08-28-2007, 05:48 PM
Art,
Yes our house is off grid with a battery bank. There are 24 large workaholic batteries. But we still have a helco connection for wich we pay 22.13 per month. You get charged for 40 KWH a month if you use them or not. So we run our well pump with it and it never goes over the 40 KWH per month. The reason we still have the connection to run some of our shop machinery. Its a great feeling to be self-sufficient. Also we do use propane for cooking and clothesdrier. Hot water is an on-demand heater, but soon to be solar as well.
HPP4me,
We also have an in-ground pool. We simply turn on the pool pump when there is plenty sun. The pool heater is solar and works great. In fact it could make it too warm if we use it to much. One time the temp got into the 90's. If you have an average sized pool you should be fine, the bigger the pool the more work and electricity it takes. There are also DC pool pumps that work directly off of the sun. As far as prices, I really couldn't give you more than a guess because we got some really good deals and did all the work ourselves. It can get pricey. If you plan on starting with a basic system and then expanding as you go, the initial cost will be more due to the cost of the inverter and cables, battery bank, and charge controller. Later you can add more panels (and maybe charge controllers), and batteries. Thats how we did it. Its a good idea to have more than you need.
To get back to the original question, I saw a beautiful home windmill today on a hill above waiohinu. (that's in ka'u)
Daniel R Diamond
Yes our house is off grid with a battery bank. There are 24 large workaholic batteries. But we still have a helco connection for wich we pay 22.13 per month. You get charged for 40 KWH a month if you use them or not. So we run our well pump with it and it never goes over the 40 KWH per month. The reason we still have the connection to run some of our shop machinery. Its a great feeling to be self-sufficient. Also we do use propane for cooking and clothesdrier. Hot water is an on-demand heater, but soon to be solar as well.
HPP4me,
We also have an in-ground pool. We simply turn on the pool pump when there is plenty sun. The pool heater is solar and works great. In fact it could make it too warm if we use it to much. One time the temp got into the 90's. If you have an average sized pool you should be fine, the bigger the pool the more work and electricity it takes. There are also DC pool pumps that work directly off of the sun. As far as prices, I really couldn't give you more than a guess because we got some really good deals and did all the work ourselves. It can get pricey. If you plan on starting with a basic system and then expanding as you go, the initial cost will be more due to the cost of the inverter and cables, battery bank, and charge controller. Later you can add more panels (and maybe charge controllers), and batteries. Thats how we did it. Its a good idea to have more than you need.
To get back to the original question, I saw a beautiful home windmill today on a hill above waiohinu. (that's in ka'u)
Daniel R Diamond
Daniel R Diamond