Solar panels set up to run only specific items in the house

[Nickelless]

Several weeks ago as I was getting my semi-annual furnace checkup, I got to talking to the technician about the advisability of switching at some point to an all-electric furnace so that I could set up solar panels that would be dedicated just to a few things such as the furnace and the water heater. He said it was an interesting idea and to let them know if I wanted to switch over at some point. My water heater probably has a couple good years left.

So what do you guys think of having solar panels set up to route power just to specific appliances or circuits in the house to minimize the cost of trying to go all-solar? I wouldn't mind trying something like this. I think it'd make the most sense to route as much available solar power to the furnace, since it's a lot more pleasant being warm and have no lights than to be cold in a well-lit room. Have any of you considered anything like this?

[goldie40]

I had thought about it and talked about it with my nearest neighbor about 1/2 mile down the rd. He's a licensed electrician,A county arson inspector and also the ele inspector plus his wife makes 95 grand a yr as a school teacher, they have every toy imaginable around their house,
I talked with him about solar and he said solar panels were not worth the trouble involved to have them, I just assumed he's was right because if they were, he would have them, also this area is loaded with multi millionairs and there are just 3 houses in a 20 mile radius with the panels that i can think of, they all have big generators setting in the field behind their mansions.
I also think there are government subsidies to help put them up

[TnAndy]

Several weeks ago as I was getting my semi-annual furnace checkup, I got to talking to the technician about the advisability of switching at some point to an all-electric furnace so that I could set up solar panels that would be dedicated just to a few things such as the furnace and the water heater. He said it was an interesting idea and to let them know if I wanted to switch over at some point. My water heater probably has a couple good years left.

So what do you guys think of having solar panels set up to route power just to specific appliances or circuits in the house to minimize the cost of trying to go all-solar? I wouldn't mind trying something like this. I think it'd make the most sense to route as much available solar power to the furnace, since it's a lot more pleasant being warm and have no lights than to be cold in a well-lit room. Have any of you considered anything like this?

As you investigate solar, you'll find the LAST thing you want out of PV solar ( solar electric ) is trying to run a furnace or water heater. Solar is expensive per watt, and thus reserved for areas that are hardest to replace with other means.

Heating your house and water can be done SO much cheaper with other means, it simply doesn't make sense to spend the money required to waste it in those areas unless you have a bottomless checkbook. IF it has a heating element in it, ( furnace, water heater, dryer, stove, etc ) you are NOT going to want to spend what it takes to run them off PV solar.

As a "prep" person, you ought to be looking to move AWAY from things like an electric furnace or water heater, and towards some means that you control better. One would be THERMAL solar, the cheapest form of solar power. Use the sun to directly heat water ( or a some fluid mix ) for domestic water heating and space heating using panels that circulate water/air for heating.

Others would be natural gas, but then you are at the mercy of the gas line. Next would be propane, again, you are at the mercy of supply, BUT you can at least store quite a bit in advance ( I put in an extra 2-500gal tanks last year and figure we can cook/heat water for 3-4 years now with no re-supply )....and finally, consider heating with a fuel like wood if you have a good supply ( we do, and have heated with wood for 30 years ).

I do have a 3.1kw PV system in place. It replaces about 1/3 of our electrical needs ( getting ready to expand it to 5.5kw, and that will supply close to 60% ). With the utility incentive we have, the current system replaces most of out electrical bill.....last year's average bill was 45 bucks. This past month, it was 5 bucks. With the next expansion, they will actually pay me about 50/month.

I also set the system up with battery backup, which is NOT the way the typical grid tie system is set up ( because more expensive ) so IF the grid goes down, we have the capibility to operate about 1/3 of our electrical needs on solar power. Grid power is dirt cheap, lot of people that have some romantic notion of "going off grid....until they get a clue what it costs.

Our off grid power, when needed, will flow to designated circuits to refrigeration, lights, and maybe a little left over for some handy 20th century inventions like a washing machine.

[TnAndy]

He's a licensed electrician,A county arson inspector and also the ele inspector plus his wife makes 95 grand a yr as a school teacher, they have every toy imaginable around their house,


Sounds like the typical short sighted fool this country abounds with.

Because life has been so easy and cheap, they can't conceive of it being any other way, despite clear handwriting on the wall they fail to read. Their entire kitchen larder is also likely smaller in weight than their collection of entertainment DVDs as well.

[TnAndy]

He's a licensed electrician,A county arson inspector and also the ele inspector plus his wife makes 95 grand a yr as a school teacher, they have every toy imaginable around their house,


Sounds like the typical short sighted fool this country abounds with.

Because life has been so easy and cheap, they can't conceive of it being any other way, despite clear handwriting on the wall they fail to read. Their entire kitchen larder is also likely smaller in weight than their collection of entertainment DVDs as well.

[Rusty Shackelford]

Nickleless,

I did some research on what it would take to run my electric furnace that supplements my heat pump. The size of system you would need to offset the energy need to run the coils will scare the living crap out of you. I wish I could give you the numbers I came up with, but they were so ridiculous that there was no way it was feasible and I did not even commit them to memory. So I have decide to narrow my focus to researching solar to eliminate my electric bill for 8 out 12 months and find it much more feasible. Then as Andy said find other other avenues to heat (although electric, at this time, is far and away the cheapest in my area.)

[Nickelless]

Rusty, I think the key phrase in what you said is eliminating an electric bill for 8 out of 12 months. I've been paying about 25 percent above my monthly bill each month on my water and electric bills and an extra $10 a month on my gas to build up a credit balance on each of them.

