[qingguy]

Originally Posted by LVAllen

There's no thermal barrier between the unoccupied, hot rooms, and the occupied, cooler room. The heat from the unoccupied rooms is going to increase the temperature in the adjacent spaces (including the occupied room), forcing your a/c to work harder to cool that one single room than it would have if all of the rooms were simultaneously cooled.

Thanks for your reply! Interesting and makes sense. Here's my setup on one side of the house is my son's room, next to that is guest room 1 then a Jack and Jill bath (doors on each side) and then guest room 3. Since guest room 1 and two are separated by two doors and about 15 feet of space do you I'd be OK opening vents in guest room 2 that shares a wall with the bedroom and keeping guest room 2's vent closed?

[Clarkcty]

Buy a fan and circulate the air in the house, if you have ceramic/porcelaine tiles, place a floor fan in the area. Keep in mind indoor ceramic/porcelaine tiles feel cold even during the Summer. It will help circulate cooler air in the house, keep the fan away from walls/windows. Our thermostat is on @ around 78, higher if we are not home around 80/81.

Our current bill is 63.00 for a 2bd/2ba condo,nearly a 1000 sq/ft. Last month our bill was around 50.00. Everything is old in our unit with the exception of the washer/dryer and water heater (all 3 are a few years old).

Prior to replacing the washer/dryer/water heater, our Summer electricity bill was around $100.00. Energy efficient appliances truly help bring down energy usage. Greedy Nevada Energy likes to nickel and dime residents in Clark County because they are losing out. People are finding ways to lower the monthly electricity bill.

[Danknee]

Originally Posted by Danknee

Interesting, I had no idea.



I just got off the phone with Solar City. The ROI doesn't look great through them, maybe an independent installer could give a better rate? I did find these DIY kits that run $17,000 for an 8kW system.

Here is what Solar City had to offer me:

• To buy my own system from them: I need $35k out of pocket up front. After federal rebates the cost would drop to $24.4k. They monitor and warranty the system (including inverters) and your roof for 30 years
• First lease option: I would pay them 12.35 cents per kilowatt. Fixed rate, won't increase for 20 years with the option to extend to 30 years. Also there is an option after 5 years to purchase at the current market value (3rd party appraiser) of the system.
• The other leasing option I would pay 9.9 cents per kilowatt, but the rate increases by 2.9 percent each year.

It is interesting that they noted I am currently paying less per kilowatt than I would with the first lease option. I provided the last 12 months of energy data. I use about 10,000 kilowatts per year currently.

Based on my current rates and usage it would take me 18.07 years to break even with what I paid up front and that is assuming I get the full value of the federal refunds back (and not calculating for inflation over 18 years). I wasn't interested in their leasing options, except maybe the gamble of buying at market value after 5 years... probably not though.

The other complication is that they are basically lining up your paperwork for November so you can try to be one of the first to submit for a solar rebate before they run out. I'm predicting they run out an hour after the window opens.

Solar City just called me back with a pre-pay deal worth considering:

• $14,500 paid up front for 20 years of solar energy
• 7.5Kw system, 11000 Kw hours per year
• Anything provided over your usage, including from panels over performing, is yours to apply towards net metering (I would need to save up the cold months to avoid paying for electricty in the hot ones)
• 10 Year ROI for me. The next 10 years would be the reward.
• After 20 years they remove the panels or start a new contract with you.
• This basically locks in a 6.5 cent electric rate for the next 20 years.
• Contract is transferable if you sell your house. Not likely to get any return for this though, so hopefully you used the panels for at least 10 years. No negative aspect to this contract though, it is only a benefit to the buyer

I just need to decide if I'm going to live in this house for more than 10 years...or if I believe the cost of solar panels will dip to $15k within the next five years for a 7.5kW system.

[Raiderman]

Sounds to be about even with NV Energy. I pay a penny less than that per KWH for 8 months a year, and a penny more for 4 months.

[winter-rabbit]

So with inflation, solar install system will be much much more in 20 years. Better to do it now, since the relativity is narrow.

Originally Posted by Danknee

Solar City just called me back with a pre-pay deal worth considering:

• $14,500 paid up front for 20 years of solar energy
• 7.5Kw system, 11000 Kw hours per year
• Anything provided over your usage, including from panels over performing, is yours to apply towards net metering (I would need to save up the cold months to avoid paying for electricty in the hot ones)
• 10 Year ROI for me. The next 10 years would be the reward.
• After 20 years they remove the panels or start a new contract with you.
• This basically locks in a 6.5 cent electric rate for the next 20 years.
• Contract is transferable if you sell your house. Not likely to get any return for this though, so hopefully you used the panels for at least 10 years. No negative aspect to this contract though, it is only a benefit to the buyer

I just need to decide if I'm going to live in this house for more than 10 years...or if I believe the cost of solar panels will dip to $15k within the next five years for a 7.5kW system.

[Danknee]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

Sounds to be about even with NV Energy. I pay a penny less than that per KWH for 8 months a year, and a penny more for 4 months.

Yeah, I'm also currently on TOU. The advantage they have that you lock that rate for 20 years.

After the federal 30% deduction the DIY 8kW system (linked further up) would cost $11k. That is the deal until December 2016. I'm going to wait until closer to that date.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by qingguy

...Oh, and I run a pool pump 4 hours a day and a chlorine generator too.

I'm surprised you only run the pump 4 hours/day. Why so little?

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by Danknee

Yeah, I'm also currently on TOU. The advantage they have that you lock that rate for 20 years.

After the federal 30% deduction the DIY 8kW system (linked further up) would cost $11k. That is the deal until December 2016. I'm going to wait until closer to that date.

I would definitely put a pencil to it (as I'm sure you're doing). Have you come up with an estimated dollar amount savings over the next 20 years? I know it's hard to do, as who knows what energy is going to cost in 20 years, but there must be data showing historical pricing changes that could be projected forward.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by qingguy

... do you I'd be OK opening vents in guest room 2 that shares a wall with the bedroom and keeping guest room 2's vent closed?

It is actually a bit more complicated than just the issue of interior room separations not having insulation. That is certainly true, but there is more to the problem.

It is also the issue of gas flow calculations & loads, thermal flow calculations & loads, and other stuff I really don't understand, which gets rather complicated in a multizone environment. I'm not a mechanical engineer, nor do I have access to the software to do those calcs - but a qualified mechanical engineer can do them & address the question. If it were me, I would not close off any vents in any room, hoping that the engineer who designed the cooling system for that specific house plan did his job correctly. I would only tinker with things if experience showed that engineer didn't do the job well -- for example, if the temperature differential between rooms with all doors open is 3 degrees or more (with most people being able to "feel" a difference of 2 degrees). Such a problem might occur in a specific house plan on a specific lot based on the orientation of the house relative to east, south, west & north facing windows.

[Raiderman]

Oh, and just to stray off topic a smidge, SolarCity is hiring like crazy, for those who are looking for an entry-level sales job. It's a call-center telesales environment. I did a couple interviews with them before they let me know it was entry-level, and paid about half of what I was looking for.

But I know there are those on the forum who are looking for work. I have a friend there who works in scheduling and loves the company..

Just an FYI.