07-18-2008, 05:46 AM
Gee, it sounds like you upsized since you started out boatsized and are now on dirt. Boats are very liberating since the yardwork is easy, fishing instead of gardening, no need to buy furniture (it's all built in) and the view from the back lanai is usually quite nice. However, most houses don't overflow their bilges and float the floorboards or try to sink.
Over the past several years folks have been asking for much smaller plans for houses. There have been several under 500 square feet. One of which was for a fellow who is a sea captain so for him the "small" house was huge. I guess it is all relative.
We are getting ready to double our photovoltaic system since we would like to buy a freezer and a couple more incubators or one much bigger incubator and our system isn't big enough to run the new loads. We have been living on four photovoltaic panels which can produce 600 watts per hour at peak production for the past eight years. That runs computers, lights, printers, KitchenAid mixer and TV but the use is watched very closely. There is occasional washing machine, vacuuming and power tool use as well as two small incubators (during the summer) but that is about the maximum our current system can run. So a lot of living on sunshine is limiting the electrical use. I should calculate what our electric bill would be if we were to be paying for the power we get from the sun.
Here's what I calculated:
600 watts per hour from the photovoltaic panels x 8 hours a day = 4800 watts = 4.8 KWH per day
4.8 KWH per day x .40 cents per KWH = $1.92 per day
$1.92 per day x 30 days per month = $57.60
So our electric bill, if we had to pay for the power we make would be $57.60 per month plus whatever other charges HELCO would add on just for providing the electrical service to us if they did. So our energy usage is quite low. It does change one's lifestyle, we would use twice as much energy if we had it.
Hmm, using those numbers it would take 6.94 years for our photovoltaic system to pay for itself although the electric bills we had been paying before we went off the grid were $125 per month. Using those numbers, it paid for itself in 3.2 years. Either way, it was installed early in 2002.
Over the past several years folks have been asking for much smaller plans for houses. There have been several under 500 square feet. One of which was for a fellow who is a sea captain so for him the "small" house was huge. I guess it is all relative.
We are getting ready to double our photovoltaic system since we would like to buy a freezer and a couple more incubators or one much bigger incubator and our system isn't big enough to run the new loads. We have been living on four photovoltaic panels which can produce 600 watts per hour at peak production for the past eight years. That runs computers, lights, printers, KitchenAid mixer and TV but the use is watched very closely. There is occasional washing machine, vacuuming and power tool use as well as two small incubators (during the summer) but that is about the maximum our current system can run. So a lot of living on sunshine is limiting the electrical use. I should calculate what our electric bill would be if we were to be paying for the power we get from the sun.
Here's what I calculated:
600 watts per hour from the photovoltaic panels x 8 hours a day = 4800 watts = 4.8 KWH per day
4.8 KWH per day x .40 cents per KWH = $1.92 per day
$1.92 per day x 30 days per month = $57.60
So our electric bill, if we had to pay for the power we make would be $57.60 per month plus whatever other charges HELCO would add on just for providing the electrical service to us if they did. So our energy usage is quite low. It does change one's lifestyle, we would use twice as much energy if we had it.
Hmm, using those numbers it would take 6.94 years for our photovoltaic system to pay for itself although the electric bills we had been paying before we went off the grid were $125 per month. Using those numbers, it paid for itself in 3.2 years. Either way, it was installed early in 2002.
Kurt Wilson