How many here use renewables?

[greenparty]

Bummer,cant post a poll but really why i dropped in just to see if democrats see renewable energy as a political/economic weapon.
How many here use solar,wind,cfl's or hydro? Just curious.
I have a panel array(surrette battery bank),takagi gas HW,cfls,cellulose,argon windows,compost all yard waste and ditched all old energy hog appliances.
Unbelievably simple how it has been to cut the energy bills to nothing.Central AC is still a problem,the planned 125's i plan on building will take care of the rest of the Amp needs for that but after that last detail.....well, will be fun telling apco i no longer need their services.
Anyone else working to get offgrid?

[angry_chuck]

1. can you...

recommend some useful information so that I might find how unbelievably simple your energy independence was?

[NMDemDist2]

2. hi greenparty! and welcome to DU!

I use only CFB's, recycle everything my little town will take and haul it to town a couple times a month. I compost everything I can including most of my kitchen scraps that the disposal/septic won't take.

we use a lot of passive solar and will be adding panels in the next couple years to this house we bought this summer. with the new house came new appliances that were chosen with the energy use in mind

we'll be adding windows too. we hope to be off the grid by 2015 if not sooner

[silverweb]

3. I'm a renter.

So going off grid is not an option at this time. However, I use all CFLs or LEDs for lighting; the only incandescent light bulb is in the refrigerator and that's only because I can't fit a CFL or LED in the small niche. Power strips are shut off at night to eliminate computer/TV "power vampires" usage.

We have natural gas for heat and hot water. The hot water heater is on for an hour late each night, which is plenty for morning showers, dishes, etc. Heater pilot has been turned on, but we haven't had to use the heat at all yet this year.

My gas and electric bill averages less than $40/month.

[MountainLaurel]

11. Same here

But we're hoping to build or buy a house next year, and we're exploring our options.

:hi:

[silverweb]

19. Great!

The options are improving at a great clip at this point, so your new house should be a lot of fun to design/renovate green.

:hi:

[jpak]

15. There are small PV systems that can be used by renters

http://www.solarsense.com/Products/1-Complete_Systems/3-NOMAD_1500/NOMAD_1500.html

They're worth their weight in gold during extended power outages...you can run two 12V DC CF bulbs, a small 12V DC TV/radio and a small 12V DC fan (during hot weather).

If you really want to use solar hot water, you can modify a large picnic cooler to do the job...

Get a large wheeled cooler (Coleman X-tremes are the best).

Paint the interior black (with appropriate paint) and make a removable double-paned (i.e., insulated) lucite cover for the open top.

Open the cooler to the noontime sun and you can produce several gallons of hot water (even in the fall or spring) in a short period of time.

Flop the lid down and the water will stay hot overnight (and you can wheel it around without too much effort and not spill a drop).

Use a battery operated Coleman submersible camp shower pump to dispense the hot water (for showers or dish washing).

I used these rigs at remote field camps and they work like a charm...

(and we used a small PV system to charge the batteries too)

:hi:

On edit: You can also use a clothes line or a drying rack for laundry and sign up for Green Electricity (it it's offered in your area).

[silverweb]

18. Great info to keep in mind, thanks!

I'll be moving when my daughter transfers to a university up north, so am not making any radical changes right now. The goal presently is just to conserve energy and limit usage.

We buy almost everything used rather than new (clothes, books, household items) -- my daughter's a genius at that and loves thrift store shopping. We buy local foods as much as possible, we're both vegetarian (except that I very occasionally treat myself to farmed tilapia or shrimp), and we recycle virtually everything. I wish I had a garden so I could recycle wash water and compost/vermiculture, but that will come eventually and is calculated into what I'm looking for in my next residence next year.

We really have no room for a clothesline for a full wash load, so we have to use the laundry room's electric dryer for now. But I am buying a _Wonderwash_ soon, which will cut down on water/energy usage, make for much smaller wash loads, and will make a small clothesline a practical possibility.

Our gas/electric company claims to have a substantial investment and commitment to "green electricity," but I don't have any hard data on that and just have to take their word for it.

I don't have my own car anymore and work at home on the computer. My daughter has a hybrid that I borrow once every couple of weeks for an afternoon to do all the necessary shopping; for anything needed in between, I walk to local stores. When she leaves, I'll be using public tranportation more and/or renting a car occasionally.

I like your solar hot water idea, too, and may well try that out once my daughter moves. I'd been thinking more in terms of a passive system connected to the existing plumbing, sort of like fig.3 in _this article_, depending on where I move to. Your portable cooler method, in the meantime, would do nicely! :)

Even in the city, there's a lot that can be done to minimize energy usage and "live greener." There's probably a lot more I could be doing, but I'm actually waiting until I move to implement other ideas like PV.

