Quote:
Originally Posted by Fbone
Initial costs were very high even with Federal subsidies. Included was the cost of a new roof and maintenance plan. Also, I would have to pay extra to cut down trees that span over the roof. Removing the trees would increase my winter heating costs.
The solar panels would not cover all my energy needs. I would still need to draw from the local grid. Although, after hurricane Sandy and no local power for 10 days they may have provided enough for refrigeration, sump pump and lights. All my neighbors bought generators in preparation for the storm. Unfortunately, the 14ft surge overwhelmed them and they wouldn't start. (For future reference, generators need to be placed on a platform above flood plain elevation or relocated to higher ground and then transported back to your home after the flood.) Also, there was no gasoline available to run them anyway. Gas stations closed.
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Removing trees will increase your summer cooling costs (but that can be offset with proper insulation and reflective barrier; plus the panels block heat gain). If it has any effect in the winter, it will be to decrease heat costs, due to increased solar gain (if you have windows/glass doors properly sited).
No, they won't cover all your needs. But they can easily keep your essentials running (frig, freezer, a fan and some lights). then again, even a 5KW generator won't do a whole lot more, at least not well or long term. And most buy much smaller ones; it takes about 3KW minimum just to run a single small air conditioner, for example (the startup compressor is more than a 2kw can handle). other than the A/C, though, I can run my entire camper with a 2KW unit (have to juggle to use the microwave, as it's 1.5KW on it's own). For the house, we have a 5KW diesel unit (so it doesn't have to be taken offline ever few hours and serviced; gas units simply aren't designed to run 24/7). For the house, we can run all the frig/freezer units, lights in the basement level and a number of computers (at one time, I had an office with 13 stations; it handled that with no sweat -- I really should redo our balancing, though, as we could probably watch TV and run the upstairs lights now, since TV's use less power and I don't have as many computers running).
Try to run something 220 on that, though, and you need to watch what else you run at the same time (it's a lot easier to use a propane water heater in the camper than try to run a house-size hot water heater along with the rest of the house). don't think I'd try the oven on it, either.
Then again, I'm not trying to stay on that generator all the time (if I were, we'd have to redesign a bit and bring propane gas back, on a permanent basis; no natural gas here, but it went out in the NE, too, so not something you can count on).
Oh, and I'm at 1340 feet - one of the highest points in the county, atop a ridge in the foothills north of the valley the town lies in. Our property alone has over 400' of elevation change, so I'm not worried about any floods. Tornadoes are a small concern, as in most of the country where they occur, but we seem to be off the main path for those. Lightning can be an issue (we had one tree about 75 feet from the house with a burn scar all the way to the ground, when we built; most trees are well away from the house and it's well grounded, with underground utilities, so we've done well the last 25+ years in that regard).
Hey monkey - get cargo pants. sure, it might bang your thigh and cause a bruise, but it should fit!
