Quote:
Originally Posted by W.M.DEEEZ
It looks like I will be moving into a 3 story house, that consumes about 1200 gallons of oil/year.
For years, I have been "pre buying" my oil, which this year saved me over 1000 dollars.
With no end in sight to the rise in heating oil prices, I am ready to take out a loan if necessary to install solar panels on my house.
Can anyone save me some time, and direct me to a place where I can get info on who to contact about...???
Supplying/installing panels
Tax incentives, etc...
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Solar panels supply relatively small amounts of DC current which can be inverted to 120/240 AC.
How will solar panels supplement your oil heating system? You can run the heating fan but not the actual heating unit.
Is propane less expensive than oil? We use propane and I think our last tank was $3.59/gallon.
Do you also burn wood or pellets?
If one could afford a hundred solar panels and had the room for this, with a big bank of batteries and inverters you can probably supply most all of the AC for a house. This assumes you have propane/oil heating and stove and water heater.
It's always important to make sure the house is fully or over-insulated in the roof and ceiling, the walls, doors and windows. If you can collect sunlight or heat during the day this will help. Using ceiling fans helps to circulate and balance hot and cold spots.
The federal government has a subsidy for alternative energy installations which probably will expire at the end of the year. In my state of CA the State also has some subsidy monies and they are also up for debate now and expiration. I think the federal was 30%?
It's a tough problem for everyone if their utilities are becoming more expensive than their house payments. We burn wood in an air-tight fireplace as often as possible and use propane on the water heater, stove, and central heating. I know we spend more time upstairs in the winter where it is warmer and more time downstairs in the summer where it is cooler--you might consider trying this.
Regarding solar supplies and installers...you need to find a local person, ask them for some local references before working with them, and good luck...