Shocking new gas prices [CLOSED DUE TO POLITICS. VIOLATORS BANNED]

[mx5red]

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d like to hear from people who have bought it and aren’t in the business if you know what I mean. No disrespect intended. Seriously.

High cost of living in San Diego makes it worth it. When we moved in we had bills in the hundreds of dollars range, and that price will just keep going up over time.
We had solar installed on a 15yr loan paying ~$115/mo.
So we might break even or close on electricity in the winter when we’re using more gas/heat and no AC, but making out like bandits in the summer… and that savings gap will only increase over the next 15 years (or uhh, this year) as utility prices go up.

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[ShadowsPapa]

Found out how VERY limited our generator is. Can't run 2 space heaters, the well pump and water heater at the same time. I had to shut down most of my shop, including the minisplit, and have the LP infrared heater keeping it at 60 out there and keeping the plating tank pumps/filters and heater going otherwise I lose tons of money in solutions and supplied.
I killed the generator twice and we aren't even running squat for lights, all major appliances aside from fridge and freezers are shut down. No laundry, no oven, no heat pump. We've shut off a couple of rooms we can get by without. Lucky in a way it's a real small house.
My wife is more and more asking what it would take to beef up our backup. I think we have the largest portable generator you can buy and our electric panel and such is in such a way there's no room for any equipment in that space.
Solar would be SOOOO nice right now! We have some sun shine until later, anyway, when the SNOW and cold move back in.

Took a tour of things - all roads to town closed, power poles, trees, snapped like twigs, tops of houses gone, a couple of houses ARE gone. We have to drive 3 miles east and about 5 miles north to get to a highway that's clear so we could get to town to buy gas and supplies.
(gas for generator - $4.04/gallon, use about 7.5 gallons every 8 hours)

 

[ezekio3160]

Will fuel prices getting crazy, I’m wondering what 3rd party is going to start announcing JT gas to electricity conversion kits ?

 

[wchevron]

What size generator are you running. A 10,000 watt portable should be able to handle most of what you want. I've only got a 3500 watt and it handles the fridge, couple of lights, boiler & internet (we have teenage girls, internet/wifi is essential, even before the heat) Sometimes you have to stage what you are running. If we have too much on, I turn off the fridge for a bit and run the heat for a while, since everything in the fridge will keep for a while. Once the house is warmed, will turn the fridge back on, or will turn some other items off. Kind of a guessing game until you figure out what can stay on with what.
Other option is to install a permanent generator, then you can have it sized to run everything if you want.

 

[Closet Jeep guy]

Will fuel prices getting crazy, I’m wondering what 3rd party is going to start announcing JT gas to electricity conversion kits ?

That would be amazing when that happens if it does!

 

[Geoarch]

Also live in Albuquerque (four hills) and have been strongly considering solar. What’s the length of time to break even on the investment?

It depends on how much capacity you have and whether it covers all your use. We have 5.04 kW, and had 4 kw at our old house. It paid for itself in about 5-6 years. Our new house is bigger, and might take a bit longer. But keep in mind the whole time you're not paying PNM most months except for 10 or 20 dollars in August and September. Be sure an do your research so you have enough capacity for you home. We have so much sun here that it's a good investment.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

Closed. Not closed?

So it’s not locked? Ok, then…

I live in NM and my wife has been bugging me to look into solar for the house. I always thought it was a scam so never really looked into it seriously. Would you say it’s worth it?

My contractor's license covers solar water and pool heating and I work closely with photovoltaic contractors.

If you get into the system right, it can be beneficial.
For starters, you need ample South and or West roof space with minimal shading. If it spills into the East that's okay but not optimal. At minimum on paper you want to be able to produce half your electric bill with your array.
Don't pay too much up front. This is where the crooks get you and with unscrupulous financing. And don't be mistaken: there's more crooks in this business than legitimate solar contractors.

Other than that it's a long term cash flow investment. If you do it right you'll offset $20-50 a month 2-3k sf sfr) on your light bill which adds up over time.

 

[BAT]

Closed. Not closed?



My contractor's license covers solar water and pool heating and I work closely with photovoltaic contractors.

If you get into the system right, it can be beneficial.
For starters, you need ample South and or West roof space work minimal shading. If it spills into the East that's okay but not optimal. At minimum on paper you want to be able to produce half your electric bill with your array.
Don't pay too much up front. This is also where the crooks get you. Also with unscrupulous financing. And don't be mistaken: there's more crooks in this business than legitimate solar contractors.

Other than that it's a long term cash flow investment. If you do it right you'll offset $20-50 a month 2-3k sf sfr) on your light bill which adds up over time.

The next house I build which am hoping will be the last one going to have some solar options. I don't want to rely totally on Solar though. My neighbor down the street installed solar since we get a lot of sun and it has been working good for him when we have lots of sun. He said that when we have the dreary cold days with not much sun he can't rely on it.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

The next house I build which am hoping will be the last one going to have some solar options. I don't want to rely totally on Solar though. My neighbor down the street installed solar since we get a lot of sun and it has been working good for him when we have lots of sun. He said that when we have the dreary cold days with not much sun he can't rely on it.

Anywhere in the South has good potential but... there are still the more variables mentioned in my other post and elsewhere.
Know that if you go with a major company or one that does a lot of marketing and advertising, that you'll be the one paying for that also.

 

[TheSolarWizard]

are u familiar with Fun In The Sun?

Closed. Not closed?



