Is there a best time of the year for locking in your electric rate?

[Sgt Beavis]

I was going to get Tesla solar this year but after reading about their new advances on solar panels and batteries, I’ve decided to hold off at least another year. Prices for the Tesla powerwall should come down by about half when their new power cells go into production. They’ve also been cutting the prices of their panels.

[The King]

If I was younger I would likely go with solar, but the payback period is longer than I want to invest in.

[txstangnut]

I use power ogre

I was going to try them after Griddy and just never got there.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

[bubbaearl]

any of you have your hot water heater on a switch ? biggest waster of energy in a house .

[Gasser64]

I was going to get Tesla solar this year but after reading about their new advances on solar panels and batteries, I’ve decided to hold off at least another year. Prices for the Tesla powerwall should come down by about half when their new power cells go into production. They’ve also been cutting the prices of their panels.

Those roofs look real damn cool... but don't have any trees shading your house! Otherwise less power production. That's why I'm thinking it may be better just keep a normal roof, and stick panels up somewhere else. And have trees shading your roof. Of course you probably can't if you only have a small backyard. Be best if you have an extra half acre of land. Then you could put the panels on top of a big pergola or something to offer shade in the summer for get togethers.

All sounds real expensive, yeah, but like you said prices are coming down. 10 years from now they'll probably have bottomed out and few people will want to pay the electric company anymore. It's $17.6k to have a system installed now that will run my house with some to spare in case I wanted to add something that drinks more power. Saw a similar system at the state fair 15 years ago and it was about double that. If that number gets cut in half again then I'll be going solar.

any of you have your hot water heater on a switch ? biggest waster of energy in a house .

What's the best way to implement that? You just flip the switch say... 30 min before you want to take a shower? And then immediately turn it off. Only thing is you're likely to want hot water for something else during the day. Might get pretty inconvenient.

I thought about going tankless again (used to have it) but it's kind of an ordeal. I think a hybrid hot water heater would probably be more cost effective.

[bubbaearl]

takes about 15 min to heat up. turn it off at night after my shower ( it's in the bathroom next to washer and dryer ) and still have hot water next day . we turn it on in the evening or when doing laundry and such . saves around 40 bucks a month .

[The King]

Sounds like a good solution with the water heater. Mine’s gas so it doesn’t matter with it, but I will going with a tankless water heater when it’s time to replace this one.

[bubbaearl]

looked into tankless but could never get a straight answer on supply . but that was 20 years ago .

[barronj]

I have a duplex in Rockport set up for a short term rental. In the summer when they're regularly rented, I leave the wh on. In the fall, I turn them off. They're wired through a timer and the timer has a button you push. Will take a pic next time I'm down for you bubbaearl.

[bubbaearl]

i had timers on a lot of stuff at the lake . hotwater heater was on one. came on at 6 went off at 9 . a 40 gal dual element heater will heat up in about 10 min . both of our water heaters are on a switch .

[Gasser64]

I have a duplex in Rockport set up for a short term rental. In the summer when they're regularly rented, I leave the wh on. In the fall, I turn them off. They're wired through a timer and the timer has a button you push. Will take a pic next time I'm down for you bubbaearl.

i had timers on a lot of stuff at the lake . hotwater heater was on one. came on at 6 went off at 9 . a 40 gal dual element heater will heat up in about 10 min . both of our water heaters are on a switch .

I like these ideas. The push button thing sounds good too. So you'd push the button, and it would come on and stay on for x amount of time?

[bubbaearl]

putting an insulation blanket on it helps also . i just see no reason to heat water at night or during the day if not needed. only time it's really needed is shower time or when doing laundry .

[Sgt Beavis]

Those roofs look real damn cool... but don't have any trees shading your house! Otherwise less power production. That's why I'm thinking it may be better just keep a normal roof, and stick panels up somewhere else. And have trees shading your roof. Of course you probably can't if you only have a small backyard. Be best if you have an extra half acre of land. Then you could put the panels on top of a big pergola or something to offer shade in the summer for get togethers.

All sounds real expensive, yeah, but like you said prices are coming down. 10 years from now they'll probably have bottomed out and few people will want to pay the electric company anymore. It's $17.6k to have a system installed now that will run my house with some to spare in case I wanted to add something that drinks more power. Saw a similar system at the state fair 15 years ago and it was about double that. If that number gets cut in half again then I'll be going solar.

Yea, I’m not looking at the Tesla Roof but instead just normal panels. The shingles are HELLA COOL but you have to structurally reenforce your roof. Tesla’s reps have told me they don’t recommend them except for brand new construction.

I’m not even going to do that for the cabin I’m planning to build next year. I’m hoping to put that building totally off the grid with the exception of internet which I’ll get from Starlink.

[BP]

All sounds real expensive, yeah, but like you said prices are coming down. 10 years from now they'll probably have bottomed out and few people will want to pay the electric company anymore. It's $17.6k to have a system installed now that will run my house with some to spare in case I wanted to add something that drinks more power. Saw a similar system at the state fair 15 years ago and it was about double that. If that number gets cut in half again then I'll be going solar.

In other states the utility providers will buy your excess production, offsetting the system costs. My sister's house in San Diego has a system they leased from Solar City several years ago. I don't know the contract details but I know her husband freaked out when he got a $93 electric bill one month since they aren't used to paying anything. The power company credits your account for whatever you supply and if you sell more than you use they put a credit on the account. It expires after a certain term though and they won't mail you a refund.

Anyway all of the schools around her house have carports over the teachers parking lots that are covered in solar panels.

Now also keep in mind it's San Diego. Many homes don't have air conditioning, their's doesn't. If they did it'd be a window unit in whatever room they spend most of their day.

[Sgt Beavis]

Now also keep in mind it's San Diego. Many homes don't have air conditioning, their's doesn't. If they did it'd be a window unit in whatever room they spend most of their day.

This is the situation for our future mountain cabin. The humidity is always very low and it never gets above 80F. We saw only 2x 100F days last summer for our house near Denver. Several of my neighbors don’t even have AC.

Of course, in Colorado, we have over 300 days a year of sunny weather. So solar makes a lot of sense around here.