Thanks for the ideas and keep up the great work!

[eleny]

4. This year we got house insulation made from recycled blue jeans

The stuff is great. No masks needed for installing it. Even though the R value isn't as high as blown in or the pink stuff, our ranch style home is very cozy. And we don't have worries that dangerous fibers will find their way into the living area from the attic as they used to.

[greenparty]

7. wow

Blue jean insulation?New one! Awesome if it is workin for you,yeah i had my insulation overblown with the cellulose-recycled newspaper pulp stuff which i needed here to fill in some pretty bad air gaps and cover the pink panther insulation.
Oops also forgot to mention --have the solar star(solatube) attic fan.I actually had an old a/c fan in the attic i didnt know about and when i went up to install the solar deal(i thought i just had a vent) i found this monster a/c fan and junction box that long ago had stopped working because squirrels had messed the fanguard up and chewed through the wires.Was just sitting there,not working, pulling power and acting as a fire hazard for years...
That mess got recycled and all there is now is the wireless fan.If there is a perfect use for solar--attic fans have got to be it.
When its hottest in the summer,the fan is working its best because it is getting direct sun and when its not really needed,at night or during colder months,it slacks off due to reduced light.Its a naturally occuring thermostat switch,freakin awesome.
Also wanted to pass on that if there are those looking for cut rate CFL's(compact flourescents-for the uninitiated) ebay is a really good source.Ebay is a rip off for alot of things but you can consistently get bulbs there for about 2 bucks if you buy lots of about 8,10 or 20.
Alot better than 7$ per at home depot.
And chuck,if you know how to replace a lightbulb,that is how easy it is to start your way to energy independence.

[silverweb]

8. Great idea!

How does it compare in price to standard insulation?

[eleny]

10. It's way more expensive than the pink stuff

But we did it for a healthier alternative. Here's the web site. http://www.bondedlogic.com/

[silverojo]

5. We can't afford the high-tech stuff, but....

I'm a strong believer in solar cooking, and have built a couple solar ovens. I've tied clotheslines between our house and our tree, and we use those instead of the dryer (unless the weather forces us to use it). We try to save gas by combining errands, shopping locally, and not using freeways (high speed = high gas consumption). I'm a crafty person, so I do all I can to turn trash into something useful. :)

Would LOVE to go off-grid, but we don't own our house, even if we did have the $$. Too bad, b/c I'd love to tell the electric company to shove it! :D

[YankeyMCC]

20. Do you have plans or

a reference you can recomend for how to build solar ovens? I know the principle and remember building some contraptions in my scouting days, but I'd like to see some plans again to give me some ideas. I like this idea, thanks

[TallahasseeGrannie]

6. We lived on our farm in two cabins with no water and electricity

for seven months a few years back. Just for the hell of it. We plan to build and would like to go solar and propane.

At the moment we live the standard suburban lifestyle, running AC. But without it I'd have to move back to NJ. Florida heat does me in.

[hunter]

33. My great grandmother lived like that.

She had electricity but only because my great grandfather LOVED his radio and he loved reading -- when Rural Electrification came to his part of the world he'd enthusiastically said "Yes!" because he wouldn't have to mess with batteries or oil lamps anymore.

My great grandmother's house had three forty watt lightbulbs, a radio, and a record player. After my great grandfather died I think my great grandmother begrudged every last penny she ever sent to the electric company. I think her electric bills were something like $3.00, mostly for the service.

The most important appliance she owned was her kitchen wood stove. It heated the house, the water, and cooked the food. It's still in our family, along with some of the buckets my great grandmother hauled water in. She didn't have indoor plumbing. I remember it was a long walk to the out-house at night, and it was a huge bother to take a bath, so you only bathed once a week.

She also grew a lot of her own food.

So as a kid whenever I was at my great grandmothers house my footprint on the earth was pretty small.

Later, as a young man, I lived for a time in a little shack without much in the way of utilities and I rode my bicycle everywhere. I took showers at the University gym, and I'd wash my clothes at an apartment building where I sometimes worked as a handyman, always using cold water to save energy. I was a vegetarian then too, mostly truth be told because I didn't have any good way to keep meat. That was another time in my life when my impact on the earth was pretty small.

[TheBaldyMan]

9. recently I found out my local elecricity supplier does renewable sourced

energy, I don't know what the price premium is but I'd like to try it. I'm pretty frugal with my electricity use anyway so my electic bill can't go sky high.

I also noticed a couple of days ago that a wind farm had started operating offshore in the Mersey estuary.

