Recent content by Artman

Updates: We had one month where we needed to buy $130.00 of electricity this winter. We raised the heat pump to 67 deg F as a constant and did no night setback this year. Our secondary heat source is our oil hot water baseboard heat. With the constant 67 deg temp, the heat pump did not...

I have a Cub Cadet tractor, the twin cylinder Kohler engine model. I've been riding mowers since I was ten and it is really nice, IMHO the best I've had. Enjoy yours!

What concerns me is the double dipping from the utility companies. The SREC program has restrictions imposed on the "little guy" that do not seem to be imposed on utilities. Little guy can't sell their overproduction for retail rates. The utilities can sell their overproduction for...

http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2011/04/construction_under_way_on_larg.html" Not at $167 they won't, that's only about $4.5 million. Too many huge solar farms and communities with solar panels on every lightpost. They're killing the market for the little guy. My numbers came from last...

No, grid tied system inverters actually mimic the sine wave they get from the grid to convert to alternating current. When the grid is down we have no power. I was considering looking into an emergency generator and automatic transfer switch to lock out the grid so we don't electrocute a...

Aren't they in a constant state of change? Bulbs that is.

Wow, more than 6 months. Sorry about that. Time for an update. It's been about a year and six months since we went solar. A few new things have happened: the electric company zeroed our meter on the anniversary date for our connection or there abouts. It's hard to tell from the records...

You might want to look into a flywheel arrangement where each turnstile adds their rotational energy to a flywheel for storage to then turn the generator.

Yup. Solar is currently only a supplement and can reduce the need for auxiliary coal plant operation. If enough solar installations are placed in operation it may prolong the time until the need to add more nuclear or coal generating plants, but the grid needs to meet its demand, even at...

Thanks. I'm trying to keep you guys up to date. Yes, it was expected. Our panel angle was around 40 deg, which is close to our Latitude, making it optimized for Spring and Fall. We had a cloudy fall so we've been using our reserve kW from the meter (We've dropped from around negative 1000 to...

Time for another report. With Winter fast approaching and the days getting shorter, I've noticed a definite decline in energy production from the system. On what we would call a "Screaming Sunny Day" which is a cloudless, haze-less day our production is only about 30 (down almost 20 from...

If it's a closed loop you may need a few things. It should have a small expansion tank for expansion compensation, over-pressure/temperature relief valve, and freeze protection (propylene glycol or some other antifreeze), depending on possible temperatures at nights and cloudy days. These may...

I hadn't thought about that as a possibility. I'll ask my installer what he thinks about the film.

Yeah, I thought that too. As a further layer of protection they may have some value, however, my panels are pretty tough. They are supposed to be able to withstand a 1" diameter projectile (like hail) at 40 mph. My main point is that I don't currently need it to meet my load, so the the extra...

This is very true. I did an HVAC project for a coal fired generating station that was used specifically for peak demand loads only. blimkie.k and mheslep, more than likely, I won't be using the new sticker technology unless they pass legislation allowing me to sell back the excess energy at...