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Notes -
May as well post this here, but I got a few full month power bills in for the new mini split I talked about in the big heat pump post.
My kWh use is down 14% year on year (35 to 30Kwh/day, 918 vs 1067 total) despite only using electric heaters for supplementing the wood stove last year, vs for 100% of heating this November. Weather was slightly colder this year during most of November. Also a big chunk of one wall was uninsulated plywood this year, and I'm still using electric for one room and a shed.
This reinforces my point that electric baseboard is the 2nd worst form of heating known to man.
Because my electricity is $.113/kWh (with a variable adjustment of -.003/kWh), I'm only saving ~$17 per heating month so far. But that doesn't take the wood into account, and unfortunately that's very difficult without having direct measurements. If the switch was from full baseboard heating the savings would be significant even at this relatively low kWh price. Having AC now will of course increase my summer bills, but also significantly increase quality of life.
Overall it's been an unqualified success. Massively greater comfort, huge time saved not fucking with the fire (no fine layers of ash all over everything!), and all for less money. My house is all-electric right down to pumping my own water, so it's my only utility bill other than internet. Am looking for other ways to save money or build off-grid backups.
But as mentioned in the main post, I'm in the perfect location for using these things, and the electric grid is likely to be severely degraded over the next few years. More on that when I finish editing most of the swearing and Minecraft PvP fantasies out of the follow-up energy policy post.
Re. Off grid shit:
Even shitty solar panels are pretty good these days, and a blind idiot can install everything up to the controller by following a youtube tutorial.
The problem, as always, are the inverter, batteries, and grid connection.
Batteries are expensive and not of even quality, the inverter can easily flash fry you and is kinda touchy, and unless you are lucky enough to have a state run grid the privately owned public utility (disgusting word combo there) will extract from you many pounds of flesh for attempting to not pay them their blood money.
Honestly, unless you are really handy with electrical shit or can get a good deal on an installed powerwall style setup, I can't recommend trying to do full off grid; especially since you STILL need the grid connection as a backup. Specially at 0.113 p.kwh.
My local utility is public and run by leftists, which is why they spend more money on "equity" programs than maintaining the transmission lines, and think that utility solar is a good investment in the region with the lowest winter insolation in the country.
That's why I need to spend money to have grid-independent backups, because as bad as they are at keeping the power on, they're going to get even worse.
If your utility is public and leftist, call them and see if they have a grid storage/solar incentive program.
Get an actual human on the line and you might get some shit done; some of my acquaintances in Alaska got a bunch of off grid stuff at no/low charge 'cause their utility was a leftist granola co-op; where as all the private companies in CA will fuck you 8 ways from Saturday and twice on Sunday as a treat.
Yes, they do. The "grid storage" does no good because they can't keep the grid up, and the fund serves mostly as a handout to politically connected leftist "nonprofits" and party members.
You know, how it always works and how you seem to want it to work.
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