Sungevity

I think the break even for going solar is your electric bill has to be north of $100 consistently.

Unless you have a huge home to cool and/or a large pool, not sure if you get that high 12 months a year.
 
At the expo in GP a few months ago, I think they were mentioning it was about $150 which we're no where close to spending per month.

Also, those pesky salespeople that come around pitching solar lose interest fast when I stop them and say our electric bill is way under $100.  :p  So, if it's not at least $100, it's not worth it, unless you do it for some other reason.

I just hope the technology and price gets much better and we can just put something the size of a satellite antenna.

irvinehomeowner said:
I think the break even for going solar is your electric bill has to be north of $100 consistently.

Unless you have a huge home to cool and/or a large pool, not sure if you get that high 12 months a year.
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irvinehomeowner said:
I think the break even for going solar is your electric bill has to be north of $100 consistently.

Unless you have a huge home to cool and/or a large pool, not sure if you get that high 12 months a year.
Click to expand...

I have heard the bill needs to be north of $100 also to be of any real benefit to the homeowner.  Two of my co-workers went solar and they both have either $0 electric bills or $2-$3 bills each month.  They seem to like it. 
One co-worker said since going solar, he leaves his lights on more often and plans to run the air conditioner a LOT more when it is hot.  I guess having solar must feel like having an unlimited data plan on your cell phone where you don't have to monitor your useage.  Must feel liberating!
 
davenlei said:
One co-worker said since going solar, he leaves his lights on more often and plans to run the air conditioner a LOT more when it is hot.  I guess having solar must feel like having an unlimited data plan on your cell phone where you don't have to monitor your useage.  Must feel liberating!
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Hehe... nice analogy.

My thought was once they sell an all-electric mini-van or SUV in the US, I'll go solar and drive unlimited miles for free.
 
qwerty said:
How much do your friends pay for solar?
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One spent $30K and the other spent <$18K.  The person with the $30K cost has a larger house (3,000-4,000 sq. ft. range).
The guy with the <$18K cost is the one who has the $0 electric bill and planning to go wild this summer .
 
bones said:
Wait. Isn't everyone's electric bill routinely over $100. Mine definitely is. What am I doing wrong?
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Mine used to hover around $90 during fall, winter and spring but jumped to $160 during the summer ($300 during that heat wave).  Now after all the added 'San Onofre upgrade and shutdown' fees, I am averaging $120-$130 during the non-summer months and I am afraid what the summer will bring.  This is with a >3,000 sq. ft. home using LED and CFL lighting and dual R410A Seer13 air conditioners.


 
bones said:
Wait. Isn't everyone's electric bill routinely over $100. Mine definitely is. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

Average over a year, approx $110/month for me.  But if I throw out the Aug/Sept bills, it is actually below $100.  I should do better this year since I got my A/C fixed and should be more efficient. 
 
ps9 said:
bones said:
Wait. Isn't everyone's electric bill routinely over $100. Mine definitely is. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

Average over a year, approx $110/month for me.  But if I throw out the Aug/Sept bills, it is actually below $100.  I should do better this year since I got my A/C fixed and should be more efficient. 
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Did you get your condenser replaced?  If so, do you know what seer rating air conditioner you replaced? I assume you went to a seer13 for the new one.
 
bones said:
Wait. Isn't everyone's electric bill routinely over $100. Mine definitely is. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

my place is 3K sq ft and in the winter our bill is about 90-100. in the summer when the AC is running it jumps to 180-220.
 
@ps9/davenlei:

1. Is someone home most of the day?
2. Are you guys running AC all the time?
3. Do you run electric or gas in your kitchen?
4. Any high-load electrical equipment?

Seems like you guys have quite a bit of electricity usage, in our old 2500 sft home, we didn't go over $100, only probably one month during the summer. In our < 2000 sft home, we definitely did not hit $100 very often.

I think my buddy got solar but he has like a 4000sft home and a ginormous pool.

Most of these solar companies actually request 1 or 2 years worth of bills so they can do an analysis to determine if solar is right for you.
 
davenlei said:
qwerty said:
How much do your friends pay for solar?
Click to expand...

One spent $30K and the other spent <$18K.  The person with the $30K cost has a larger house (3,000-4,000 sq. ft. range).
The guy with the <$18K cost is the one who has the $0 electric bill and planning to go wild this summer .
Click to expand...

for the 18K system if you average 100/month it takes 15 years to recover your money, 10 years at an average of 150/month. but this doesnt consider tax breaks (if any) and time value of money.  you would figure in 10-15 there would be much better/efficient technology that you would want to upgrade to. seems like a money loser.
 
qwerty said:
bones said:
Wait. Isn't everyone's electric bill routinely over $100. Mine definitely is. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

my place is 3K sq ft and in the winter our bill is about 90-100. in the summer when the AC is running it jumps to 180-220.
Click to expand...

So we are in the same ballpark when it comes to size and electric bill.  Have you moved to more efficient lighting, etc. already?  I noticed a small drop in my bill when I went LED/CFL and another small drop when I had my seer 10 AC changed to a seer 13 unit when the old downstairs one gave up the ghost.  The previous owners upgraded the upstairs unit to seer 13 before we moved in so I have no comparison to that one.
 
qwerty said:
davenlei said:
qwerty said:
How much do your friends pay for solar?
Click to expand...

One spent $30K and the other spent <$18K.  The person with the $30K cost has a larger house (3,000-4,000 sq. ft. range).
The guy with the <$18K cost is the one who has the $0 electric bill and planning to go wild this summer .
Click to expand...

for the 18K system if you average 100/month it takes 15 years to recover your money, 10 years at an average of 150/month. but this doesnt consider tax breaks (if any) and time value of money.  you would figure in 10-15 there would be much better/efficient technology that you would want to upgrade to. seems like a money loser.
Click to expand...

He does qualify for some tax breaks but I am not sure how much.  He said the tax breaks will allow him to break even in under ten years.  I think he said nine but my memory fails me.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
@ps9/davenlei:

1. Is someone home most of the day?
2. Are you guys running AC all the time?
3. Do you run electric or gas in your kitchen?
4. Any high-load electrical equipment?

Seems like you guys have quite a bit of electricity usage, in our old 2500 sft home, we didn't go over $100, only probably one month during the summer. In our < 2000 sft home, we definitely did not hit $100 very often.

I think my buddy got solar but he has like a 4000sft home and a ginormous pool.

Most of these solar companies actually request 1 or 2 years worth of bills so they can do an analysis to determine if solar is right for you.
Click to expand...

Answers below:


1. Is someone home most of the day?
No, but I have five people in my household.

2. Are you guys running AC all the time?
No.  I live in a coastal area but my wife still likes to run it when it is a little warmer than usual.

3. Do you run electric or gas in your kitchen?
Gas stove, electric in wall oven.

4. Any high-load electrical equipment?
Only AC but we do have a lot of electronics all over the house.  I have used my kill-a-watt meter on some of the things and I was surprised laptops suck 15-18 watts when in standby mode.

 
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