ROI and Metal Men

2/9/15

The HOA application was approved.  We are scheduled for the install on 2/17/15.

2/12/15

I occasionally get emails from FPL about energy use and conservation. Today I got one with a question posted by a consumer: How much does it cost to heat hot water?  Here is the answer:

That's a great question, and the answer may surprise you. The average FPL customer living in a single family home with two people uses 2,200 kilowatt-hours (kWh) throughout the year to heat all of their water when using a traditional electric water heater. At FPL's average residential electric rate of just under 10 cents per kWh, that’s approximately $18 each month, which is under $220 a year. Of course, it varies according to the number of people living in your home.

It's good to know how much you spend on water heating if you need to replace your water heater now, or in the future. Keep these options in mind when shopping for a new one:

• The space-saving, instantaneous water heaters, also known as tankless water heaters, can cost approximately $200 per year and save you up to 10 percent compared to a traditional electric heater.  Be aware upgrading your electrical wiring may be required.
• The new generation of heat pump water heaters can cost less than $100 a year and save you up to 60 percent compared to a traditional electric heater.
• Solar water heaters can typically save 50-85 percent depending on storage tank size and daily hot water usage.

It will be interesting to see what we save once the system is in place.

2/15/15

The solar system we are getting has an 80-gallon storage tank. Our current tank is 55 gallons. Consequently, we need to make room in the garage for the larger tank. Today, we cleaned out the garage so there would be enough room for the new tank.  This entailed disassembling a metal shelf that was held together by screws that had been painted over and were stripped.  I suppose I could have just put the 7-ft shelf out at the curb for trash pickup. But we have guys in our town who drive around on the night before trash day and take metal for recycling. They wouldn't be able to take such a large shelf so I had to use a saber saw to cut it up. Trash pickup is Tuesday. I put the pieces out on Monday at around 4:30. By 5:30, they were gone.  We are ready for the install.