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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DRS112

Damnit...I read an article while I was gone that said some company had improved solar efficiency to being on par with coal.....basically they figured out how to magnify the light being absorbed...about 30% more...don't remember now which newspaper I read it in...

W.M.DEEEZ

I too read these things with passing interest, and now that I'm really ready to give the almighty Bushco the finger, I forgot where I found all the info.


A friend in Jersey did it a few years ago, and gets paid by the utility co's.

My main concern, is how long these things will last in harsh northeast winters, before I have to start pouring more money into it.

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guest1234567

Shows A - Z : Solar Solutions : Solar Solutions : DIY Network


This was a series from the diy network but the episode guides have links to all sorts of resources.

W.M.DEEEZ

Thanks....


having trouble getting it to open, but I'll go to diy

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Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

OldManOnFire

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...

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K2Flex

A friend of mine did this to his camp on Moon Lake, which is 40 minutes from Canada. 3 years old, and so far through all the harshness of winter up there, he has had no problems. He has a large battery setup in the basement, and we were just up there 2 wks ago for 1 week, and with running everything in the camp, the batteries only spent on average 22% of total holding capacity.

I'll get a hold of him to see who installed it, and what it cost him. It had to be installed by a state certified electrician, with a NiMo supervisor. (town rules) I know it was a decent buck, but so far it's seems to be worth every penny he spent.

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Cookie

When doing my taxes this year, I noticed a deduction for energy saving home improvements....if you install, keep all the receipts (which I know you will do anyway).

I'm curious, since I've never lived where heating oil is used...how much does it cost to heat an average sized home over the winter? If you don't mind my asking. I think your pre-buying the oil is super smart.

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Malkavian

$45.

Ah, you mean a house...

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Cookie

yes. $45? How is that possible?

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