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It keeps the batteries charged while they are out sailing, when there are modest hotel loads on.. Small sailboats often lack dedicated starting batteries and if you aren't mindful of your electrical loads you may be hand cranking the engine when you get to port.
I keep seeing a commercial for NRG Home Solar panels that says you may qualify for $0 down installation of the panels, but you have to a agree to a 20 year lease. Anyone heard of this? Any thoughts?
I keep seeing a commercial for NRG Home Solar panels that says you may qualify for $0 down installation of the panels, but you have to a agree to a 20 year lease. Anyone heard of this? Any thoughts?
Offered by dozens of companies. Requires faith that the company stays in business...they are going to sell the paper so you need to know they will be around for 20 years.
Look carefully. Is there any possibility you might sell your home during that period? A lease will complicate things. Than look at what you save. Do your own calculation or find some neutral to do it for you. Internet lore suggest it is generally better to buy and own. Some of the big companies give 20 year warranties.
Offered by dozens of companies. Requires faith that the company stays in business...they are going to sell the paper so you need to know they will be around for 20 years.
Look carefully. Is there any possibility you might sell your home during that period? A lease will complicate things. Than look at what you save. Do your own calculation or find some neutral to do it for you. Internet lore suggest it is generally better to buy and own. Some of the big companies give 20 year warranties.
Thank you!! I've wondered about adding solar panels but the cost always prevents me from doing it. I agree that if selling the house in the future is a possibility, a lease may not be the best way to go. Thanks again!!
I built my own system on my shop trailer and take it with me when I move.
It pays off over and over. I started off buying used panels any where I could find them .usually it was an up grade some one was doing that had limited space on an articulator.
The were worth $100. and amp to me ,and some of them are still making a significant controbution.
New panels are pretty reasonable but youve got to be there with the cash when they become available.
In my system, I have a 3 position switch per componant ,including wind mill and other resources for power.
center off ,down puts it on line, and up to test it's individual capacity, thrugh panel meters,
This has taught me more than all the technical mombo jumbo.
If you are going to build your own system plan bigger than you emagine and provide plety of fuses to protect your work .
I have been converting all my lighting to LED and I keep a spread sheet of our power usage and it has dropped and average of 10%. I just got my electric bill for April and I went through all our bills for the past 5 years and last months bill is the lowest we have ever received. Electricity is our only utility expense, it provides light, heat, AC, and water. and our bill was only $125.
I agree that improving the efficiency of the power usage is much smarter then investing large sums of money on a system.
Lighting is actually a small part of electric use. It's mainly the a/c (if you live in a temperate climate, there's your savings right there) and fridge and w/d, as well as other appliances one may have (extra freezer or whatever). Dimmable lighting helps lower bills a bit. LED lowers lighting bills a bit (not the first year...the cost of LED lights would take me over a year to make up for the cost of the pricey bulbs). We're talking LED dimmable in some instances. Comparable to 100W incandescent. Such an LED bulb runs about $20. It would take me several years for that one light fixture to make up the cost of the bulb (50 cents a month, since I use that fixture daily; less than 50 cents for others I don't use often).
I've tried doing other conservation things, but nothing makes much different. Radiant Guard under roof, turning off lights, CFL lights, then a couple of LED lights. The only things I noticed that seemed to make a difference were caulking around my old window frames on the inside, and adding attic insulation.
Getting the highest SEER you can when you replace your a/c unit would help, but that's only if you can't repair the old one.
Turning temp to not so cold in fridge...don't know if that made a difference. Replaced front door with energy efficient one....didn't notice a difference.
Switched elec. companies to a lower rate...THAT made a big difference.
Thermal drapes with shades over single pane windows. Does that help? I guess so. Don't know.
So there's no way around it. It's mainly the rate you pay. That's what makes the most difference. There's no way to cut wattage down very much, other than turning things off.
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