how much do you pay for electric

[sealife]

my light bill is kill me this mo it is 332 and last mo 383 and i dont have ac how much is your light bill:uzi: :fish2:

[EvilInSin]

OMG! what are you running?!?
we are just in apt but ours is normally under 100$ with AC on all year round.

[VegasMike]

Time tomake you feel a little better, how's $1100 sound?

I about sh** a brick. I thought to myself, "it wasn't that much last year, is the new tank taking that much more juice, wait until the wife sees this." Then I looked at the usage compared to last year aand we were actually under last year's number. NV Power has just gone up 20-30% since last year. It's time to move to Montana.

[SpicyBalls]

or get solar power

[VegasMike]

Solar power still is not cost effective yet. They did a special on the news here and in order to get enough juice for your average house, you would have to fill up half you backyard with panels. Most homeowners assoc won't let you put them on the roof. Believe me, I though about it.

[SpicyBalls]

true.. i wouldn't get it for my whole house though.. i thought about setting up a nice few hundred gallon tank all powered by solar.. the rest of my crib would just be the regular electricty.. but yeah, i checked some site already and it's pretty crazy still..

[Desert Fish]

Solar electric panels will never be viable at 13% efficiency - the payback time exceeds the lifespan of the panels.
I think you guys are suffering from electric leeches. Fully airconditioned all electric house with 2 kw aquarium lighting and 30,000gph water pumping, my electric last month was 2660 kwh or 190.00

[EvilInSin]

I was reading NVP insert a few months ago and they said they would pay for a portion of the cost of putting in solars.
you still have to come up with a few grand yourself but maybe it would be enuf power to cover the tank itself

[the Undone guy]

its not a problem with the panels and their efficiency, its the way the power is stored that lacks.

[Shak]

Yikes, got my power bill yesterday:

3934 KWH

$390, though I do have 3k sq ft I keep at 78 degrees.

[sealife]

all i have is a 100 gal with 2x400mh 540 w of vho sice i last post we found out what was use so much elict we had a bad moter in the swamp cooler

[Vincerama2]

(I stumbled onto this old thread while searching for "Solar Power"). Boy, I thought CA had expensive power! I sure hope you guys are using electronic thermostats! (when I'm at work, it turns the heat way down (It's Feb right now), and also late at night when I'm asleep.

As for power storage, there is a guy here (Member of the Bay Area Reefers club) that has solar...he doesn't store it to go off grid, but during the day when he's at work and the power output of the panels is greatest, the power he generates gets pumped back into the grid and he gets CREDIT on his electric bill for it. Plus he uses TOU (Time of Use) so using power after 7PM is cheaper than noon to 7pm power (which is when the panels are most effective anyway).

I'm jonesing to try it, but it really is such a huge startup cost ... with unknown returns or pay back. In theory, it should increase the value of your house ... but who can say by how much. And with the housing market currently hot, house prices are irrational anyway.

I don't know how Nevada power companies work, but here in the Bay Area, there is a baseline amount, and anything you use over it costs even more. It's a complete rip off. I bought a gas dryer to reduce electrical usage (so I don't poke into the "expensive" power).

I've also ready about "power controllers" which apparently control the power used by induction motor driven items (swamp cooler motor?)

Anyway, just some thoughts I thought I'd dump while they were in my head!

V

[opihi]

Hi Vince,
Not sure if you remember me, but i've talked to you at a couple of BARE meetings early last year.

anyway, since i've been here, i haven't seen too many solar panels around. our electricity is fairly cheap compared to the Bay Area, i want to say about .10/kwh. no baseline-- i agree, that was the biggest rip off ever.

we've already signed up for the time of use program for our new house and that seems to be a pretty good deal. at it's highest point, it's ~.16/kwh during the summer from 1pm to 6pm. off-season, the cost drops down to about ~.07/kwh.

congrats on the house & fiancee. :) what part of SM have you moved to? if you like Indian food, Bombay Gardens on 3rd is incredible. Hotaru is an excellent Japanese restaurant. also on 3rd, though on the west end near El Camino.

later,
jeff

[Vincerama2]

Hi Jeff, glad to hear from you! I think I do remember you, though it's been a while!

Wow, cheap electric! Well, when I visited Hoover Dam, they did mention that 4% of the power from Hoover went to Vegas! And with all those casinos buying power, I'm sure they managed to arm-twist ("I've got an offer you can't refuse" ;)) the utility companies into cheaper power!

That baseline thing is nuts. I'm not even sure what it's based on. I briefly though "Hey, it's probably based on your last years usage, so I'd better use as much power as I can now so next years baseline will be higher!" but I think it's some neighbourhood average....we need more reefers in the hood!

I moved to 41st Ave, so it's almost in Belmont, to the west of the CalTrain tracks. And it's fairly close to Hillsdale Mall.

I love Indian Food, I'll definitely give that place a try!

V

[mike bracken]

um.....
Our average power bill for our 1400 sf house is around $80 a month. We have a all electric house, too.

[Vincerama2]

That's not bad. I don't know why CA is so darn expensive! OK, actually I DO know...that's why Arnie is governator now. Hopefully, when a few more power plants come online, it should get cheaper. Still I wish solar was cheaper and more efficient. It's just not even remotely cost effective unless you live in that house for 20 years. I mean, for several thousand dollars, you can get a few hundred watts of power...which you can actually conserve by using more effiecient pumps in the tank, or DE halides instead of SE, or getting an Energy Star rated refrigerator, washer, etc. Or insulating your house or whatever.

I know back in Canada (Ontario to be exact) my folks pay something like 4 (CDN) cents/kilowatt. Sure, it requires more heating and cooling, but with those Candu reactors and Niagra Falls hydro ... it's just cheap (and doesn't rely so much on the middle east).

We just need LOTS of people to buy solar, so that much like computers and smoke detectors, the price will drop.

V