Solar?

[Shreddy]

This is all very helpful. My electric bill this past month came in with close to 1600kw of usage which was bananas. Granted, it's winter so I left the heat on 50 upstairs and downstairs, have the hot tub, etc. I'll probably wait until april/may to see what it levels out to on a normal non-winter basis before running the numbers.

Trust me, mini split is already being contemplated as well to make things more efficient I've only owned the place since June so there's still some things to tighten up.

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by Shreddy

This is all very helpful. My electric bill this past month came in with close to 1600kw of usage which was bananas. Granted, it's winter so I left the heat on 50 upstairs and downstairs, have the hot tub, etc. I'll probably wait until april/may to see what it levels out to on a normal non-winter basis before running the numbers.

Trust me, mini split is already being contemplated as well to make things more efficient I've only owned the place since June so there's still some things to tighten up.

I would do what I could to cut electricity use before contemplating solar, JMO.

[Garcia]

Originally Posted by Biggd

I would do what I could to cut electricity use before contemplating solar, JMO.

I put in solar in Mass which has already paid for itself. If your're in your home for the long term, I would encourage you to talk with installers and run the numbers. My guess is you'll be pleasantly suprised by the benefits. As an added bonus, I like the stability of my electrical costs (0!).

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by Garcia

I put in solar in Mass which has already paid for itself. If your're in your home for the long term, I would encourage you to talk with installers and run the numbers. My guess is you'll be pleasantly suprised by the benefits. As an added bonus, I like the stability of my electrical costs (0!).

I have no problem with solar but if you're heating with electric baseboard that should be the first issue to address. If you're heating a house in NH with electric baseboard you're basically burning money.

[Garcia]

Originally Posted by Biggd

I have no problem with solar but if you're heating with electric baseboard that should be the first issue to address. If you're heating a house in NH with electric baseboard you're basically burning money.

I agree! One thing I wish I had done during my install was to switch from oil hot water to an electric heat pump hot water tank with the oil as a backup. I would love to turn my oil burner off from April through November. Maybe this spring...

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Biggd

I have no problem with solar but if you're heating with electric baseboard that should be the first issue to address. If you're heating a house in NH with electric baseboard you're basically burning money.

I have electric baseboard and have struggled with the decision to change it out for many reasons: it's clean and doesn't exacerbate my wife's allergies, it's fast, it's silent, it's zero maintenance, and, most of all, is best with our wood stove given the independent thermostats.

If cost were my first requirement, though, I'd definitely look to a heat pump and, once getting those electric demands as low as possible, solar.

I've never gotten great numbers to compare to, but we pay $260/mth. year-round for a 2,200 ft² split with an all-electric house with AC. NG is at the street, though, and we have ductwork in the attic, so I've been thinking...

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

[Shreddy]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

I have electric baseboard and have struggled with the decision to change it out for many reasons: it's clean and doesn't exacerbate my wife's allergies, it's fast, it's silent, it's zero maintenance, and, most of all, is best with our wood stove given the independent thermostats.

If cost were my first requirement, though, I'd definitely look to a heat pump and, once getting those electric demands as low as possible, solar.

I've never gotten great numbers to compare to, but we pay $260/mth. year-round for a 2,200 ft² split with an all-electric house with AC. NG is at the street, though, and we have ductwork in the attic, so I've been thinking...

Sent from my SM-G950U using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

Valid points as well that I've considered. I have a soapstone stove in the basement which I like. I can't get away with running just one mini-split upstairs since I need the downstairs heated as well. Getting rid of baseboard might sound like the reasonable option at first glance but I don't think it outweighs the benefit of solar given all the factors. That's coming from someone who'd never really contemplated solar and doesn't care for the thought of panels on my roof.

[Seaplane Pilot]

I know it's not solar, but these "renewable energy" choices have consequences that their proponents rarely disclose....

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...p-in-landfills

Where's the outrage? Nothing to see here folks, move along....

[Shreddy]

Originally Posted by Biggd

I have no problem with solar but if you're heating with electric baseboard that should be the first issue to address. If you're heating a house in NH with electric baseboard you're basically burning money.

That's what I got which begs the question of solar. I can either shell out the cost for a mini split or two and still have an electric bill because I run other items such as lights and hot tub...OR I can contemplate floating the cost of Solar as a long term play, run whatever I want to run and eliminate my electric bill all together without having to think about the cost of a mini split.

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by Shreddy

This is all very helpful. My electric bill this past month came in with close to 1600kw of usage which was bananas. Granted, it's winter so I left the heat on 50 upstairs and downstairs, have the hot tub, etc. I'll probably wait until april/may to see what it levels out to on a normal non-winter basis before running the numbers.

Trust me, mini split is already being contemplated as well to make things more efficient I've only owned the place since June so there's still some things to tighten up.

I would guess that the hot tub is what is driving the bill up the most. Those are energy pigs! I have an 8 person tub in front of the house. I winterize it and shut the breaker off in October. Unless you are really using it a lot in the winter it does not seem worth it to me.

[Shreddy]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

I would guess that the hot tub is what is driving the bill up the most. Those are energy pigs! I have an 8 person tub in front of the house. I winterize it and shut the breaker off in October. Unless you are really using it a lot in the winter it does not seem worth it to me.

I bought it to use in the winter. It gets its use when I get up there. When I spoke to Sundance, they mentioned it only jacks the bill about $35/month if you're using it 30 minutes 3-5 days a week (or something like that). I use it on the weekends, it's a 6 person on a 60amp (wanted to be able to run both bumps and the heater at the same time). I don't doubt that it's drawing for sure which is another big reason for the push to solar.

Mini splits would be nice, but like I said, I'd have to run them upstairs and downstairs but it wouldn't get rid of the electricity usage from the hot tub. Even though folks have mentioned get rid of baseboard, it's already there, easy to use, and low maintenance. If I have solar, I can run it as I feel during the winter and run the wall A/C in the summer without issue.