$136 APS bill (Page: get credit, purchase, calculator)

[HX_Guy]

I'm jealous of all you solar users! I want solar! Too bad all the great deals from years ago are gone.

[lewdog_5]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

I'm jealous of all you solar users! I want solar! Too bad all the great deals from years ago are gone.

Our house we just bought is 10 years old but they didn't install the solar until early 2013. We had to agree to the lease of the solar to buy the house. We loved that it was installed and definitely was a pro to buying this house. We'll pay a flat lease rate for the next 19 years. I'm not sure if it's a good deal or what they paid to install it as I just pay the flat rate each month and because it's leased, it's maintenance free. It's leased through solar city.

[HX_Guy]

Mind sharing what the monthly lease rate is and what size the system is?

[lewdog_5]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Mind sharing what the monthly lease rate is and what size the system is?

Size, huh? Had to ask the tough questions. I'm not sure how size is measured in these, unless you are talking about actual size measurements of just the panels themselves?

[HX_Guy]

They are measured in kW's. For example at our house, using an online calculator, it says we would need a 10.7 kW system to cover 100% of our electricity.

[lewdog_5]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

They are measured in kW's. For example at our house, using an online calculator, it says we would need a 10.7 kW system to cover 100% of our electricity.

Ah thanks. Based on my online monitoring system it says 6.86 kW system and our lease is monthly payments of $131. I found an online calculator and it guesses that we'd need about a 9 kW system to cover our needs to 100%. I guess we'll see how it goes in the hot months with the AC and pool pump. We are pretty energy conscious with the rest of our use and are fairly strict with on/off peak usage.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

For fun, I just added up all of the bulbs inside and out and it totaled 140 bulbs (3700 sq foot) including 12 LED style outdoor landscape lighting. That total surprised me.

You know you got me curious as to how many bulbs we have and it's jaw dropping, almost seems like a mistake but it's the truth...

212 bulbs. No joke.

That seems wrong, doesn't it? That is utterly insane. The house is 2900 sq ft. I even broke them down by type...

120 CFL 15w bulbs
46 incandescent 60w bulbs
12 halogen 35w bulbs
4 fluorescent 32w bulbs
30 landscape 15w landscape bulbs

So if we were to turn every single light on all at once, it would be 4,748 watts + the landscape lighting (not sure on how to figure this, the lights add up to 450w but the transformers are 900w, so does it pull 900w regardless of what the bulbs are rated at?).

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by lewdog_5

Ah thanks. Based on my online monitoring system it says 6.86 kW system and our lease is monthly payments of $131. I found an online calculator and it guesses that we'd need about a 9 kW system to cover our needs to 100%. I guess we'll see how it goes in the hot months with the AC and pool pump. We are pretty energy conscious with the rest of our use and are fairly strict with on/off peak usage.

Did you use this calculator here? System Sizing Estimator - Estimate Your Solar Power Requirements

Using that calculator, a system of your size would be good for right about 1070 kWh per month. We've only had 2 months out of the last 10 that were at that amount or less, though another 3 months were close, so 5 months out of 10 (and really out of 12 because the next two months will be higher). During those months, our bill was between $138 - $157 with APS. Based on that, seems it would be sort of wash with the solar, total monthly payment would probably be right about the same. It's probably not that simple though.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

You know you got me curious as to how many bulbs we have and it's jaw dropping, almost seems like a mistake but it's the truth...

212 bulbs. No joke.

That seems wrong, doesn't it? That is utterly insane. The house is 2900 sq ft. I even broke them down by type...

120 CFL 15w bulbs
46 incandescent 60w bulbs
12 halogen 35w bulbs
4 fluorescent 32w bulbs
30 landscape 15w landscape bulbs

So if we were to turn every single light on all at once, it would be 4,748 watts + the landscape lighting (not sure on how to figure this, the lights add up to 450w but the transformers are 900w, so does it pull 900w regardless of what the bulbs are rated at?).

I later re-counted. 142 excluding the appliances (Fridge, microwave, etc). I thought we had a lot of lights. >>200! Wow.

I'd change out the heavily used incandescent bulbs with CFL or LED. You really need to introduce yourself to the new-and-improved LED's. Costco has some of those candelabra style (2 pack at a whopping $18). They toss off way more light than what they claim too). It's extremely natural looking to boot. We uses some CF and some LED's in out glass covered fans. We just blend the LED's to get light NOW and the CF that take a little time to warm up.

I know you didn't like the LED style for outdoor but we are delighted. Some outdoor light vendors have kits. They are not like the cheapo outdoor solar versions. Our outdoor LED's look like Halogen style. The wavelength matches what our eyes prefer. The payoff is way out there but I'll bet some of your power usage is related to your intense amount of lights.

FYI: 32KWH was used yesterday and 37 KWH the day before. Temp set at 78 degrees.

[HTY483]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Based on that, seems it would be sort of wash with the solar, total monthly payment would probably be right about the same.

Agreed. Wonder what the payback period would be to just purchase a system? Found few online calculators but dont have the patience to walk through them.