar PV to be between 15-20 years. Conveniently, your panels will need to be replaced at that time. What will we do with all those spent panels?

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 8
• Next ›
• Page