The Green Room

[Art Deco]

My van is twelve years old, so the electric system isn't a modern design ... no inverter, no backup camera, a/c and microwave require running the generator or plugging into shore power, etc. ... and the batteries were seven years old.

Everything possible works on propane: Furnace, water heater, stove, fridge, and generator.

I replaced the batteries with true deep cycles and added a small (400 watt) inverter to charge the laptops and bikes, but haven't actually used it yet, since we aren't traveling for some reason. But I am watching for a movable array and charger, seems like roof mounted on a van is a bad idea, parking it in the sun all day makes a pretty good solar oven.

 

[john peck]

View attachment 64660View attachment 64661

´When the herd is stampeding toward the cliff, the one running the other way seems crazy.´

 

[Art Deco]

´When the herd is stampeding toward the cliff, the one running the other way seems crazy.´

Lots of crazy folks on this forum, if they "are crazy enough to spend thousands of dollars on bikes you still have to pedal" as my SUV driving neighbor says.

 

[john peck]

My van is twelve years old, so the electric system isn't a modern design ... no inverter, no backup camera, a/c and microwave require running the generator or plugging into shore power, etc. ... and the batteries were seven years old.

Everything possible works on propane: Furnace, water heater, stove, fridge, and generator.

I replaced the batteries with true deep cycles and added a small (400 watt) inverter to charge the laptops and bikes, but haven't actually used it yet, since we aren't traveling for some reason. But I am watching for a movable array and charger, seems like roof mounted on a van is a bad idea, parking it in the sun all day makes a pretty good solar oven.

My van is 36 years old. I water the two plants growing up in front of the windshield wipers. it was green,but I scraped off all the
lichens except on the roof; now it´s white again. Despite itś disreputable appearance, I´ve kept it running like a champ, much
cheaper than buying a new one. The radio doesn´t work. I don´t care; I´m deaf. I call the plants Groot & Greta.
(Groot has been reappearing each spring now for 6 years, Greta is new)

 

[Art Deco]

My van is 36 years old. I water the two plants growing up in front of the windshield wipers. it was green,but I scraped off all the
lichens except on the roof; now it´s white again. Despite itś disreputable appearance, I´ve kept it running like a champ, much
cheaper than buying a new one. The radio doesn´t work. I don´t care; I´m deaf. I call the plants Groot & Greta.
(Groot has been reappearing each spring now for 6 years, Greta is new)

You beat me with 36 years. Think about how much manufacturing pollution we would avoid if we all got 30 years or more from a vechicle, 100 years or more from a building, both very easy to do, BTW.
You might be old enough to remember when Recycling was supposed to be the the very last step, after Reduce, Repair, and Repurpose. Yeah, that went over like a lead balloon...

 

[john peck]

You beat me with 36 years. Think about how much manufacturing pollution we would avoid if we all got 30 years or more from a vechicle, 100 years or more from a building, both very easy to do, BTW.
You might be old enough to remember when Recycling was supposed to be the the very last step, after Reduce, Repair, and Repurpose. Yeah, that went over like a lead balloon...

I´ve only put 60K on it since I bought it for a grand 20 years ago. I´ve less the 400 mi on it this year which I am going use
to justify a road trip soon. Of my average 2000 mi. a year, 1200 is usually a vacation trip. I do most shopping on the bike which
now averages 3000+ mi. a year. ( yeah okay, I´ve put $4K into keeping in running, but so what.)

 

[Art Deco]

I really don't drive much anymore. In Pennsylvania we have mandatory annual inspections, and my mechanic congratulated me on breaking 1000 miles in a year for the first time in the years he has serviced my daily driver. I just gave it to my daugher. I can take my wife's car if necessary.

 

[Art Deco]

Solar is a good option for residential needs. Battery or grid, close or far.
I studied it extensively, read a few books, and talked to a dozen 'pros' in the biz. After many months I came to the conclusion that was an expensive option upfront, but you get the most ROI if you own them. Buying power off your own grid at a corporate fixed rate is NOT the best option, but surely many will still opt for that.

The parts for a solar arrays come from Asia - just like our bikes. Some of it is great, some not so much. The panels themselves are solid technology with good warranties, plenty of big-names in that business. Controlers and hook-up has solid technology, and works very well. I was able to target cost per watt of output at about a dollar a watt, DIY. The installers were selling them at $5 per watt. There's a LOT of money being made in the solar business.

Since I planned to sell my home and move within a few years I opted out. The old central air quit, so we replaced it with mini-splits, and did more insulation and weather proofing. We stay in the cheaper tier of power, but get really close sometimes. I took my marine reef tank down - it was a power hog with pumps, heaters and chillers and lights. Still run a pool pump a few hours a day, and the old aqarium pump runs the pond. We run a lot of lights in the winter time, but everything is led or low-wattage.

