I have a wood/coal stove, pellet stove, heat pump, installing a gas furnace and now that the gas will cut my electric back immensely, I'm going to hopefully install a solar system. I am only using the pellet stove now and set my heat pump at 62 degrees as backup when the pellet stove goes to minpot. It has not been heating well lately and i've been fighting it too much. It's a Quadrafire Mt Vernon 2009 and it has minpot issues. I'm tired of fighting it. I'm tired of carrying heavy bags of pellets, coal and gas into the house - getting too old. Gas and solar are the way to go. Any suggestions?
I went solar
- Thread starter Woodsplitter67
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I have a wood/coal stove, pellet stove, heat pump, installing a gas furnace and now that the gas will cut my electric back immensely, I'm going to hopefully install a solar system. I am only using the pellet stove now and set my heat pump at 62 degrees as backup when the pellet stove goes to minpot. It has not been heating well lately and i've been fighting it too much. It's a Quadrafire Mt Vernon 2009 and it has minpot issues. I'm tired of fighting it. I'm tired of carrying heavy bags of pellets, coal and gas into the house - getting too old. Gas and solar are the way to go. Any suggestions?
I wpuld be happy to contact the company and see if york pa is in there area... i will be talking to him after the 1st
What happens when the sun isn't out much? How's the generation of electric?
Unless the sun is bright the panels dont put out much power. The software modeling used to predict system performance over the course of the year is based on many years of long term observations of the amount of sun that lands on the area over a year. Some years it will be better and some years worse. Unfortunately the data sites used can be spread quite far apart. In my state of NH, there are only 2 data points so the predicted solar insolation model doesn't necessarily match local conditions but they tend to be conservative so better than nothing.
On grid systems typically are net metered so they are hooked to the grid and the homeowner doesnt get impacted by cloudy conditions. Those rare folks who live too far away from the grid and need to be off grid can really be impacted by several days of cloudy weather as they either need to stop using power or need to run a generator. Most off gridders trade off dependence on the electric utility with dependence on the propane supplier (to run the generator).
On grid systems typically are net metered so they are hooked to the grid and the homeowner doesnt get impacted by cloudy conditions. Those rare folks who live too far away from the grid and need to be off grid can really be impacted by several days of cloudy weather as they either need to stop using power or need to run a generator. Most off gridders trade off dependence on the electric utility with dependence on the propane supplier (to run the generator).
If I wanted to reduce electricity costs further, which might you recommend that I replace: Electric Dryer or water heater (go solar or do gas?) I use all kinds of county top cooking equipment - pressure cookers, indoor grills, microwave etc no regular stove just electric top part - microwave/Convection oven. Any suggestions for going solar under 10K?
![[Hearth.com] I went solar](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/219/219320-59f76e0e62b17eb3f0433ae4b95277e8.jpg?hash=kXsnMBAWMD "[Hearth.com] I went solar")
Usage History
Date Bill Amount KWH Meter Read Type
12/27/2017 $98.74 698 Actual
11/28/2017 $284.90 2,325 Actual
10/27/2017 $36.80 217 Estimated
09/27/2017 $45.97 295 Actual
08/29/2017 $67.15 474 Prorated
07/27/2017 $69.39 493 Actual
06/28/2017 $75.79 538 Estimated
05/25/2017 $58.33 364 Actual
04/26/2017 $100.87 693 Prorated
03/27/2017 $183.69 1,331 Actual
02/27/2017 $169.51 1,188 Estimated
01/25/2017 $91.82 2,079 Actual
12/27/2016 -$85.34 521 Estimated
Save Energy and Analyze Usage
Usage History
Date Bill Amount KWH Meter Read Type
12/27/2017 $98.74 698 Actual
11/28/2017 $284.90 2,325 Actual
10/27/2017 $36.80 217 Estimated
09/27/2017 $45.97 295 Actual
08/29/2017 $67.15 474 Prorated
07/27/2017 $69.39 493 Actual
06/28/2017 $75.79 538 Estimated
05/25/2017 $58.33 364 Actual
04/26/2017 $100.87 693 Prorated
03/27/2017 $183.69 1,331 Actual
02/27/2017 $169.51 1,188 Estimated
01/25/2017 $91.82 2,079 Actual
12/27/2016 -$85.34 521 Estimated
Save Energy and Analyze Usage
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I've been reading up on Solar energy and lots of people are saying they are getting two bills? Lots of people (especially with Solar City) are complaining how horrible the system works and some people are saying they are actually paying out more money than they should for electric. There are "catches" with the Electric company about Solar usage must be used from 7 am to 7 pm or something or you get billed or something odd. People are saying they have to buy back their electric at a cheaper rate than the electric company sells. Two bills? Special usage times? Buyback electric? Hmmm.
I'm not sure why my answer doesn't seem to be sticking - I keep retypinig Pennsylvania
Solar city i personally would not wat to deal with. There are other companies out there. SC usually leases the system. Which they will put the pannels on your home for free, and keep all the incentives, charge you a fee for electric and make money off of you.
I am making the purchas outright, so the incentives along with no,or veery little electric bill will paying for the system. There is something called net metering, i put electric into the grid during the day while the meter actuall runes backwards. During the night, the meter spins forward, hopefully not as much as it went backwards.
You are mixing up a couple of issues. Dealing with a third party lease or other creative financing is no better or worse than dealing with a car dealer on a lease. Very smart lawyers and salespeople can play with the numbers to make it look like a great deal but the entity that gets the great deal is the leasing company. Utlimately it comes down that unless you or your financial advisor understands every detail of the contract, dont sign it. If the leasing company is pounding on the door to get you to sign a lease you probably would be far better off splitting the financing from the installation.
The "catches" vary by state and utility, some states and utilities encourage solar and others dont. Start with the facts which as here http://www.dsireusa.org/ and then make sure you got your facts straight. If you dont understand the policies, then you are better off not going solar. What you do not want to do is have the guy that is trying you to sell you an installation or a lease explaining the policies as likely you only are going to hear about the pluses and minuses.
A couple of Hearth.com members have been helped by various members on the site to realize that solar made sense in their area and as far as I know both bought them outright and are very happy with their decision.
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Piney
Burning Hunk
Crazy stuff. We have panels amounting to just over 2.3kw/h. No grid to tie to. No tax breaks. No incentives. No rebates. No monthly kick back.
But that's Canada when you diy instead of using an installer from a couple hundred miles away.
Well, there was an incentive. We wanted power w/o running the light plant.
But that's Canada when you diy instead of using an installer from a couple hundred miles away.
Well, there was an incentive. We wanted power w/o running the light plant.
Just an update. I am now not doing a ground mount. Needed 2 variances for my system.. one for the size and one i need to go in the setback.. there not allowing eather.. not happy.. just flushed 2k down the toilet. I am now doing a roof mount system.. not super ideal for production, but its still way better than what they will allow on the ground..
