Hikvision IVMS
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networkcameracritic
Getting the hang of it
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They are not crazy, I'm crazy for paying it. Solar power plans have been submitted to the city for approval, I may be 1 or 2 bills away from not having to pay them ever again, woohoo!
good stuff on the solar.. How much solar?
that bill is nuts.. i see you are even paying bonds for the water district.. wtf is wrong with californina! I also see you are paying for other social programs.. ppp and trac.. wtf!
that just makes my blood boil!
that bill is nuts.. i see you are even paying bonds for the water district.. wtf is wrong with californina! I also see you are paying for other social programs.. ppp and trac.. wtf!
that just makes my blood boil!
networkcameracritic
Getting the hang of it
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Putting in 26 LG 280W panels to generate about 1,000KWHR average per month which is my current monthly average. If anything, we have tons of sun in So Cal. That bill looks high as it's not only peak of summer, but it's for 33 days and actually less usage per day than the same month last year which was 1,391KHWR of usage which was for less days.
Same month last year, we paid 33 cents for tier 4 and an average of 27.9 cents per KWHR or a 16.8% increase in average rate. Same month 2 years ago, tier 4 was 29 cents and monthly average was 24.8 cents a KWHR at 12.5% rate increase. I estimated payback at 5 years based on today's rate, but if future rate growth is an indication, maybe 4 years.
Same month last year, we paid 33 cents for tier 4 and an average of 27.9 cents per KWHR or a 16.8% increase in average rate. Same month 2 years ago, tier 4 was 29 cents and monthly average was 24.8 cents a KWHR at 12.5% rate increase. I estimated payback at 5 years based on today's rate, but if future rate growth is an indication, maybe 4 years.
Here is ours over a year. We moved into the house in March this year. We have just under 6000 sq ft finished with another 4500 unfinished. The whole house is encapsulated with spray foam. So I am essentially heating and cooling all 10500 sq ft. I am also looking to do solar panels. I probably need enough panels to do 1800kwh, want to get a year of usage to determine the panel requirement.
Look at the jump between May and June, the usage was less, but the bill jumped $75 due to "summer billing". We are looking to be about $160-200 this September.
Look at the jump between May and June, the usage was less, but the bill jumped $75 due to "summer billing". We are looking to be about $160-200 this September.
icerabbit
Getting the hang of it
As I said in the other thread : 1500 kWh adding up to a $500 electric bill is crazy. No wonder you are looking at solar! Wish I could the same. Though our electricity rate is expensive, it is not CA bad. We have a peak combined rate of ~19c, before some account and nuisance charges, plus I'm being charge sales tax; which add up to ~$200 for 1500 kWh and $400 for 2500 kWh.
I've considered solar solutions, but we don't have much southern exposure. The house - plot orientation gives us the smallest roof surface facing south and neighboring properties are full of mature trees. Downside of living in the woods. Long winters with low solar arc and short daylight plus snow load probably would make it a complete loss.
I've considered solar solutions, but we don't have much southern exposure. The house - plot orientation gives us the smallest roof surface facing south and neighboring properties are full of mature trees. Downside of living in the woods. Long winters with low solar arc and short daylight plus snow load probably would make it a complete loss.
icerabbit
Getting the hang of it
How much extra would it cost to go for 2kWh? Can you sell favorably to the grid?
Then you'd make money 8mo/yr and still break even 4mo/yr, even if you plugged in a few more things. We all try to get some more efficient bulbs, appliances etc, but then another luxury comes along
Neat graph. I should make myself one of those, as I have several years worth of billing data in excel to track TOU billing. It really isn't worth the hassle, imo, to get the cheap nightly rate when they penalize you so severally during breakfast and dinner time. It hits pretty bad in the winter time when extra lighting and heating is really needed. One has to go out of their way a good bit to have 70% of their electric use off peak, or the daytime use penalty is too great. So enter digital thermostats, hot water controls, outlets, led bulbs ... to try to have additional control and energy savings.
networkcameracritic
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The more panels you put in, the cheaper it gets per watt because there's fixed costs for plans, permits, wiring and startup costs to bring crews and equipment in, so getting double what I got may cost $3 per what vs. the 3.22 I paid. Also different locales have lower cost labor, less government intervention and easier permitting. For example, in Arizona, same system may be 25 cents per watt less. The best place to go for sizing is the government PVWatts calculator. You give it you location and it figures out production capabilities. PVWatts can be found at http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/
Also, just like this forum helps with cameras, this forum helps with solar questions - http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forumdisplay.php?11-Solar-panel-systems-for-homeowners'
In my area, if you over-produce, SDG&E pays back 4.9 cents per KWHR so they can sell it to someone else for 39 cents. So you don't want to over produce.
Also, just like this forum helps with cameras, this forum helps with solar questions - http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forumdisplay.php?11-Solar-panel-systems-for-homeowners'
In my area, if you over-produce, SDG&E pays back 4.9 cents per KWHR so they can sell it to someone else for 39 cents. So you don't want to over produce.
We can sell power to the local power company at about 19 cents a kwh, then buy it back at the normal rates. (see previous page). That graph is from the power company's web page, didn't have to anything but use the snipping tool ;-)
They just screw us in the summer months, the rest of the year should be $175-225. We are all electric, so no drastic savings in the winter for gas.
They just screw us in the summer months, the rest of the year should be $175-225. We are all electric, so no drastic savings in the winter for gas.
icerabbit
Getting the hang of it
Cool. I just made my own graph tracking the time of use split and bill total. Between heating in winter, cooling in the summer, some garden features and luxuries, it is tough to keep the bill low
To get us through winter it is a mix of oil, wood and electric. Can't imagine what heating this house all-electric as designed would do to the electric bill. It would be neat and convenient but probably cost a small fortune. Not that heating oil is cheap. Wood keeps going up too and is a lot of work. We're looking at hooking up to natural gas, updating the heating & cooling system with zones, eliminating some inefficiencies, oil storage and its deliveries. Looking forward to that, as it gives the option for gas cooking, gas fireplaces and stand-by emergency power.
