Question:
| As several people noted you can run a house with considerably less |than 100Amps, for 120AC, but this run contrary to how utilities like you |to think. They emphasize convenience and not having to think about were |it comes from or how much you are using at one time. My house effectively |runs on a 30amp circuit breaker which is part of my 2KW inverter. It will |handle 6KW for 45secs to start motors but prefers to keep the continuous |load below 1500Watts. My AC pulls 4kW all by itself. I have a family to support. I have to care. — Mob rule isn’t any prettier merely because the mob calls itself a government It ain’t charity if you are using someone else’s money. Wilson’s theory of relativity: If you go back far enough, we’re all related.
Response:
> |It’s a hobby, who cares if it’s cost effective! | Internet:
> I have a family to support. I have to care.
Watch it! :-) Hobbies can become religionst issues you know. This is what I tell people that I am doing when trying reduce my consumption and will when I begin my PV system. Yes, there are cost effective tables and time lines for payback. But in my case I view this as a hobby in the initial capital outlay, with a benefit in re-occurring costs, plus possible enviornmental savings. If people can spend $$ and time hitting a little ball on a green golf field, then letting them. If others spend $$ and time on sports, hunting, cars, mtn climbing, etc, then let them. These are hobbies and I classify this AE stuff as a hobby (at least to my wife and friends and others :-) ) I have other hobbies too. My computer network at home for example. Some benefit for the family, some for me and definitely a dollar sink. Anyway, it works for me. phone: 801-429-3495 "If your think education is expensive, just try ignorance." "$515B of the US revenue is personal income tax. $295B pays the interest on the debt. That’s 57 cents of every dollar I pay goes to interest."
Response:
As several people noted you can run a house with considerably less than 100Amps, for 120AC, but this run contrary to how utilities like you to think. They emphasize convenience and not having to think about were it comes from or how much you are using at one time. My house effectively runs on a 30amp circuit breaker which is part of my 2KW inverter. It will handle 6KW for 45secs to start motors but prefers to keep the continuous load below 1500Watts. Granted the house is wired with a 100Amp service panel and a 60Amp subpanel which supplies power to the house. The 60Amp subpanel gets its power from the grid or solar depending on the position of a 100amp transfer switch, aka a Frankenstein switch. The grid makes a great backup power source and for $48 a year it’s cheap insurance. We have everything you would expect to find in a typical suburban house, it just gets used differently. Heavy loads like the microwave, popcorn popper, toaster oven or washer and dryer just don’t run simultaneous. You must schedule your usage and spread the loads out thru the day and week. While I don’t need it to provide for days without sun, a 1760Amp-Hour battery bank is necessary to provide peak current demands. This takes 16 6volt GolfCart batteries wired in series/parallel to make a 12volt battery bank. It requires 4/0 welding cable between the batteries and the inverter to handle the current. If I switched to a 24volt system smaller wire would work but fewer options exist so I’ll stuck with 12 volts for now. Efficient lights and appliances are the rule not the exception in my house. Next spring I’m buying a SunFrost refrigerator/Freezer. Even though it is very expensive, ~$2500, it is still cheaper than trying to buy enough panels to power the current kenmore unit. The sunfrost uses about 18KwHrs a month where the current unit takes 45-60. Our washer had it’s standard motor replaced with a high efficiency unit that takes 1/2 the power to run. Natural gas is used for backup water and space heating although I’m doing calculations on switching over to propane. If these were electric they couldn’t be serviced by PV and would have to remain on the grid and the 100Amp service would seem more in line with reality. Finally I’ll say that while not cost effective, if you just count utility bills as your costs, Solar technology sure makes a interesting and novel hobby. Enviromentally it may be a wash at present but I’m willing to put my money where my convictions are to encourage development. — University of New Mexico in Albuquerque New Mexico, 2701 Campus Blvd NE 87131-6046 USA Phone: 505-277-8235
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