Electric Bill

[kmakar]

My neighbor came over at lunchtime to return some tools I loaned him and proceeded to tell me that we need to have a serious talk about them going solar and I asked why, and he said his latest electric bill came in at over $500 and that was for last month and they were gone for 2 weeks of it.

What was your recent electric bill, and are your electric bills rising from previous months/years?

 

[77cruiser]

A guy down the road put up about 20 panels, I have to stop & see how it's working out. Maybe I can give him a job.

 

[Shovelrick]

Here’s our July bill, we have a tankless gas WH and gas Range, I’d have to look for Aug bill but post when I find where Kathy put it, July bill $285.71

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

$377 this month, lots of A/C usage

 

[kmakar]

Have any of your electric bills included increases in cost for KWH?

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

$377 this month, lots of A/C usage

Haven't seen much of a change, we can get as low as $175 a month. It also depends how many people are in the house that month. We have no trees overhead, house faces East, we have 1 tree in the back that can provide a little shade. House is 2 story, 2800 sq ft plus finished basement and in the summer one of the RVs A/Cs is on, thermostat set to 90. Traditional water heater, 2 heat pumps, 3 freezers 2 refrigerators plus the camper refrigerator. My wife is also home all day.

 

[Shovelrick]

Haven't seen much of a change, we can get as low as $175 a month. It also depends how many people are in the house that month. We have no trees overhead, house faces East, we have 1 tree in the back that can provide a little shade. House is 2 story, 2800 sq ft plus finished basement and in the summer one of the RVs A/Cs is on, thermostat set to 90. Traditional water heater, 2 heat pumps, 3 freezers 2 refrigerators plus the camper refrigerator. My wife is also home all day.

IMHO that’s not a bad bill for what you have running, my wife’s home all day too, 2 fridges, 1 chest freezer, 65” TV & 40” TV on all day, 5 dogs so back door open/closes so much I should just put a Revolver in & washer/dryer, Oh and security system with a 43” & 32” monitors on all day

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

IMHO that’s not a bad bill for what you have running, my wife’s home all day too, 2 fridges, 1 chest freezer, 65” TV & 40” TV on all day, 5 dogs so back door open/closes so much I should just put a Revolver in & washer/dryer, Oh and security system with a 43” & 32” monitors on all day

Yeah, wife lets the dogs in and out a lot! Sometimes she gives up and the door is left open.

 

[Shovelrick]

Yeah, wife lets the dogs in and out a lot! Sometimes she gives up and the door is left open.

My Furry kids would love the door left open but too damn hot here

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

My Furry kids would love the door left open but too damn hot here

Here too! One of my "pet" peeves.

 

[Derek69SS]

I keep getting checks for $150

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

I keep getting checks for $150

But what is your return on investment?

 

[Derek69SS]

But what is your return on investment?

Should be very close to breaking even.

 

[Chevelle_Nut]

Should be very close to breaking even.

Do you store energy or just sell it back? What about equipment life?

 

[Derek69SS]

Do you store energy or just sell it back? What about equipment life?

Store 10kw for backup power, and sell back the rest.
Should be 8-years of breaking even on the lease, then all free electricity plus a little profit after that.

Equipment will lose some efficiency over time, but should cover my needs for a long time. Especially once the kids start moving out.

 

[kmakar]

Store 10kw for backup power, and sell back the rest.
Should be 8-years of breaking even on the lease, then all free electricity plus a little profit after that.

Equipment will lose some efficiency over time, but should cover my needs for a long time. Especially once the kids start moving out.

Panels will retain 80% efficiency up to 25 years, so they'll be producing plenty of power for some time to come. Don't forget you have to clean the panels off. My brother thought I was BSing him and he just cleaned his off and got another 1.5 kw out of the panels.

 

[Derek69SS]

Panels will retain 80% efficiency up to 25 years, so they'll be producing plenty of power for some time to come. Don't forget you have to clean the panels off. My brother thought I was BSing him and he just cleaned his off and got another 1.5 kw out of the panels.

How often do you clean yours?
Mine are not easy to get to being on the roof of the shop.

One nice thing up here is the snow slides off them when they heat up leaving them pretty clean afterwards, so they'll be cleaned that way every spring.

 

[kmakar]

How often do you clean yours?
Mine are not easy to get to being on the roof of the shop.

One nice thing up here is the snow slides off them when they heat up leaving them pretty clean afterwards, so they'll be cleaned that way every spring.

Varies upon season, and how dry and dusty it is. Usually at least every month, but sometimes I can go 2 months if we have deluge rainstorms that wash them off.

They sell an extending rotating brush that is powered by water. My brother bought one and likes it. He has 64 panels on his roof (steel building) and used his scissor lift to get up to the edge of the roof and use it.

 

[L78fanatic]

Right now I’m paying $455/month (electric) on the “budget plan”. When I had pneumonia last Winter I had a oxygen concentrator running 24/7 chewing up kwh’s like candy! Without the budget plan I’d be paying about $700/month running the concentrator! Thank God I’m off of oxygen now and I’m anxious to get back to normal which will be between $300 & $350 per month on average for the year! . Btw, that’s for a 2-story colonial 2200sq ft home. Put in a new Lennox system in back in 2020 for our split system & bumped to 3 tons.

 

[kmakar]

Glad you're feeling better John.