I’m interested in alternative ways to power my house, but we plan on trying to sell within 2 - 2.5 years, and it doesn’t make sense to do it if we can’t recoup our money by then. I’m interested as much for learning and having a project as I am for saving money and/or the Earth, but again, it has to make financial sense.
I’m obviously thinking mostly solar or wind (I live in a city, so a huge windmill is out, but a small one or two small ones would probably be ok), but if anyone has other suggestions, feel free.
How poor? We’re pretty flat without a lot of trees or tall buildings to block the wind. I’ve been on my roof a few times recently to install some attic fans* and it was pretty consistently windy up there. Then again, I did look at a wind map and we do seem to be less ideal than most of the rest of the US.
Like I said though, my biggest motivators are learning and having a project. I’m not trying to get off grid or spin my meter backwards or anything. If I can build something for $100 that is going to save me $5/mo for the next 20 months, I’ll be thrilled.
*wind-powered, incidentally, and always spinning like hell.
Hah, good point. You know, I have no idea. Is there another way to find out besides trial and error? Is there an easy way to harness this? (Bicycle generator, maybe?)
If you only want to break even by two years and then sell, then why even bother? Wouldn’t you rather have a net gain in two years in order to sell? Unfortunately energy improvements on their own don’t significantly improve the resale value.
Prolly not, I’m no engineer but there has to be an engineering doper here who has a guideline for horsepower-watts conversion guideline for such an application. Efficencies will suck, but if you can tap a couple hundred watts a month from something that might be able to help a bit.
You may also consider that installing a solar system may raise the value of the home enough to cover its costs and then some in resale value, contacting an appraiser in your area might be able to give you an estimate there.
Good point. I know from working in the industry that most lenders allow documented costs of improvement to be added into the appraisal. Or at least they did until the current real estate bubble changed everything.
How about a windmill/solar cell you can remove again? You could try it out, and if the new owners like it, you leave it. Otherwise, take it apart and take it with you to your new home.
One thing I’ve wodered-suppose you cover your roof with solar photovoltaic cells-and just wire them up to resistive heaing units? You avoid the costs of batteries, inverters, etc., and just heat the house-would this make sense?
Not in the least.
It would be like buying a $1 bill from me with a $5.
Solar PV is less than 20% efficient, and is very expensive. Solar Thermal (hot water loop, or even better, passive heating), is very efficient, and relatively inexpensive.
Passive solar is the way to go, or a Solar thermal loop for a retrofit.
Opening the blinds during the day is enough to heat a house here. I think we’ve only actually turned on the heat once in the two years we’ve lived in this house.
Not familiar with Phoenix are you? :dubious:
You know Phoenix Arizona where to get their hot tubs to 106F the residents put ice in them? Phoenix where they had to shut down the airport when the temps hit 122F. That Phoenix.
Adding heaters to a house in Phoenix is right up there with selling ice to Eskimos or oil to Arabs.
I know the market is down, but wouldn’t a solar array go pretty far towards increasing the resale value of the house in Arizona? I mean, it’s not like the house is in Seattle. The new owners can be pretty assured of getting their money back over the life of the house, and they won’t have to fuss with getting the thing installed. I’d buy a house for an extra $15K if it had a $20K array installed two years ago and the house is in the desert.
Anyone know approximate prices of doing a grey water set up? Water conservation would also appeal to me as a potential home buyer.
I sell HVAC and Plumbing equipment/installation and some of them are very high efficiency stuff—tankless water heaters, high efficiency heating/cooling equipment (including geo-thermal etc) and I can’t think of any with a payback so short.
If you include the gain from higher resale value, you’ll get closer. I doubt, however, you’ll find a strategy with so short a payback.
I would agree that it would be very, very hard to get return on investment in 2 years. But what the hell, you would learn a lot, and someone (perhaps all of us) would see a return.
May I make a recommendation to anyone looking towards alternative energy for home needs?
Purchase the ‘Solar Living Source Book’ It’s 600 pages full of narratives on how to do it, and companies that you can buy products from. Wind maps and wiring diagrams. Everything from axes and mauls and wood stoves to full on $13000 packages to power a house. And everything in between.
It has wind, hydro and PV information. If anything, it’s a hell of a good read, and reference. It can be found on Amazon for about $23.
I am tempted to do a small hydro set up on the little stream I have running through my yard. It gets more tempting every day.
The most cost-effective upgrade in the Phoenix area is Solar DHW (solar water heater). If you don’t get ripped off of installation, payback can be in a few years.