How to protect yourself from skyrocketing electric rates

[@JarredSutherland]

We went all mini split at our home (1600 sq ft doublewide). This was the best decision we made for energy consumption.

[@Streetglider7]

I live about 35 minutes from Signature Solar up close to the Red River. Installed a solar system at first with 12.4kw panels, 2 8kw inverters & ended up with 12 EG4 batteries. Could run most of the time off grid except in bad Dec/Jan cold and cloudy days. Added 10 more panels to bump them to 16kw which helps a lot on overcast days. When my heat pump failed over a year ago I upgraded it to a Bosch Heat Pump. That thing is awesome. All easy variable speed on the compressor and air handler and very efficient.

[@jackcoats4146]

I have 54 signature solar 370W panels but due to required orientation don't get huge amount of power. Still I am jealous for being close to them, shipping was rough to TN, but it could be worse.

[@jackcoats4146]

Also, Insulate first, second change light bulbs to LED's. We changed out the hot water heater for a heat pump, dish washer for more efficient, and when we moved in we got a combo washer/dryer that uses condensation (a heat pump) instead of just mass heat for drying. Also, being from TX but now in TN, I replaced screens with solar screens and put some reflective film on windows that get direct sun. This year we installed solar and batteries. The idea of a small or 'zoned' minisplit system is a good idea. If we replace our heat pump, I want to get one designed for Canada, not for my region, because ours now runs half the winter as a resistive heater, that we MUST use grid for. In the summer we have enough solar to run everything including charging our EVs on solar for the most part. I am thinking of a solar only driven minisplit for the garage to take the edge off in the heat and the coldest times.

[@unpluggedtexan]

@@jackcoats4146 thanks for the input. I agree.

[@rodneyhunt]

I need AC indeed lol! I have like 5 different AC's when including buildings. My solar is running AC if nothing else. Good video

[@michaelschiessl8357]

Thanks Brian great info and helpful hints!

[@brentfrank7012]

Exterior shades over windows makes a big difference in heat gain inside the house. Much better than interior shades over windows.

[@unpluggedtexan]

@@brentfrank7012 great point

[@ThanosGod1969]

@@unpluggedtexan Agree I keep shade sails up on the outside off all my south facing windows during hot days. Blackout shades are good but the suns heat still get inside your room before it is blocked. I think its made a big difference and they are really cheap. Another thing you can do is paint your roof white or maybe sections that are not visible from the ground. Black shingles just absorb heat all day.

[@coziii.1829]

I have blackout screens it like 10 degrees difference

[@jackcoats4146]

One additional thing I found effective before doing anything is to get and install an Emporia monitor in my breaker box. Not hard but unnerving to those squeamish about live AC circuits. We download the data every couple of weeks and keep it in a Google Sheet so we can compare over time. We found our hot water heater was going out (using a lot more electricity than it had) and a couple of other things. Also allows you to know what each circuit really uses. They have smart plugs that will also monitor a particular 120v device. And you can check the use pretty much real time of your electricity. Anyway we used it to cut down our energy use first so we could do the 'big bang' stuff firest.

[@unpluggedtexan]

@@jackcoats4146 yes those are very helpful

[@coziii.1829]

The air conditioner if on auto won’t come on at night if set right .

[@unpluggedtexan]

@@coziii.1829 true, but it will still kick on for a few hours which still will drain 7-15 kwh’s of power overnight. When on batteries overnight that’s a lot.

[@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity]

47kWp, 180kWh, 7 tons inverter heat pumps.

[@patrickday4206]

Magnets and bypassing the meter is the most effective 😂😂😂

[@unpluggedtexan]

@@patrickday4206 quickest payback period also. Can’t argue that one.

[@TK-qm8rb]

You turn your AC off at 9PM and let you house get to 80 degrees over night and it was over 100 during that day? I call BS on that statement unless you live in a passive rated house. My central Texas home is well insulated and if you turn off the AC at 9PM it will be 90 by morning. I keep the whole house at 76 degrees during the day and night. Also BS about a heatpump water heater. A 98% efficient gas water heater cost less than the heatpump water heater. I totally agree about Solar to make electricity. Free AC during the summer instead of the $450.00 per month for electricity that my neighbor pays.

[@unpluggedtexan]

@@TK-qm8rb 90 degrees in the morning inside? Even on the hottest days in my area of Texas the lows are in the mid 70’s. The hottest nights here at midnight it’s about 83 degrees. I’ve seen my living room get to 83 on the hottest nights around 2am, but it always gets back down to 80 by 7am. My heat pump water heater uses between $0.30 -$0.40 of electricity per day. I’m not familiar with the gas water heater you’re referring to. But I don’t want to be dependent on gas or propane deliveries. It took 3 months to get a propane delivery here during Covid. I’m not depending on them ever again.

[@LloydJarvis]

Dang your hand was dirty when you turned that thermostat up.

[@pista01slk]

Good stuff. All of that is a drop in the bucket however when you plug in 2 near dead EVs with 66 kWh packs. I need to build a massive array.

[@htsyami]

Why would you have 2 near dead EV’s on a daily basis? That’s 132 kWh of driving or about ~400 miles of daily driving. That’s highly doubtful. More than likely you’re charging that much over a few days. If each car is doing 50-60 miles per day then that’s ~40 kWh per day of solar needed. You can do that with a 8-10 kW solar system without batteries. If you have storage then you could probably get away with half as much solar, but you’d pay the difference (and more) for the batteries. Either way, it’s totally doable.