61–70 of 368 posts
My electric bill was up 35% year over year from 2024 to 2025 - only two of us live here and there were no infra changes or new appliances. I really need a solar solution but I feel so far out of my wheelhouse.
The US clean energy tax credit is only available for equipment installed on or before Dec 31, 2025 https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-ene... As a result, more used solar should become available on ebay. I'm excited to see what I can do on a shoe string budget.
https://www.energystar.gov/about/federal-tax-credits/battery...
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> Battery prices are getting really low, if you're willing to do some DIY. Willing and allowed. In some countries it can only be done by certified electricians.
UK considerations: must be at least signed off by an approved electrician ("Part P" regulations), and for any situations involving subsidy needs to be MCS approved as well. https://mcscertified.com/
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It's high but it really depends on your lifestyle and appliances. If you have a heat pump water heater and heat pump based floor heating you'll use 1/4th of the energy as the same house with resistive water/floor heating. A house which barely passed regulation from 2010 will consume 5-10x the energy of a certified passive house. etc. That being said I think you have to draw the line somewhere. I'd much rather have in…
>heatpumps and other gimmicks Anecdotally, two of the smartest people I know love heat pumps—doesn’t Technology Connections too? Was probably this: Heat Pumps: the Future of Home Heating https://youtube.com/watch?v=7J52mDjZzto
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Who spends $50K on heat pumps? They're not anywhere near that expensive.
I'm talking about geothermal water/water installs for central heating. No one is heating their place with air/air heat pumps besides americans who haven't figured out that heating spaces via air is shit tier in term of comfort and efficiency
Good analysis. And kudos to the author for saving money. But still 21.6MWh per year excluding solar production seems too high for a household. I use electric heating and drive an electric vehicle, and my household annual energy consumption is about one fifth of that.
It's high but it really depends on your lifestyle and appliances. If you have a heat pump water heater and heat pump based floor heating you'll use 1/4th of the energy as the same house with resistive water/floor heating. A house which barely passed regulation from 2010 will consume 5-10x the energy of a certified passive house. etc. That being said I think you have to draw the line somewhere. I'd much rather have in…
Good analysis. And kudos to the author for saving money. But still 21.6MWh per year excluding solar production seems too high for a household. I use electric heating and drive an electric vehicle, and my household annual energy consumption is about one fifth of that.
Their total household usage was actually ~17.3 MWh depending on what data source you're using for their usage. Given 6 MWh of exports with only 3.2 MWh of total solar production, they are cycling their powerwall to get paid for the fact that their off-peak rate is half the price of their peak export tariff rate which is inflating the number you're looking at.
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Heatpumps are not a gimmick - they're an excellent technology with lots of efficient and effective uses :)
Overly complex and fragile in the long run, the savings are meaningless if you're already self sufficient. I'd much rather spend the money in insulation and self sufficiency than these voodoo appliances. That's my reasoning my new build house with plenty of land. In other scenarios it might be more beneficial to go for them.
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UK considerations: must be at least signed off by an approved electrician ("Part P" regulations), and for any situations involving subsidy needs to be MCS approved as well. https://mcscertified.com/
Surely it only needs to be signed off if you intend to sell the property with them or sell excess back to the grid. If youre just using the batteries how is anyone going to know?