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quote:
Originally posted by Midnight Rambler
terracore - what about your refrigerator? I know from taking trips where I've disabled nearly everything that over 2/3 of my electricity is going to that, even though I have electric hot water and an electric range and am somewhat sloppy with phantom draws. I'm pretty sure mine isn't very efficient, but my total consumption is still only 100-120 kWh/month. I'm currently on Oahu where the rate is about 3/4 that of HELCO, so that translates to about $45.
We have an "energy star" Whirlpool model. Standard side-by-side frostless with icemaker etc. I don't know exactly how much power it draws, but during Iselle I would run it for over 3 hours off a 12v marine battery with an inverter to give me a break from the generator noise. Also we would use the battery for other things during that time like charging cell phones, laptops, powering lights, Makita batteries, etc. It was still running after three hours but the battery was showing drained to about 60% and I didn't want to degrade it. It seems to run a lot, but I think its a situation where it has a lower draw most of the time rather than a higher draw half of the time like older refrigerators.
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The average residential rate is now 27 cents per kilowatt-hour, when it was 42 cents/kw-hr a few months ago. That is almost a 35% decrease. This is the result of shale oil fracking on the mainland, showing that the cost of electricity in Hawaii is still mostly from burning fossil fuel oil.
http://www.hawaiianelectric.com/vcmconte...esSchR.pdf
No longer can it be said that Hawaii island has the highest electric rate in the country. It also means solar will be more expensive than utility, a net metered system never paying itself off. Hawaii island should use this time to wean off oil more, which they are doing with increased geothermal, biomass incineration (where fly ash is now a resource), a private waste-to-energy plant and OTEC. All the investments are paying off, the artificial tax of ACC is phasing out. Electric rates are going to start going down and staying down. The cost of electricity is a major factor in the cost of living.
"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
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We're consistently between 60-70 dollars/mo.. We turned off our electric water heater and installed an on-demand for our shower. We line-dry all our clothes and do our best to minimize phantom draws. But after reading these comments, looks like we could shave off a few more dollars. Nice thread, thanks!
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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One power sucker I haven't come up with a solution yet is the UV light. As far as I can tell it's on 24/7 burning 80 watts when the water collectively runs less than a few hours per day.
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80 watts? sheesh, get one of these...
http://www.amazon.com/iSpring-UVF11A-110...B00FKC3ZT6
11 watts and a flow sensor switch. 80 x 24 is about 2kW... That's about a buck a day just to run UV. You could bring down your electric bill by about 30 buck a month using the above. I don't know a lot about UV lights, but I'd at least install a water flow switch on the one you got.
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quote:
Originally posted by pahoated
No longer can it be said that Hawaii island has the highest electric rate in the country.
Wait till oil prices jump again, and they will, this can't last forever, then just as fast as you wrote that, you'll be writing another just as quick as how high the rates are. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the lower rates --- while they last, but as soon as the pumps start to push over 4 bucks a gallon so will the electric bill.
Kinda interesting that shipping, airfare, and food prices haven't seen too much of a savings yet.
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I run a bank of Honda generators to fuel my electric needs , ( three 3000 watt gen plus a 5000 watt diesel and a couple of smaller gens for working around here and there !
I have approx. 10 people watching tv in the evenings and freezer and fridge with 1 hp water pump sat internet on 24 hrs and many little red or amber vampires ,
total cost approx. 250 t0 300 a month , which is way less than it was in new York state !
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quote:
Originally posted by terracore
One power sucker I haven't come up with a solution yet is the UV light. As far as I can tell it's on 24/7 burning 80 watts when the water collectively runs less than a few hours per day.
I don't know how economical this would be to retrofit but could you have a couple of hundred gallon tank, all sealed up so no contaminants could get in, that you filled as often as needed, but intermittently? Turn on the light to warm up, then turn on the pump and run till full, then turn both off. Add a little chlorine to maintain a residual, easy to calculate how much because you always add the same amount of water, which is clean. I admit it is hard to see how doing all this would save you money but it would be the ultimate in maintaining water quality. It might be worth considering if you were building a system from scratch.
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I am looking forward to April 3rd!!!
Our electric bill here runs $400-500 - 2 fridges, 2 microwaves, 2 of almost everything. And a Pool pump and water heater.
Our 1/2 the size house will only have one of these things and no pool pump, and 20% of the beach towels!
Also with much fewer visitors, I estimate laundry going from 1-2 loads per day to 2-3 week. and also we have a good place to hang the bulky items!
I am also going to utilize a lot more cost savings measures: yes to printer unplugged, Wireless off, etc at night. Also I love my brother but when his family comes to visit - living in NC where power is about 18 cents/KWH in NC - they just dont get it! I also found all my solar lighting and am going to utilize it much more!
April cant come fast enough for me!
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This has been a great thread! Thank you for all the tips and suggestions.
Enjoy the day! Ann
Enjoy the day! Ann
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