diy solar

diy solar

Energy Conservation

Hey y'all, this forum and the people on it have a wealth of knowledge that has helped me tremendously over the last year or so. I see so many threads from the basics to hooking up a solar setup, on how to maximize solar output, efficiency talks on different inverters and how to get the most for your money. But I'm curious if there's any threads that are dedicated to instead of making the most solar power you can, but rather the best things you did to conserve energy usage and take that 15kW solar array that you thought you need, down to 8kW.

Anybody got any good ideas outside of the normal "change out your light bulbs to LED"?

From mild to wild I want to hear your story!

Using a 12/3000/120-50 and its Conditional AC Input: During daylight hours, I operate a 8000 btu portable AC (and the RV's "house", 2 reefers, 1 54l chest freezer, 12V lights, PC) on a combination of 1600 watts of solar and 680aH (12V) of LiFePo4 while plugged into shore power (50A), which energizes the 2nd leg of my 14-50p, hence the hybrid.

However I don't give a continental damn about "conservating" energy
 
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This is true. There is a point where convenient habits exchanged for conscious different habits create noticeable differences;

I only vacuum clean on sunny days, full battery for example.
Same here, we try to do all the heavy lifting in the day.
Cooling is often an area people go to great lengths to accomplish at great expense. While it’s easy to argue hot climates can be life threatening, the fact is that it is primarily a comfort item.
Heating on the other hand is a definite need. And you can meet that banal need and yet not be comfortable (not warm enough).
When one adjusts their mind to properly address needs VS wants then it is possible to both reduce consumption and reduce related costs in currency. But this has become culturally an unfamiliar idea- we as a society spend inordinate amounts of personal investment as well as the currency or credit to achieve comfort- or perceived comfort. People in general have lost the ability to assimilate the idea of “a penny saved is a penny earned” and focus instead on the misguided idea of “can I make the payments.”
Nope Nope totally disagree with you on that one. You may perceive it as a comfort item but it is absolute hell to sleep at night in 90+ deg temps with 85% humidity. Your sweating and waking up constantly until exhaustion literally knocks you out. Then in the morning you wake up feeling like complete crap. Your concentration level is so low that it's actually dangerous. For many parts of the world AC has become a necessity just like a Fridge became a necessity in the 1930s.

I grew up in east coast in the late 60's early 70's and we did not have AC and I remember as a kid that even in the summer it was very rare to have a night when it was so hot that it bothered us. The subject of weather only came up maybe once or twice per year during the peak of summer. Today it's a constant part of our conversations and News stories.

So I just did a look up for average temps across NY in the hottest month, July. Throughout the 1970's it was 85 Deg and in 2021 it is 95 Deg on Average with some days peaking up to 100 Deg. This is not directed at you but just a General vent at society. I don't need a Scientist or a Politician to tell me whats going on with the weather. If you have lived long enough you know the whole thing has gone to hell. Growing up being too Hot or too Cold was a rare event. The weather back then changed predictably every month. My mother would plant her garden when it started to warm up and it never snowed a month later like it does today. We now live in a time when unpredictable extreme weather has become the norm and sadly those of us who remember when it was different are leaving behind a generation that has accepted this as normal.
 
? It's far more energy efficient than using gas for heating. For cooling there are not many alternatives and heat pumps represent the least energy consumption for the amount of heat moved. Some live in very hot/humid climates. Fans are not always sufficient.


Likewise induction cooking is more efficient than gas.
im late but this technology connections video says it pretty ok


basically yeah, there's generally Extra Heat outside or in ground, or from sun, and pumping it can be done at Higher Than 100%

fire or resistive heating is by definition less efficient than pumping it from nearby at Coefficient of Performance >1

and many heat pumps today can achieve Coefficient of Performance 4-5
 
many parts of the world AC has become a necessity
“Has become a necessity”

That is my point. :)

Humans lived without AC for how many thousand years? Whereas climates requiring fire for survival and cooking historically have waning and growth periods coincidental with ice ages, etc. Yes, migratory pattens were affected by climatological periods in the warm zones,
Growing up being too Hot or too Cold was a rare event.
I may not remember that because I’m only 56 years old.