My contractor's license covers solar water and pool heating and I work closely with photovoltaic contractors.

If you get into the system right, it can be beneficial.
For starters, you need ample South and or West roof space with minimal shading. If it spills into the East that's okay but not optimal. At minimum on paper you want to be able to produce half your electric bill with your array.
Don't pay too much up front. This is where the crooks get you and with unscrupulous financing. And don't be mistaken: there's more crooks in this business than legitimate solar contractors.

Other than that it's a long term cash flow investment. If you do it right you'll offset $20-50 a month 2-3k sf sfr) on your light bill which adds up over time.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

What size generator are you running. A 10,000 watt portable should be able to handle most of what you want. I've only got a 3500 watt and it handles the fridge, couple of lights, boiler & internet (we have teenage girls, internet/wifi is essential, even before the heat) Sometimes you have to stage what you are running. If we have too much on, I turn off the fridge for a bit and run the heat for a while, since everything in the fridge will keep for a while. Once the house is warmed, will turn the fridge back on, or will turn some other items off. Kind of a guessing game until you figure out what can stay on with what.
Other option is to install a permanent generator, then you can have it sized to run everything if you want.

It was the largest that could be found locally bought at the tail end of our week-long outage after the 2020 derecho. It's a Generac RS8000E 8.0kW
I run via the NEMA L14-30R 4 prong locking plug which has a 30 amp breaker. It struggles with basics and I had to turn off our two space heaters to run the oven to cook a pizza for lunch.
I wasn't able to find anything else larger here locally and we needed something badly.
I run it through the welder/oven outlet in my garage into the house through the 50 amp breaker that supplies power to the garage from the house.
Our main refrigerator is a newer Bosch and its amazing how little power it draws. We have 2 small chest freezers downstairs and another Maytag fridge down there. I added up the power as if they were all running at the same time - not much, really.
We are ALL electric in the house - Trane heat pump (can't possibly run that on a generator) electric water heater and a 220volt well pump that cycles every so often through the day if we use much water.

So 100% of the house is electric, my shop is electric except the 30 foot infrared LP heater that hangs up high - but of course it needs electric for the blower and controls.
I shut off the mini-split out there as it doesn't really keep up out there and figured I'd run the LP infrared heat only.

I tried to run the 4 prong 220 connection and the other 20 amp 110 connections into isolated outlets I have in the house and trying to connect those triggers the ground fault on the generator otherwise, I'd be using those for a couple of small things in the house. But since the 220v 3 prong can run enough power to trip the generator's breaker and bring it to its knees I doubt using those would be any help.

 

[Geoarch]

High cost of living in San Diego makes it worth it. When we moved in we had bills in the hundreds of dollars range, and that price will just keep going up over time.
We had solar installed on a 15yr loan paying ~$115/mo.
So we might break even or close on electricity in the winter when we’re using more gas/heat and no AC, but making out like bandits in the summer… and that savings gap will only increase over the next 15 years (or uhh, this year) as utility prices go up.

We have an average of 310 days of sun in central New Mexico, so the time to pay it off is short, and most months we owe nothing like this month, and bank it until we need it in the summer. Neighbors in my area pay $200-300 a month in the summer. So it adds up pretty fast.

 

[wchevron]

Closed. Not closed?



My contractor's license covers solar water and pool heating and I work closely with photovoltaic contractors.

If you get into the system right, it can be beneficial.
For starters, you need ample South and or West roof space with minimal shading. If it spills into the East that's okay but not optimal. At minimum on paper you want to be able to produce half your electric bill with your array.
Don't pay too much up front. This is where the crooks get you and with unscrupulous financing. And don't be mistaken: there's more crooks in this business than legitimate solar contractors.

Other than that it's a long term cash flow investment. If you do it right you'll offset $20-50 a month 2-3k sf sfr) on your light bill which adds up over time.

I think the guy down the street must have delt with one of the crooks. West facing roof on a 30-35* angle. With a giant pine tree about 30' in front of the panels. I laugh every time I drive by the house.

 

[mdyucca]

OK, how fast can you get here?
I'm kidding - but only sort of. Check the news for Iowa. We were about 2 miles from losing EVERYTHING and - we have no power. We were down at church, then stopped to play bingo when the sirens went off for Melcher-Dallas. Tornado 1 mile away.
We get home 3 hours later to no power. My neighbor installed a big 4 cylinder LP generator and we noticed our house was dark, his was lit. He said power went out at about 5 (it was 8:45 when we got home and talked to him)
He said they drove up north of us a couple of miles and said houses were gone, roads closed, poles splintered, power out all over the place and it's expected to be a while before we get it back.
I have enough generator to run lights, TV and a couple of space heaters but can't run our heat pump on a portable generator. It is supposed to get COLD and windy again with snow so I'm sure wishing we had whole-house power backup!
We're lucky we have a house.
A wedge tornado stayed on the ground all the way from Winterset, SW of Des Moines, to our area and missed us by a couple of miles. 6 dead that they know of.
My neighbor said those houses are just gone.
So - no heat (save for a couple of space heaters) cold front moving in, wind, snow tomorrow later.

Yeah, I'm griping but - at the same time, we have a house!
Listening to that nice quiet Ford powered Kohler LP generator at my neighbor's place........ ugh LOL
I have generator envy!

Our hearts go out to you and our friends in Iowa. Wishing you and all the folks in Iowa well and moderate weather.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

are u familiar with Fun In The Sun?

I've seen their trucks.

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