Discussion Forum
reinvent
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Source control, ventilation, and filtration are the keys to healthy indoor air quality. Dehumidification is important too.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Tucson...I don't understand why more solar panels aren't used here. Perfect for that...Of course, it might be the cost...:) We have several skylights...Does that count?
Does that count?
Yup, during that brief season you need ac. <G>
I once cut a hole a perfectly good roof to add a skylight. Faced E in Denver. Couldn't believe how hot it got without covering it with a reflective surface. Won't make that mistake again.
We're not exactly in a city. But yeah, the closest one here's giving money to low income folks for energy improvements.
Hate to see the gov't jive come around again. That was a major factor in killing alternative efforts last time around, when they stopped the credits. Then the solar companies died, along with service of existing systems. I benefited through salvage, but it left a bad taste in a lot of HO's mouths around here.
Much better to let new technologies sell themselves through better products. If that's too slow, change the building code. Yesterday some NC folks came for a house tour. Left with their heads spinning. Not that there's much to see. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
I thought the credits were still in force. Is that just in your area?Our skylights are in both bathrooms. Very seldom do we turn on the lights in there. Of course, it is kind of sunny here...:)We use our ceiling fans in the summer and keep our AC at 79...Of course, when it's 105 outside, 79 seems real cool! I wanted a house with a swamp cooler, too, but couldn't find one...Now, I'm glad we didn't.Here are two interesting sites: <http://www.armoryparkdelsol.com/>
<http://www.thepepper.com/realty_green_home.html>
I was referring to the rebate program of a few decades ago causing problems when it collapsed. Pretty sure Mike Smith thinks that's what caused him to have major selling problems last year. Here, that would be the case.
Active solar system? Resale kiss of death, particularly in a less-than-robust real estate market and an older system. Why they were pretty much all replaced with air source heat pumps here.
When you rely on gov't handouts to sell a program, it doesn't have to make economic sense, until you remove the handouts. Then the program dies. Most unfortunate, as there's no good reason solar and other technologies can't compete- if they have to.
Armory Park we visited frequently when we lived in Arizona. DW's grandmother lived there. Didn't look the same then. More interesting than now. Certainly, reducing the elec consumption by 42% for those houses goes a long ways. But that's really not very difficult to do when you look at what the major draws are. Creature comfort and elec water heating. Both readily addressable.
I was just reading about Arizona net metering on another site. Thepepper site links to a very brief description, which is misleading. Take a look at your electric bill and see what it costs you before you buy any electricity. Probably upwards of half your bill. Then with netmetering if you generate any elec beyond your annual needs, you are not compensated. No carry-over to the next year even. Kind of discourages photovoltaic, exactly the response of the guy posting (who lives W of CG).
Our POCO recently changed their billing in the same way. Just when I added a second meter here. We're now about $60/mo more than they led me to expect. Not for electricity, but just the availability. I occasionally use a lot of current, but am still studying off-grid, my only real solution. The second meter will be removed once I get their useage rebate toward the installation. Grrrrrrrr...
Thanks for the links. DW and I appreciated seeing what Armory Park now looks like. I'll spend more time with thepepper to see what they're promoting with alternative building. Your area has been a strawbale hotbed for a long time now. I hope they address relative costs, don't just want to wear the green armband. Owner/builders often ignore labor costs so it's difficult to compare.
I saw no mention of heat pump water heaters. Surprising, as they're an obvious benefit there. Surpassing solar in efficiency, with the right house design. We run one. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Germany is going great guns on solar.
Of course, MANDATED that the POCO buy any solar power you produce.... AT 50 cents kW-hr!!!!! Sources figure that has increased electric bills by 15% now, way more in the future.
Heck, for 50C kW-hr, I'd build a solar thermal setup in the back, even in Seattle.
Wow. Oughta be a race there to see who can put in the largest system, which was apparently the whole idea. Fast amortizing. Wonder if my Saarland sister's aware. Any link on that?
Way back when, Colorado passed a sunshine law limiting your neighbor's shading of your property. Add a large capital investment and these issues get more important.
