Analyzing Your Usage and Expense
In the 21st century almost all of us are acutely aware of the challenges of global warming, unsustainable consumption habits, the real human costs of petroleum dependency and the ever-rising cost of all forms of energy. When it’s difficult for regular middle class city and suburban dwellers to maintain their few hours of home down-time due to rising costs, the burden on rural dwellers can easily be impossible to bear.
Anyone committed to sustainable and self-sufficient living should have already begun planning their energy strategies. There are many things to consider before investing in energy sources. One of the first things a homeowner needs to become aware of are the various federal and state incentive programs available to them if they choose to meet some or all of their own energy needs with ‘green’ sources. These incentives have been fluctuating at the same time the per-watt price of the technology has been steadily falling. In some places the cost trade-off – where the cost to install is paid for by the incentives and further energy is basically free-for-upkeep – is down to 3-5 years. Which is a point when someone planning to live the whole rest of their lives on their homestead has no really good excuse not to invest! The Database of State Incentives offers a clickable map with details for all 50 states and is updated as incentives are tweaked or changed.
Once you have a good idea of how much you can offset your costs with incentives and tax rebates, you’ll need to have a good idea of exactly how much electricity you use. Gather at least 6 months’ worth of electric bills – including the hottest and coldest months – and write down your actual kilowatt usage. If your bill includes a breakdown of peak usage include that in another column. Some utility companies don’t include that information on monthly bills, but will supply it if you ask them nicely. It is important for you to know your peak usage so you will be able to supply enough energy to cover that.
If your overall kilowatt usage over the months falls within a fairly small range of variation but your peak usage looks really high, you’ll need to figure out what is using the most energy of all your activities and appliances. There are significant ways to lower a homestead’s energy demands, both overall and peak, but that requires knowing what you use and a willingness to pare your usage wherever you can.
Decisions about heating system and appliances you’ll need to replace in order to consume less electricity will also have to consider whether your future plans include energy on-site in banks of batteries, or whether you’d choose to use the commercial grid to its own advantage as a supplier. Battery technology is getting better all the time, but no cheaper.
My plan is is to use the grid, as our electric company is required by regulatory law to provide us with a “backwards meter” if we ever install our own electrical generating capacity. The deal is that we purchase our energy from the utility the same way we always have for running our appliances, power tools, lights and such. At the same time, the electric company must purchase all the energy our system produces. If we’re producing more than we’re using, it goes back out on the grid for other people to use. That pays down the difference, and conceivably could bring our monthly bill down to less than $50, or have the power company paying us!
We have been slowly but surely replacing appliances over the years with more energy efficient models, and are keeping ultra low-use and pedal powered models in mind as they develop for our next computers, radio/stereo, TV/video replacements. And of course we’re buying nothing but low-watt flourescent bulbs for lighting, even while keeping a stash of mantle-type oil lamps on hand.
So start your homework by organizing your needs and understanding your usage, check out some of the links below to help. Stay tuned for the next installment!
Links:
The Economics of Going Off-Grid