[MountainLaurel]

12. Does anyone have reading recommendations

Or product guides for incorporating renewables into a home or in building a new home? We're renting right now, but are hoping to buy or build a home in the next couple years, and we want to make it as green as possible. We're in Maine, so heating systems and insulation are a priority. We're already looking at some of the radiant heat systems.

[jpak]

16. Talk to these folks

http://www.mainesolar.com/

They have installed close to a thousand PV/solar systems in Maine since the mid-seventies.

also stop by this site for chat...

http://www.solarhouse.com/

Unfortunately, this year's Maine Tour of Solar Homes was held in October, but here's the central Maine itinerary...

http://www.midcoast.com/~jgs/

and a link to the Maine Solar Energy Association...

http://ellsworthme.org/MESEA/

[MountainLaurel]

38. What a list of resources

And I think it helps answer Mr. Laurel's question about whether solar is possible in Maine.

:hi:

[silverweb]

17. My fave website (other than DU)

Subscribe for free to www.treehugger.com. I get e-mail from them a couple times a week with all the latest trends in green technology and products, the fun and the very serious.

Their site also archives past articles by category, i.e., alternative energy, architecture, books, cars, etc, and links from articles take you to all kinds of fascinating and useful sites.

:hi:

[MountainLaurel]

37. Thanks all.

I also noticed that the library where I work has a subscription to Mother Earth News, which this month is featuring solar power. Will have to remember to borrow that one.

[greenparty]

22. Tankless water heating

For a new home i would recommend it highly.I have a Takagi gas tankless and it does cut the bill by at least 30%.It eliminated the pilot light stand by and the unneccessary need to preheat 50 gallons of water.Plus in a new construction it would make arranging certain elements alot easier.Tankless WH's install on the wall and are very small.DUDE! that rhymed...12" depth and about 36" across.The gas heaters are fairly expensive(for some) but if you get an electric they are basically the same as a standard water heater.I can run the shower,have the dishwasher on and faucets open no problem.Only time the system sputters is when i am watering the lawn.Then i can only run the shower.Other than that i havent even noticed it.OR if you want to do passive solar,it is far easier to implement than at construction time than having to refit pipes after all the walls are in.Thats actually why i used a tankless system because it was way too expensive to try and run hot and cold lines to the roof from the basement.Would have had to cut through a concrete wall and the subfloor to make passive solar work.There are tons of prefabbed systems out there like progressive tube for that but there are also a boatload of free DIY plans on how to make your own hot water boxes.Think a portable cooler was mentioned-would probably work as a homemade,permanent, passive solar water heating system is really nothing more than copper pipes(or a tank),a wood box and a glass top.
A very interesting page i just found.--> http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/Space_Heating.htm#Passive --creative stuff--

Very good article on all forms of solar hot water heating. http://www.homepower.com/files/beginner/SolarHotWaterBasics.pdf

A DIY passive tank solar batch heater. http://solarcooking.org/bkerr/SWHeaterRev-1d.pdf

[silverweb]

23. Home Power looks like a great resource.

I'm supposed to be working right now, so I bookmarked it to read more thoroughly later.

And I forgot to include it in my first post, but it's not too late: Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[greenparty]

25. Thanks

Peeps here have been very kind with the welcome mat.Appreciate it!
Homepower is a good magazine.They publish stuff that is real world DIY projects anyone can do.
Actually talking to one of the editors on tips for elec. car conversion.So if you cant find some of the answers in their magazine they have info on where to go or who to talk to.Pretty awesome go to resource for info.

[AZCat]

29. The problem with electric tankless water heaters...

Since they have no storage, the recovery rate must be equal or greater to the demand. A tank-type water heater can have a lower recovery rate because it can heat up the water over time (of course this all depends on what kind of demand you have). This means that the electrical service for the tankless water heater must be larger than the one serving an equivalent tank-type water heater. For new construction this really isn't an issue but for anyone considering a remodel it is important to remember because you might not have the electrical capacity for a tankless.

[hunter]

32. I have a tankless water heater and my experience is mixed so far as energy savings..

Probably because I have teenagers.

They can stay in the shower forever now, not worrying that I'm going to explode when my own shower suddenly turns cold.

Before we installed our Aquastar, our kids were a little bit more aware of how much hot water they were using, and they were always especially careful not to use too much hot water before my wife and I took our showers.

But I do love the machine. Our house can be full of guests, with everyone taking showers after we come back from hiking or something, and the hot water doesn't run out. That alone makes it worth it, but that's probably a bad thing so far as energy use goes.

[greenparty]

35. i didnt

really understand the other dudes post,i think it is the power spikes.Anyway im on gas and the savings there are typically 30-40% over a tank.Electrics are 10-15% because they are ok to start with(new energy star ones) but comporable in price to new tank models so if u get the higher efficiency for the same price....
Anyway, gas tankless is really where you will save alot of $.My therm usage last year this month was 60,this year with tankless it is 28.I think if i install a smaller unit for the dishwasher it will cut even more.

