luvit's challenge: keep below 800 kWh each month.
- Thread starter luvit
- Start date
Teken
Well-known member
You just had to go to the POCO's web site and ask for one. The kits were based on how many bathrooms you have and the type of shower heads you had on hand.
Since I already changed out the shower heads to hand held wand wash style. I really didn't need them. That was the same with the sink aerators as all sinks must be slow flow models by code.
I really wished I could have used the pivotal kitchen sink aerator jet spray. But, my *fancy* (yeah right) sink does not allow an replace and remove head.
I've had one of these things in all of the homes I have lived in. They are truly awesome in moving the water around the tub and washing the sides of gunk.
Teken . . .
Vulcan
New member
luvit: I think i have the same power monitor, it looks like a Black & Decker EM100B or a BlueLine BLI-28000. I have the B&D. Question: What software do you use to get the graphs?
Yeah, I have the B&D meter mount, and B&D LCD display, but I have the Blueline WiFi PCM which is all the same.
I use myeragy.com for charting.
There may be a few graphs and charts in this thread which I made separately with Google Apps.
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Air_Cooled_Nut
Well-known member
For Oregon/southern Washington see http://energytrust.org/residential/That's fantastic to see the POCO offering so much for free.Our local POCO offered something similar but it was not geared toward electrical but more toward saving water...
I just finished a contract job with them (great company to work for, BTW). The power companies (electric AND gas) charge an additional 2% or 3% 'tax' that goes to this non-profit group. They are responsible for the various energy saving programs and kits like this.
Also, my household is going solar through Solar City. $0 out of pocket cost to us. Seriously, not even ONE single penny! They cover EVERYTHING; design, permitting, working with PGE (our local electricity) for interconnect, and insuring. So our engineering design was approved, permits have been signed off, and our interconnect to tie into the grid signed. Next step is for them to make an appointment with us for install (I think late spring when it's not so cold/wet).
Briefly here's how it works. They do everything and in return they get the incentive checks from the state & feds & power company. We lease the system with the option to buy it any time after 5 years. If we want to. It provides 80% of our power needs -- more or less can be done to a point and it will affect the lease price or purchase price if you go that route. If one of our mature Douglas Fir trees falls on the house and shatters the solar array, our house insurance covers the house and Solar City's insurance covers the solar array. They do the maintenance and updating -- hell, they do ALL the work, I just sign the papers. While the average cost increase of the local power company is 3% (and it has been higher) they only increase the lease by a FIXED 2%. So in the long run we will save more and more money. If the system doesn't help lower our electric bill for a month they pay the difference.
This isn't a "too good to be true" scenario as we are leasing the system once it's 'turned on'. We aren't 'off the grid' (I researched that path, too expensive and maintenance heavy!) It's in their best interest to provide a quality, efficient system as they then get a better return on the incentives they receive
Naturally, we have a roof where it gets full southern exposure and the trees don't cause shadow issues until late afternoon. If one's power bill is too low you may not qualify (happened to my buddy in Colorado). Just throwing this out there and solar is something I've been looking into for a few years and this was the best deal for me with minimal time, waste, and money taken away from me.
More banks are providing loan types for alternate power sources so that's a route one can take. Trouble is, it's a large chunk of money and you don't get the incentives until the system is installed and working to regulating standards.
Since you're in the mid-west (or one of you was) wind energy may be a better and less expensive alternative, especially since you can generate power AT NIGHT!
Air_Cooled_Nut
Well-known member
Oh, our system is a 8.64 kilowatts. My wife handles the bills so I don't know our consumption, except that it's higher than I like. My family is VERY familiar with "turn off the #$%@ LIGHTS"! CFL, dimmers for incandescents, smart thermostat, timers on the bathroom fans, updated windows, appliances, etc. Insulating the attic is our next big purchase, along with insulating the duct work, to get the biggest bang for our buck.
Air_Cooled_Nut
Well-known member
Just got a call from Solar City for the install. Appointment made for the last week of December. Average install time is a day, sometimes 1/2 the next day. Cool.
Hmm, I need to take pictures of the roof for a before/after sequence.
Hmm, I need to take pictures of the roof for a before/after sequence.
This is very interesting, indeed.
I was hoping to do some solar installation this summer, but I just couldn't make the time. I've never had such a busy summer, but I got to enjoy some unusually high amount of quality time with the family.. something I have missed-out on for several years due to a traveling for my work.
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