Post date: May 17, 2016 2:01:34 AM
Got my electric bill today. By far not my first, but really the first that I have looked back on that little bar graph showing past usage. I have eight months usage since I apparently had the air handlers installed. By that I mean the Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV), the fan in the garage, and the furnace, which runs the fan on ‘Low’ all day.
My base energy use seems to be 200 KWhr (KiloWatt-hours) per month, costing about $1.35 per day. I actually measured the fan use for several months (using a Kill-A-Watt meter) and the three fans use about 260 Watts. That accounts for about 125 KWhr per month. The rest of the use must come from radio, computer, lights, refrigerator, and running the furnace on ‘High’ when the burner is actually heating the house.
A single 250 Watt solar panel (with no controls) would cost about $350. This panel is a bit larger than 3’ x 5’ and weighs about 40 pounds. I would also need an inverter (to convert 24 V DC to 120 V AC) and other stuff. Of course, no one sells a complete kit this small. The smallest I have seen (without much searching, I admit) is 1,000 Watts:
This assumes I am connected to the grid, which will provide power at night.
I could buy batteries. I would need 233 Amp-Hours at 24 Volts DC, which will add another $1,200 to the cost. This would take my air handlers off-grid, but I’d still need the power company for the rest of the house.
Interesting thoughts — for now.