[Ready4Change]

13. Well Done!

My current house isn't well suited for large scale solar (to my frustration.) I'd still like to do a more minor installation, most likely for water for radiant heating in a room that gets coldest in winter. I'd also like to set up a single PV panel (maybe 100watts) and battery, just to see what they can do.

Eventually we want to build our own, and I plan to incorporate passive and active solar, along with super insulation and energy efficient appliances. But that's still years off.

[greenparty]

24. try a solar attic fan

or gable fan,whichever your house is set up for but beyond using CFL's is a really cheap way to cut AC cooling costs.Its more of a summer concern but for 250$ the all-in-one deal really helps keep the ac load down when it gets hot.

[NNadir]

14. Gee, the response has been overwhelming.

Everyone apparently has renewable energy at their fingertips.

And here I was thinking that global climate change was a serious issue. Since everyone reports that they have immediate access to renewable energy and use it all the time, I guess I can stop worrying about the future.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kestrel91316]

26. I use CFL's throughout the house. Recycle everything that CAN

be recycled. Try to grow a lot of my own fruits and vegetables (too hot in recent years to manage this). I rent, so insulation upgrades and solar installation are not possible. In the winter I can usually manage 6-8 fires in the fireplace (too warm most of the time) to heat the house.

When I retire I want to build, on a little piece of land with some trees for firewood, a humble little two-room cabin with super insulation, top of the line windows, solar and wind power (grid intertie with emergency backup and disconnect). Not many square feet, but renewably powered. I want a well with one of those red-handled pumps like my Grandma's ranch in NV used to have, lol. And I could live without running water - the idea of a sawdust bucket toilet is not a problem for me..........

[Dead_Parrot]

27. Sounds like a plan...

Not nearly enough people are prepared to make a sacrifice or two - things like running hot water and mains sewage seem to have become compulsory, even though we managed quite nicely without for most of the last 3 million years...

[kestrel91316]

28. My dad's family on the ranch didn't have running water and electricity

until they moved into town when he was in high school.

They didn't actually get them (and non-party phone lines)out on the ranch itself until I was 15. I loved visiting the ranch, but the outhouse was icky. The water pump was fun. As was the kerosene and coleman fuel lighting system, and the propane fridge.

Grandma got addicted to soap operas as soon as she got electricity and a TV, at about the age of 75.

[Dead_Parrot]

30. Ahh, outhouses...

In awe I watched the waxing moon ride across the zenith of the heavens like an ambered chariot towards the ebon void of infinite space wherein the tethered belts of Jupiter and Mars hang forever festooned in their orbital majesty. And as I looked at this I thought... I must put a roof on this lavatory. - Les Dawson

:)

[Porcupine]

31. I'm a renter but do my best......

I buy over half my food from local producers due to a great farmers market. At home I have a super-low flow shower head and hand wash dishes. My lights are all CFL's I have no TV. I use the absolute minimum heating and AC so my largest power bills are about $60 for the worst heating and cooling months.

My morning commute is a mere 2 miles. I require a truck to carry my tools but I drive like a granny and get great milage by staying off the freeway when moving around town. At work as a maintenance worker for other rental properties I install more compact flourescents whenever the opportunity arises. Tenants frequently damage light fixtures when changing bulbs so it's cost effective. I also encourage property owners to upgrade aging appliances which always reduces energy load.

Not bad for a renter.

[FREEWILL56]

34. Hello Greenparty

You've started a good thread here and I have 2 photovoltaic panels that operate my amateur radio station. I wish I could buy more, but I just can't swing it financially none too soon. Somebody had already brought up Homepower Mag and I recommend it. If you visit their website you can download a copy for free. There are some forums around as well and I don't know if it's ok to give web addresses here or not, but if you find the store online for Northern Arizona Wind & Sun they have a good one going. I also use LEDs and CFLs, but you have to get the good CFLs as the cheapo ones can be dangerous as I found out.

[greenparty]

36. Got a subscription!

to home power.Yeah its a good one.Practical stuff.
NAWS ive been to,neil and another guy over there have a bit of know-it-all-itis but if you need wiring specs for solar look no further than the N.Arizona board.
Havent heard about dangers of any cfl's.They have lead and mercury in them so you have to recycle them as Hazmat but ones i got were Philips off of Ebay.Ultra cheap prices.
Cool you have panels,yeah just add whenever u get $.If you want super lo prices on occassional solar deals harbor freight has some inverter included specials sometimes that are like 139$ with a 40W panel.