For those with solar power,

[JamieCatheryn]

A question for you OTG mommas. How much energy (kwh) are you using per day if you run on solar, and what in your house uses it (lights, computer, appliances, etc)?

[insahmniak]

We're grid-tied, but also are running some panels. We have a TED so I know that over the last month our average usage was 10.4 kWh/day. Average energy production was 6.6kWh. So our net consumption is under 3kWh/day.

It's winter here and has been unusually overcast. Everything in the house is electric. No gas/propane, etc at all in the house. Most of the energy usage is from the heat pump, which has been having to work extra hard in the cold overcast. We've hung all the clothes and for the most part our hot water tank has been turned off (we run a glycol hw system but with all the overcast days I've had to switch it on for a shower every now and then.

This is as bad as it gets for us. In summer we have no heating/cooling needs and more hot water than we know what to do with. We run way in the black from April through October and the utility company pays us for it.

Why do you ask?

[Caneel]

I am also interested in this thread. Neighbors down the road just put panels on their roof and I has me thinking about the feasibility of doing the same.

[JamieCatheryn]

I'm wondering because someday we want to run on solar and I figure we should learn to be much more energy efficient in our house to get ready for it, wondering how I can really lower the usage. We use 16kwh a day right now, double that in summer as our house is built for AC not natural climate control. If I could just get DS1 off his TV addiction I'd make a lot of progress. Sunny days help with that.

[JB1972]

be very frugal

Hi, I saw your post and thought I might share our own personal experiences living off the grid on solar power. I should preface by saying that neither my wife or I are off grid mommas, unless you count our two dogs :-) In other words our power consumption is much easier to manage, and certainly lower than a more typical "family home" with a few kids.
Lots also depends on lifestyle and attitudes towards energy and consumption... so taking all of this with a grain of salt we use an average of between 2-4KWH a day. This is depending largely on how much energy we know we will be harvesting from solar panels or generator usage, and how much we're around the home, and weather or not we've got any big projects that require power tools. We do not have personal computers, only laptops, no television (YEAH!), no Air conditioning, propane stove and fridge, wood stove for heat in the winter, propane tankless hot water... etc. We do have a rather nice stereo, since my wife claims I am addicted to music, and we do love to watch movies on our laptop (usually running the audio through our stereo system). In short we live a mostly frugal life with regards to energy consumption, and we count almost every watt hour we use, but we also live pretty comfortably and wouldn't trade it all for the world.
This post is already getting long winded, so I'll stop here... but if you are thinking of going off the grid, I can say that this is all barely scratching the surface. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you may have, good luck.
JB

[JB1972]

Forgot one key consideration

Ok, just one more thing which I had meant to point out: most people think about living off the power of solar panels, unfortunately if you do go with an off grid system (which we did), you are actually living off of Battery Power. The solar panels recharge your batteries, the reason this is a small but critical difference is that the realities of maintaining good battery health for the long haul is that you pretty much need to be able to store anywhere from 5-10kwh in the battery bank for each kwh you will need to use. These batteries are also NOT cheap, and can in some cases cost as much or more than the solar panels (which are fortunately getting much cheaper nowadays).
... again, just scratching the surface...
JB

[insahmniak]

The biggest draws for us involve heating (heat pump, hot water, cooking). Some things to consider for reducing the draws are insulation, solar hot water and low-flow showers, and eating raw.

The guy who built our home is just now putting up a second generation home and he made some changes in his approach. He chose on-demand hot water. He doesn't have an oven. He'll wash his clothes at the laudromat and dry them outside.

Will you be grid-tied or completely off? Just wondering if you're going the battery route. Ours is grid-tied and I like it that way.

[JB1972]

Originally Posted by insahmniak

Will you be grid-tied or completely off? Just wondering if you're going the battery route. Ours is grid-tied and I like it that way.

After re-reading through the thread, it's not totally clear. If you have grid power available now I would agree with insahmniak. Grid tied is cheaper, simpler, more efficient... etc. I can't see any reason to not grid tie if you have reasonable access to it. Don't get me wrong, I love being totally off the grid and our property would have been a big expense and hassle to pull grid power to our home... but it has been a more complex system to manage, with more components and more "issues" to understand. The biggest selling point of an off grid system is the freedom to live further off the beaten path... otherwise grid tied or possibly grid interactive systems make a lot more sense.
JB

[Linzie2]

Wanted to jump in this thread and introduce myself!

We're planning a new home construction in the coming years, on land we already own. It's a 1/2 mile past the last place which translates into $38,000 to be grid tied! No way!

So we're going to go full solar, OTG. Really excited about that...well the whole thing really .

Going to be looking at our current bills and seeing our daily usage. Last I saw was 6kWh/day with an electric fridge, dishwasher, clothes washer, lots of lights and an occasionally used treadmill .

Love hearing about others situations!!

[JB1972]

Originally Posted by Linzie2

Wanted to jump in this thread and introduce myself!

We're planning a new home construction in the coming years, on land we already own. It's a 1/2 mile past the last place which translates into $38,000 to be grid tied! No way!

So we're going to go full solar, OTG. Really excited about that...well the whole thing really .

Going to be looking at our current bills and seeing our daily usage. Last I saw was 6kWh/day with an electric fridge, dishwasher, clothes washer, lots of lights and an occasionally used treadmill .

Love hearing about others situations!!

Good for you! If you ever have any questions I'd be more than happy to help you out. My wife and I did a TON of learning about PV and electricity and energy use in general. Doing the design and installation myself, I've also discovered some easy mistakes to make (not the kind that shock you, just the kind that end up in extra work and extra $$$).
JB