Page 1 of 1

As the cost of electricity is going up...

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 5:20 pm
by myglimk2
It's time to start looking (well, has been time) for other methods to achieving our creature comforts. My bill has already gone up $30-$40 a month. Not looking forward to summer with having to run the A/C's. :wall:

DIY air conditioner. I already have most of the stuff to make this and am definitely going to give it a try come summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxSLbpAwibg

If anyone comes across any other low budget ideas/info on how to save some coin on heating/cooling please post it up.

I know solar power etc. is going to be the ultimate route, except for a semi decent setup is still on the expensive side. So let's keep this "low budget" setups.

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 7:21 pm
by hayes1966
Part of NU's cost cutting initiative there are obligated to reduce the electric rates in CT this year. So the rates should go down.


Of course Tom May has been pumping money into Malloy's election campaign (even though he lives in MA). Malloy appointed the head of PURA, Dan Etsy who is married to Congresswoman Etsy. She in turn had to return fund to NU when it came out that Tom May & Co also funded her election campaign.

Will the rates go down? I don't think so.

A better solution is to call UI or NU and go on the budget plan, that way you pay the same amount each month so you there are no surprises.

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:01 pm
by myglimk2
Interesting, I'll look into that. Thanks, John!

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:40 pm
by myglimk2

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:32 am
by Rbadbadger
I know what I'm going to try out this summer!

Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:38 am
by Hermes
If anyone is interested, last summer I got solar installed on my house. I went through Solar City, which basically works out a lease contract with you based on current electricity rates.

At least with me, we were able to work out a deal where I paid $0 up front, and it's about $37 a month. Right now it's generating less than that in electricity between the shorter days and the snow, but it certainly does look like in the summer it'll end up generating nearly all the electricity I'll need, for a pretty low price.

And yes, they do have a referral program, so I get a rebate if I refer people. But so far I have been extremely impressed with everything. Again, I ended up paying absolutely nothing up front, and they came, inspected, installed, and handled all the paperwork, all without charging me a single cent.

Here is my referral link:
http://www.solarcity.com/microsite/netw ... 00DnJs4AAF

Or if you want, I can log in and send you an email with referral information.

And just to brag, here's my solar generation graph:
https://mysolarcity.com/PowerGuide.aspx ... 1E859E7B69

Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:41 am
by myglimk2
Solar is definitely the way to go! Thanks for the info, Hermes!

Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 7:56 pm
by hayes1966
Hermes,

What size (area) did you install? Any more specs? When did you put it on and how long is the lease for? Just trying to get an estimate of the cost.

Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:22 am
by Hermes
My system ended up being a 12 panel array. I think each panel is about 3'x5'. The lease term is 20 years, and total cost over the 20 years ends up being ~$9000. If I sell the house, I have the option of transferring the contract to the new owner, or just buying out the remainder of the lease and selling the house with solar panels with no contract (which is probably what I'll do).

I think the system is supposed to max out around 3 kW per hour. I have yet to hit that, but until the summer, I don't think I'll get direct sun on the panels.