To get us through winter it is a mix of oil, wood and electric. Can't imagine what heating this house all-electric as designed would do to the electric bill. It would be neat and convenient but probably cost a small fortune. Not that heating oil is cheap. Wood keeps going up too and is a lot of work. We're looking at hooking up to natural gas, updating the heating & cooling system with zones, eliminating some inefficiencies, oil storage and its deliveries. Looking forward to that, as it gives the option for gas cooking, gas fireplaces and stand-by emergency power.
We have 7 zones.. I need to have the HVAC guy come back and do some of the final items. He will add a return and a couple supplies in the attic (pulling from the zones just below) and a new zone in the basement. A few of the zones do short cycle a bit, that is why we want to steal a little from them on the 2nd floor. Plus it will keep the attic closer to the 2nd floor temp.
When we built we used spray foam, we put 3" of closed cell in the walls of the 1st and 2nd floor, 2" of closed cell on the concrete walls in the basement and 6" of open cell in the roof rafters in the attic. It does a great job of keeping the house nice. We have 2x 3 ton units, probably could have gotten away with a single 3 ton unit or 2x 2 ton though.
Per sq foot, we don't use a lot of power, I just don't like be enslaved to a monopoly power company.
This is the current billing cycle. I like how they show the temp along with the usage. On the 19th we did laundry, so it spiked a little.
When we built we used spray foam, we put 3" of closed cell in the walls of the 1st and 2nd floor, 2" of closed cell on the concrete walls in the basement and 6" of open cell in the roof rafters in the attic. It does a great job of keeping the house nice. We have 2x 3 ton units, probably could have gotten away with a single 3 ton unit or 2x 2 ton though.
Per sq foot, we don't use a lot of power, I just don't like be enslaved to a monopoly power company.
This is the current billing cycle. I like how they show the temp along with the usage. On the 19th we did laundry, so it spiked a little.
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icerabbit
Getting the hang of it
Those are some very nice energy upgrades you did. I'm sure it cost plenty, but will be worth it in the long run.
The power company does give you a pretty nice overview with the high/low temps, so you can relate to AC use. Ideally in my case with Time Of Use billing, that daily column should be split in three segments. Would love that.
I'm supposed to have some type of energy usage overview online, as we do have a smart meter for at least a year now, but for some odd reason it keeps not being available on my account. Every time I call in, you can hear any of 3-4 reasons, then somebody in the technical department will look into and get back to me, weeks pass, zip nada.
We can never quite get a good read on baseline nor minimum usage. Our electric meter runs slow with a multiplier factor, so everything is in large blocks on the bill. Where the average meter counts true KWh, ours counts single units and then multiplies them. At any point in time it is a guess, where you are ate between the whole units. So you can be away for a couple weeks, and still have the same electric bill, because 1.50 peak units previous month billed as 1 with carry over .50 plus new .50=1 on your bill again. It has an averaging out side-effect I guess. But it makes it harder because of the fuzz, and you can't just say, okay, we're not using anything today (only standby stuff and minimal) to get a baseline of electronics, appliances and equipment stand-by and operational use in 24hrs or however many days.
I've considered rolling my own energy monitor, but I would need too many units between the different sub panels to get some of the granularity I want. Or I'd have to get a single kit and move it around after a week or month ... I'll just wait for the what the power company tells me. They've got the hourly data, I'm sure.
The power company does give you a pretty nice overview with the high/low temps, so you can relate to AC use. Ideally in my case with Time Of Use billing, that daily column should be split in three segments. Would love that.
I'm supposed to have some type of energy usage overview online, as we do have a smart meter for at least a year now, but for some odd reason it keeps not being available on my account. Every time I call in, you can hear any of 3-4 reasons, then somebody in the technical department will look into and get back to me, weeks pass, zip nada.
We can never quite get a good read on baseline nor minimum usage. Our electric meter runs slow with a multiplier factor, so everything is in large blocks on the bill. Where the average meter counts true KWh, ours counts single units and then multiplies them. At any point in time it is a guess, where you are ate between the whole units. So you can be away for a couple weeks, and still have the same electric bill, because 1.50 peak units previous month billed as 1 with carry over .50 plus new .50=1 on your bill again. It has an averaging out side-effect I guess. But it makes it harder because of the fuzz, and you can't just say, okay, we're not using anything today (only standby stuff and minimal) to get a baseline of electronics, appliances and equipment stand-by and operational use in 24hrs or however many days.
I've considered rolling my own energy monitor, but I would need too many units between the different sub panels to get some of the granularity I want. Or I'd have to get a single kit and move it around after a week or month ... I'll just wait for the what the power company tells me. They've got the hourly data, I'm sure.
On Thursday I killed the big Cisco 6509 I had for my network at home. Unfortunately, the electric company could not pull the readings on the Thursday usage and they just do an average based on before and after captures (I think).
It will take a few days to see how much it helps with power usage, so far it looks just under $1 a day in savings. AMPs used dropped from about 4.5 to 2.5 (110v) on my network closet.
We should have good weather for the next few days so no heat or air will be required. It will be a good baseline for me to use.
It will take a few days to see how much it helps with power usage, so far it looks just under $1 a day in savings. AMPs used dropped from about 4.5 to 2.5 (110v) on my network closet.
We should have good weather for the next few days so no heat or air will be required. It will be a good baseline for me to use.