Off-grid: illegal in Florida?

[keepsake]

Many have 'Duke' as their utility provider -- your Duke is a different kind of energy I see !

 

[keepsake]

I live in Florida, Pasco county. I need the grid to deliver high loads in the summer. But when the grid goes out I do make it with the 42 kw of storage I got here.

 

[BarracudaBob]

Storage is one thing but charging is another. Manage your loads and HVAC by not trying to keep the entire house going as usual. Solar, Grid, or
500-1000 gallon propane tank with a generator is your temporary answer

 

[Supervstech]

I live in Florida, Pasco county. I need the grid to deliver high loads in the summer. But when the grid goes out I do make it with the 42 kw of storage I got here.

KWh

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

How exactly are we supposed to build a fortress style bunker if it's electricity can be simply shut down from the outside?

9 months later but I had to address this. a homemade CIWS firing a 6 barreled .22 rimfire cartridge should be adequate to keep the scumbags away form it... that Or some home made claymores.

 

[ArthurEld]

I've designed an built in Florida a net zero energy home with lots of subs for the various trades I couldn't do myself, it is quite the under taking!

Hardly seems worth it to save $20 / month. Especially since the grid supplies so much convenience.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Hardly seems worth it to save $20 / month. Especially since the grid supplies so much convenience.

$20/mth?
If the average home is using 1,000kWh per month, at an average cost of 15-cents per kWh - isn't this 150 per month? (and then again a lot of homes use more than 1,000kWh per month running A/C)
Maybe I missed what you mean?

 

[ArthurEld]

$20/mth?
If the average home is using 1,000kWh per month, at an average cost of 15-cents per kWh - isn't this 150 per month? (and then again a lot of homes use more than 1,000kWh per month running A/C)
Maybe I missed what you mean?

I was saying that if I made my on grid house off grid, I would save $20/month because all of the energy I use is from solar.
If I was to go completely off grid it would be a huge expensive pain in the ass to save $20/month. Being connected to the grid has many benefits. I decided to keep the connection

 

[ksmithaz1]

I was saying that if I made my on grid house off grid, I would save $20/month because all of the energy I use is from solar.
If I was to go completely off grid it would be a huge expensive pain in the ass to save $20/month. Being connected to the grid has many benefits. I decided to keep the connection

And when you look at it this way, $20/mo is cheap insurance. $250/year for access to a grid seems rather small in the big picture. YMMV.

 

[AntronX]

And when you look at it this way, $20/mo is cheap insurance. $250/year for access to a grid...

It's $32/mo minimum bill which gives you 239 kWh per month to use or lose.

 

[Quattrohead]

The minimum charge here ends up being just short of $30 a month but that does not give you x amount of kilowatt hours to use, you're paying extra for those on top of the minimum fee structure.
This new house was designed from day one to be fully off grid and the town were on board with it all the way up until the pre-power inspection, when they suddenly changed their mind. We are having some serious discussions about it now.

 

[Ampster]

The minimum charge here ends up being just short of $30 a month

That makes the $24 a month proposal in California seem small in comparison. That is until you compare kWh rates?

 

[AntronX]

The minimum charge here ends up being just short of $30 a month but that does not give you x amount of kilowatt hours to use, you're paying extra for those on top of the minimum fee structure.

Interesting. Can you post a screencap of your bill details? I hope one day to test this minimum bill deal myself (which should be around Dec-Jan if put my panels up on the roof).

 

[AntronX]

That makes the $24 a month proposal in California seem small in comparison.

Except that everyone pays this minimum bill here, rich or poor.

 

[OffGridForGood]

I was saying that if I made my on grid house off grid, I would save $20/month because all of the energy I use is from solar.
If I was to go completely off grid it would be a huge expensive pain in the ass to save $20/month. Being connected to the grid has many benefits. I decided to keep the connection

I do this as well. Mostly due to the northern lat / crappy overcast Nov-Dec period.
Converting to USD I pay a minimum monthly charge (ie if zero kWh used) of $25 USD for the connection.
As you say low cost back up system - doesn't take a lot of fuel in a generator to be at least this amount.

 

[justgary]

Minimum charge at my lake place is now $35 per month, and that includes no energy usage. I'm happy with off-grid.

 

[ArthurEld]

Duke charges $30/month min but they give us $10 off for charging our EV at night so we pay $20/month.

 

[BarracudaBob]

you have to look at your break even cost for the solar. I have battery backup and that justified the system expense to have have the system. Payback time is 8 years at current rate.
Backup Power with solar charging benefits and piece of mind. A few more panels and price will keep going down.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Payback time is 8 years at current rate.

With utility rates (likely) increasing, the payback will be even shorter.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

my thoughts: worst case scenario is get the absolute lowest priced service you can. if its a 50 amp service then do it. run it to the meter, have it power one or two outlets that are not critical, and a chargeverter. use solar for everything else. it has power from the utility, and its a non critical load. they never say how much of the house you need to power, only that you have the hookup.