The moral of the story is that my craft beer spending is roughly twice what my power bill is, so I can't really complain. LOL

big snip ..

My roof and water heater were both over 30 years old.I put on a new metal roof and lots of insulation before putting up panels. Since I specified a German inverter "SMC" and they offered a bundle on solar panels from their partner company on panels. Turned out to be "assembled in New Jersey" . At least the air in NJ is cleaner than China. They are doing fine 5 years on now and expected payback is still just under 15 years in a cold cloudy state with cheap electricity.

 

[Sierratim]

My roof and water heater were both over 30 years old.I put on a new metal roof and lots of insulation before putting up panels. Since I specified a German inverter "SMC" and they offered a bundle on solar panels from their partner company on panels. Turned out to be "assembled in New Jersey" . At least the air in NJ is cleaner than China. They are doing fine 5 years on now and expected payback is still just under 15 years in a cold cloudy state with cheap electricity.

How 'cheap' is 'cheap' electricity out your way?

 

[Art Deco]

How 'cheap' is 'cheap' electricity out your way?

7.284 cents per kwh plus a monthly service fee around of $15 month.

 

[Art Deco]

My neighbor and I looked at installing 7 KW solar systems 10 years ago. He did but I didn't. The main reason was the roof installed panels would have voided the 40 year warranty on the expensive shingles I have.

My neighbor used a ground mount array but lost a bit of his yard in the process. After 10 years, he estimates the system won't quite pay for itself with it's 20 year life expectancy. Another issue was, a panel failed in the center of his array and the company who made it went out of business. He couldn't find a replacement panel with the same dimensions so a patch job had to be done which looks rather ugly.

Still, solar is the "green" way to go and I'm always on the lookout for newer systems.

Trouble with ground mounts is the space required and mowing around them...wouldn't leave enough space for the vegetable garden or woodpile...for us all three take about the same square footage.

 

[Browneye]

My roof and water heater were both over 30 years old.I put on a new metal roof and lots of insulation before putting up panels. Since I specified a German inverter "SMC" and they offered a bundle on solar panels from their partner company on panels. Turned out to be "assembled in New Jersey" . At least the air in NJ is cleaner than China. They are doing fine 5 years on now and expected payback is still just under 15 years in a cold cloudy state with cheap electricity.

I can barely plan for next week, let alone 15 years from now.

 

[Sierratim]

7.284 cents per kwh plus a monthly service fee around of $15 month.

I'm told California has the highest electric rates in the country at up to $0.60/KWHr. I say "up to" as just about all customers are on tiered rate systems that encourage usage when demand is lowest since California also has a prpblem with not being able to generate and/or buy enough power.... 'Rolling blackouts' are the solution when demand exceeds supply. The ongoing Public Safety Power Shutoff event took care of that.

Our 'average' rate last month was $0.31/KWHr...

 

[Art Deco]

I can barely plan for next week, let alone 15 years from now.

That's why I married an adult. She is very handy to have around, especially when money is involved.

 

[Browneye]

That's why I married an adult. She is very handy to have around, especially when money is involved.

Good for you. I married a minx.

 

[Art Deco]

I'm told California has the highest electric rates in the country at up to $0.60/KWHr. I say "up to" as just about all customers are on tiered rate systems that encourage usage when demand is lowest since California also has a prpblem with not being able to generate and/or buy enough power.... 'Rolling blackouts' are the solution when demand exceeds supply. The ongoing Public Safety Power Shutoff event took care of that.

Our 'average' rate last month was $0.31/KWHr...

Yeah our juice is cheap, but not as cheap as PPL wants us to believe. There are so many add on fees that the "compare" rate that I quoted is about a third cheaper than what I get by dividing dollars by kwh. New Math?

 

[Art Deco]

Good for you. I married a minx.

That's not a bad thing either, but I would literally go broke without her pointing out that I was about to. Shiny. ..

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I'm told California has the highest electric rates in the country at up to $0.60/KWHr.

We have it at 0.64 PLN/kWh (17 US cents per kilowatt-hour). People here say it is very expensive...

 

[Art Deco]

Apparently someone in the federal government has figured out that climate change is going to get expensive. DUH.

US report warns climate change could create economic chaos

The far-reaching consequences of climate change have the ability to create chaos in the financial system and disrupt the American economy, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

www.cnn.com

 

[Browneye]

I wouldn't put much stock in anything reported by CNN. Just sayin'.