But cold places require heat and hot places require water.
They don’t require air conditioning. That’s a modern phenomenon. It’s a comfort and convenience. The anthropology of humans and survival says we dealt with what we were dealt but today we are soft and accept struggle in exchange for comfort. That’s a valid talking point in global warming arenas: we required things in society that ‘fueled’ our desire for comfort provided by excess energy consumption.

In my life growing up, water freezing in a bedroom was not common, but it wasn’t unheard of. Leaving the sinks trickling water to stop them from freezing is still a thing today. Here in Vermont being to hot or too cold is an annual cycle. c’est la vie
(I lived in SC for 9 months in my 20s. No AC)
 
Same here, we try to do all the heavy lifting in the day.

Nope Nope totally disagree with you on that one. You may perceive it as a comfort item but it is absolute hell to sleep at night in 90+ deg temps with 85% humidity. Your sweating and waking up constantly until exhaustion literally knocks you out. Then in the morning you wake up feeling like complete crap. Your concentration level is so low that it's actually dangerous. For many parts of the world AC has become a necessity just like a Fridge became a necessity in the 1930s.
Yeah, there’s a few people that don’t understand how regional heating and cooling needs can be.
 
I live in an area where it is atleast 115* for 2 weeks of the year, and atleast 2 months of over 100* highs with lows at no less than 85*. Im NOT going without AC.

I like people who talk about what did we do before AC? Obviously people followed the weather or lived in places that didn't have violent weather changes. Now we have the technology to inhabit places we normally couldn't.

This is a good topic, and I will be looking into a HPWH.
 
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Now we have the technology to inhabit places we normally couldn't.
Yes. I’m not dissing the AC zone people, but the practical realities when the discussion of ‘need’ comes up always set me back a bit. Mostly because for whatever reason when I think of needs or affordability I’m consciously aware that we are (I am) very fortunate and comparatively rich in the US. I think of the Philippines and other places where AC is a luxury for most people and we use the word, “need.”
Not being critical just hyper aware, myself.
 
Passive heating & cooling is a good way to conserve energy.
The clothes line, as mentioned in post 2, for drying wet laundry is one of my favorites.
For those folks with the electric car, try walking or riding a bicycle instead of driving.
Find locally sourced USED items instead of buying new products.
 
Where the heck do you live? The set of Running Man or Hunger Games?!
Ha! Right? I live in a very rural section of South Carolina where our power is provided by an electric cooperative called Pee Dee Electric. Last June everyone with grid tied solar got a letter saying we had 3 options… 1) pay $X per kw of labeled solar to continue with net metering. Or, 2) disconnect our panels from their grid, buy all our power from them and pay the usual monthly meter fee. Or 3) don’t pay their fee of $X per kw of labeled power, leave our panels connected to their grid and any energy that gets fed onto the grid will belong to the power company where they’ll sell it back to us and our neighbors at full retail price receiving no credits or payments for the energy we generate.

The power company missed a 4th option that us PV owners have… buy a battery bank to store our power and tell Pee Dee Electric Cooperative to pound sand. Which is why I’m here, to learn about the equipment I’ll need to disconnect from their grid.
 
“Has become a necessity”

That is my point. :)

Humans lived without AC for how many thousand years? Whereas climates requiring fire for survival and cooking historically have waning and growth periods coincidental with ice ages, etc. Yes, migratory pattens were affected by climatological periods in the warm zones,
I have seen this one first hand so believe me when I say it's true. I built my current house in great spot that was a fairly remote area set up by a land developer to enclose 60 houses each with a pretty good amount of land. Everything was great for several years. Then about 15 years ago they did a mega development to the West of us that put in several hundred new houses and a vast network of roads. What was once Forested land was now mostly pavement, driveways and roof tops. Before this construction I could open the Window at night and a cool 79 deg breeze would fill the room. Since that construction I open the Window and a 90+ deg wind blowing in.
Trees make a huge difference in summer to lower the temperature, while Asphalt and Concrete absorb heat in the day and release it at night.

BTW for those thousands of years that man had no AC we also only lived to about 40 years old on average.
Young people are much more adaptable to heat and cold than older farts like us, although the most recent generation seems to have evolved into something more fragile. My own kids know to tough it out, but Jesus some of my nieces and nephews act like they will die if the temperature goes above 85 degs.