Conservation's always cheaper, if you have the will. It's the details of any program that gets interesting. Like Arizona net metering. POCOs generally have a lot of clout. Not necessarily in the interest of the public.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Out gas company used to have a small fixed charge (IIRC $7-9) for things like office and billing, etc.Then they had a per usage charge for local distribution cost.Then they had a per usage charge for the "purchased gas" cost. Some of the gas is long term contract, some is bought in the summer and stored, and some is hedged, and some is spot market. So it is computed number that I think that they can change as needed, but the state can audit it and change it if needed.A couple of years ago they changed the local portion to an all fixed cost of about $25 and the same per usage gas usage charge. The fixed cost is now $25.Looking at my usage patterns this is pushing me more to going all electric when I replace my furnace/AC.During the summer my I only have WH, gas grill and 3 pilot lites. The total bill runs about $40.Electric has a $9 fixed charge and then usage which goes down for higher usage during the 8 "winter" months..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
You gotta wonder about the logic processes involved. Your gas co (effectively) encouraging you to take a hike. They thought nobody would notice the difference in annual costs?
Presumably approved by your state corporation commission or some such agency. Ours approved charges such that we pay $70/mo for having 2 meters. Our elec consumption totals around $40.
When I asked, before having the second meter installed (last year), I was told I'd see a $12/mo minimal billing, including everything. Never happened. They were already in the process of hiking that up to $45. So I'm running nearly everything off that meter, which they will credit elec billing toward my $650 installation fee at the end of 2 years. Then I cancel. And this is a coop. I'm an owner, not a happy one.
Net metering is a hot topic for those interested in home generation. I'm unaware of anywhere (outside Germany maybe) it works well enough to justify the capital expense. Off-grid or nothing. Which is very counter-productive for the country/world.
Subdivisions like the Tucson one either get a much better deal than individuals or are using the panels as a sales gimmick. Pretty sure it's the latter, never amortized.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Thanks!!! I will reread what you wrote...:)Armory Park is an interesting area.
Most of the federal energy tax credits expired at the end of the 2007. But solar does not expire until the end of 2008."Frequent Questions about Tax CreditsAre there any consumer tax credits for 2008?As of December 31, 2007, most of the residential tax credits (windows, doors, roofs, insulation, HVAC, and non-solar water heaters) expired. You have until April 15, 2008 to report these credits on your 2007 taxes. The tax credit for solar water heaters and solar panels remains in effect through December 31, 2008.""Solar Energy SystemsTax credits are available for qualified solar water heating and photovoltaic systems. The credits are available for systems "placed in service" from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2008. The tax credit is for 30% of the cost of the system, up to $2,000. This credit is not limited to the $500 home improvement cap.".
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Have you seen these:http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits#s6http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits#s6
No, I have not. Thanks...Friends of ours replaced all of their windows and received a tax credit.
Opps double post. Meant to post this one as well:http://www.dsireusa.org/index.cfm?EE=1&RE=1
Thank you so much. We do live in an interesting area...
No, they don't count ... unless they light an interior room. And definately not if they face south.
And solar domestic hot water heaters should be economical in your area and give you 90%+ of your hot water ... take all the showers you want ... except then you waste that precious desert water ... no free lunch.
I kind of thought so. We have a rain barrel, and are looking into other water saving devices. Thanks for your input. We're heading into hot and dry June and then hot and humid July and August. Bring on the rain!
Nope.
But I did just drink a wind powered beer (Fat Tire Ale from the wind-powered New Belgium Brewery).
Just trying to do my part. ;o)
But I did just drink a wind powered beer (Fat Tire Ale from the wind-powered New Belgium Brewery).
An excellent choice. I slurped a few Blue Paddles over the weekend in TX. We don't get New Belgium here in ME.
My understanding is that New Belgium has their own trucks and do not let others distribute for them. AFAIK they just arrived in MN within the last year.I expect that they will keep moving farther east, maybe in a fews years you will be able to buy one in your neck of the woods.I went to college in Fort Collins. We enjoyed touring and tasting at the brewery--fun times.