A buddy of mine has a wood burner on the back side of his property, but he lives out in the country. In theory I could have something like that built on the back half of my yard, but I'm wondering how big of a headache the permit process would be since I live inside city limits.

[goldie40]

Sounds like the typical short sighted fool this country abounds with.
Because life has been so easy and cheap, they can't conceive of it being any other way, despite clear handwriting on the wall they fail to read. Their entire kitchen larder is also likely smaller in weight than their collection of entertainment DVDs as well.

I usually don't patronize or stick up for anyone but in this case I will. This family earned everything they have except maybe his wifes salery which all of the tax payers in this area will agree with me on. the powers that be have gave our teachers the store and a golden parachute when they retire, hopefully that'll change soon.

they both came from dirt poor families,he started doing ele work with his father when he was about 14, never done the HS sports thing or wasted any time, he was a volunteer fireman for 30 yrs plus doing his work. his wife went to college after their kids were born, I even think the county arson inspector and ele inspector was volunteer for many yrs. I really don't know him other than he lives up the rd and we speak maybe once a yr, I knew his father and GF for many yrs. I do know that they're preppers and raise much of their own food, but he's full of info as he studies all the time, especially anything to do with saving a buck

[TnAndy]

Yeah.....I probably shouldn't have said "fool".....and no reflection on where they have come from and all.....but the short sighted part still applies.

I have a similar neighbor......never made it past 10th grade, worked hard all his life, built up a fairly sucessful excavation business, can (and will) do about any type of manual skill, but still doesn't get the big picture on where things are going.

Electric power is definitely going up in price down the road, even in real dollar terms, simply no way around it. And most likely, supply is going to get restricted as well, as an aging infastructure gets more strained. Throw in the very real possibility of social chaos and NO electric supply when this economic thing finally goes down the tubes, and I think the prudent person would be thinking along the lines of supplying some of their own needs.

[ttazzman]

along the lines TnAndy/Rusty was saying.....photovoltaic solar to heat anything is off the charts price wise to put in, as a starting out home owner the best investment you can make to become more effient would be to invest in INSULATION get a study done on your house...put in the most insulation you can afford ...start roof/ceiling first ...top to bottom...remember heat always moves to cold....think about passive solar heating...

I can build a house in the midwest that on 0deg/f outside temp days that can by pulling shades open on a sunny day can heat itself the whole day and retain heat for most of the evening. of course your starting with a existing house but you can still do a lot...use the internet or a specialist in your area to help you.....think about windows and caulking.....think about your sun angle in the winter vs summer....but mainly insulation will get you immediate returns for your $ invested

[gnome]

As TNAndy has said, last thing you want to do is use expensive, high tech PV electricity (electricity is a high quality form of energy) to make heat (low-quality energy).

Instead consider efficient, low-tech solar-thermal applications such as soda can air heaters and solar water heaters. You can build these yourself (try youtube or instructables.com), but even a commercially bought hot water heater will pay for itself in 3 years in most situations. These are some of the most cost-efficient investments you can make.

[ttazzman]

something else to look at and consider.....talk to your utility company...most every utility company will have people and/or paperwork on things to up grade your energy effiecency....for example our Energy Coop has a man that will come out and work with patrons to advise on energy effiency, also i dont know if they still apply but you could get tax credits (i used mine all up when they first came out as direct credit off of my federal income tax) ......also our local utility company gives direct cash rebates on items such as energy eff. appliances, for example i put in a new 5ton geothermal hvac system and they sent me a check for $3750 as a rebate...they also had rebates for things as minor as refrigerators and washers and dryers...

for all home owners that read this i cant express strongly enough, that you need to call your utility provider and find out what programs/incentives/rebates etc they have to help you reduce your utility ussage, remember either your utility or tax dollars are paying for these services

[southfork]

Anyone try using car alternators? I picked up 5 at the flea market for 20 bucks total and am wanting to hook them all on one belt and try some wind power, each one is rated over 100 amps and I was going to get a few large batteries for storage. Any thoughts?

[ttazzman]

Anyone try using car alternators? I picked up 5 at the flea market for 20 bucks total and am wanting to hook them all on one belt and try some wind power, each one is rated over 100 amps and I was going to get a few large batteries for storage. Any thoughts?

they are not very efficient and very poor if any at all generation at slow speeds

Edit add....if you can get them up to speed and producing you since they are 12v only you will need to consider the voltage drop (wire size and length) etc to get the power to your storage area (batterys) .....in other words you would want the storage batterys and inverter very close to the windmill

I would like to do a Micro-Hydro project on the creek that runs through my property but figuring a good way to get the power back to the Point of ussage without working up some kind of a high voltage system sux

[Jimfrancisco]

Run it through an invertor, then step it back down again when it gets to the house?

[southfork]

Run it through an invertor, then step it back down again when it gets to the house?

Are you speaking of a step up transformer or an inverter, the latter converts DC to AC.

[ttazzman]

jim....if your talking my microhydro.....i would probably need to run a couple thousand feet ......so i would need to step it up to some form of high voltage that is beyond my 240v skillset

[Jimfrancisco]

Are you speaking of a step up transformer or an inverter, the latter converts DC to AC.

Sorry, should have made myself clearer. I was talking of running the DC through an invertor to get 240V ac, then stepping that up higher via a transformer for less in the way of transmission losses.