I may not remember that because I’m only 56 years old.
You should remember. I guess it depends on where you lived.
But cold places require heat and hot places require water.
They don’t require air conditioning. That’s a modern phenomenon. It’s a comfort and convenience. The anthropology of humans and survival says we dealt with what we were dealt but today we are soft and accept struggle in exchange for comfort. That’s a valid talking point in global warming arenas: we required things in society that ‘fueled’ our desire for comfort provided by excess energy consumption.

In my life growing up, water freezing in a bedroom was not common, but it wasn’t unheard of. Leaving the sinks trickling water to stop them from freezing is still a thing today. Here in Vermont being to hot or too cold is an annual cycle. c’est la vie
(I lived in SC for 9 months in my 20s. No AC)
Gods I grew up for the first 20 years of my life without AC and honestly I did not really need it 95% of the time.
Those few exceptionally hot days were often excuses for us kids to get a late night pool party started.
 
Ha! Right? I live in a very rural section of South Carolina where our power is provided by an electric cooperative called Pee Dee Electric. Last June everyone with grid tied solar got a letter saying we had 3 options… 1) pay $X per kw of labeled solar to continue with net metering. Or, 2) disconnect our panels from their grid, buy all our power from them and pay the usual monthly meter fee. Or 3) don’t pay their fee of $X per kw of labeled power, leave our panels connected to their grid and any energy that gets fed onto the grid will belong to the power company where they’ll sell it back to us and our neighbors at full retail price receiving no credits or payments for the energy we generate.

The power company missed a 4th option that us PV owners have… buy a battery bank to store our power and tell Pee Dee Electric Cooperative to pound sand. Which is why I’m here, to learn about the equipment I’ll need to disconnect from their grid.
Welcome to the party RussellJ
Looks like you need to start a thread in the "Why not to grid tie" forum. I wish we had one, that's where I would live.

Energy conservation = don't waste your money connecting to the grid. ?
 
I live in an area where it is atleast 115* for 2 weeks of the year, and atleast 2 months of over 100* highs with lows at no less than 85*. Im NOT going without AC.

I like people who talk about what did we do before AC? Obviously people followed the weather or lived in places that didn't have violent weather changes. Now we have the technology to inhabit places we normally couldn't.

This is a good topic, and I will be looking into a HPWH.
Earth homes are a great way to conserve energy whether the weather is hot or cold. ;)
 
thousands of years that man had no AC we also only lived to about 40 years old on average
Which is more related to non-climate circumstances like oral care and lack of ease in diet attainment.
You should remember. I guess it depends on where you lived.
New Hampshire. Hot summers sometimes, usually quite cold winters.
recent generation seems to have evolved into something more fragile
This can be sociological explained in parallel with hard times and profitable eras where the 2nd/3rd generations of prosperity do not have conditional resilience.
 
Which is more related to non-climate circumstances like oral care and lack of ease in diet attainment.
Yes I agree, it was mostly Oral and Bacterial diseases that killed them but my point is that they did not live long so heat was less of an issue for them.
New Hampshire. Hot summers sometimes, usually quite cold winters.

This can be sociological explained in parallel with hard times and profitable eras where the 2nd/3rd generations of prosperity do not have conditional resilience.
Your certainly putting it a lot more delicately than I would. :ROFLMAO:
 
Nope Nope totally disagree with you on that one. You may perceive it as a comfort item but it is absolute hell to sleep at night in 90+ deg temps with 85% humidity. Your sweating and waking up constantly until exhaustion literally knocks you out. Then in the morning you wake up feeling like complete crap. Your concentration level is so low that it's actually dangerous. For many parts of the world AC has become a necessity just like a Fridge became a necessity in the 1930s.
I live in the tropics, temperature is normally 30-35c and humid ..... cool at 9am this morning 28c and 75%.
I used air-con for about 2hrs last month (28c), just while I fall asleep, usually a fan is good enough.
Better to get acclimatised to the weather than to use air-con all the time, makes you more comfortable when you're out and about.
 
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BTW for those thousands of years that man had no AC we also only lived to about 40 years old on average.
Off topic,
While factually correct most of the deaths lowering the average age before about 1950 were children.
If you lived to age 15, you had the same chance of making 70 as those of us today (excluding war).
Socrates (399BC) died age 70, and that was from poison.

Oddly enough,
While prior to 1950 it was child death lowering the average age, if you included today's abortion deaths in the statistics you'd probably get the same average age of 40. Modern technology has just moved the goalposts.
 
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