Posted by Jim Wilkins on July 7, 2019, 5:02 pm
> On Sunday, 7 July 2019 15:26:01 UTC+1, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> -----------------------
>>
>> For decades I've averaged 120 KWH per month, 4 KWH per day, unless
>> the
>> weather is very hot or I have a large machining and arc welding
>> project like building the sawmill in progress. I pay attention to
>> electricity consumption but I don't suffer for it.
>>
>> So far this summer my A/C has cost $.93 according to a Kill-A-Watt
>> P4460. The compact Magic Chef refrigerator's P4460 reports $.09 a
>> month.
>>
>> "So it takes a lot more investment than you might think to go
>> off-grid
>> and still enjoy the same electricity as someone on the grid."
>>
>> When I decided to try solar that calculation prompted me to monitor
>> my
>> consumption and see how much was really necessary. The electric
>> clothes dryer jumped out as a large waste easily replaced with a
>> clothesline. I replaced >200W desktops with 35W laptops, mainly to
>> reduce UPS cost. A smaller fridge and no separate freezer saved
>> over
>> $0 a month. A weather station that shows indoor and outdoor
>> temperature and humidity tells when to open the windows at night
>> instead of running the A/C. I use 3% = 1F to mentally estimate if
>> blowing in cooler but higher RH outside air will help or hurt
>> indoor
>> comfort. It's not exact but easy and close enough over the narrow
>> range where the answer isn't obvious.
>
>
>
> So, on the one hand you say -
>> I pay USD $.18 per KWH for grid power.
> - which suggests you are on the grid.
>
> On the other hand, you say -
>
>> emergency power outages which can
>> last a week here in summer hurricane and winter ice storm country.
> and
>> stand-alone systems like I built
>
> - which suggest that occasionally you are forced to go off-grid, but
> mostly are on the grid.
>
> Then you tell me you are only using an average of 4KWh a day, which
> is a tiny amount of juice for someone on the grid.
>
> I live very modestly in the inner city and consume 15KWh a day.
>
> Cutting usage down to 4KWh a day while you are forced off-grid
> because of power outages is understandable. Why invest in a huge
> off-grid generation capacity if it is only going to be used for a
> few weeks a year?
>
> But why would anyone want to cut their usage down to 4KWh a day
> while they are ON the grid and could have 40KWh a day no problem?
>
> Are you on a very low income Jim - you seem like a smart guy who
> could earn a good wage - or do you just have a bit of a fetish for
> low energy usage?
>
> Tell me to mind my own business if you like.
>
You make using less than you do sound like such a sacrifice. Some
friends were Native Americans who lived happily without electricity or
running water, as I had learned to do in the Army. I helped them as I
could but they didn't ask for much beyond filling their water jugs,
and let me cut firewood on their undeveloped land. I've never seen
anyone else so immune to cold weather.
I'm a degreed scientist and custom equipment designer/builder who
spent a career carefully analyzing customer requirements and creating
a minimum-cost solution that satisfied them.
When I applied that analysis to my own life I found a lot I didn't
need and ways to cut the cost of things I did, such as improving the
insulation in my house. Trying to invent something new and useful for
the energy market isn't a fetish, it's a business plan.
It helps that I can design and build electronic and mechanical items I
want but can't buy, for instance I've turned old laptops into portable
TVs that receive and record over-the-air broadcasts through a largely
home made 50' high antenna system while everyone else around here
relies on expensive cable. The laptops can connect to a larger high
def display for the few programs that are worth it
Scotland question: What did the "Picts" (Latin for Painted) call
themselves, and what happened to them?
Posted by Scottish Scientist on July 7, 2019, 5:37 pm
On Sunday, 7 July 2019 18:01:06 UTC+1, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> You make using less than you do sound like such a sacrifice. Some
> friends were Native Americans who lived happily without electricity or
> running water, as I had learned to do in the Army. I helped them as I
> could but they didn't ask for much beyond filling their water jugs,
> and let me cut firewood on their undeveloped land. I've never seen
> anyone else so immune to cold weather.
>
> I'm a degreed scientist and custom equipment designer/builder who
> spent a career carefully analyzing customer requirements and creating
> a minimum-cost solution that satisfied them.
>
> When I applied that analysis to my own life I found a lot I didn't
> need and ways to cut the cost of things I did, such as improving the
> insulation in my house. Trying to invent something new and useful for
> the energy market isn't a fetish, it's a business plan.
>
> It helps that I can design and build electronic and mechanical items I
> want but can't buy, for instance I've turned old laptops into portable
> TVs that receive and record over-the-air broadcasts through a largely
> home made 50' high antenna system while everyone else around here
> relies on expensive cable. The laptops can connect to a larger high
> def display for the few programs that are worth it
>
> Scotland question: What did the "Picts" (Latin for Painted) call
> themselves, and what happened to them?
What I am most interested in is providing the same power which people have in their comfort zones now, but with renewable energy and supplied for the most part via the grid, because that is the only way I know of to transition to 100% renewable energy.
If my Wind, solar, storage and back-up system designer also can help those who want to go off grid, for whatever reason, then so much the better.
I am not at all sure that you really need my designer tool's help though Jim. You seem quite contented with your power situation as is?
The Picts suffered some kind of cultural absorption by the Gaels around the year 900 AD, I think but it is not my area of interest.
Google is my friend for that kind of thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts#History
There is one guy who called himself a "Pict" if that counts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_the_Pict
I'm not for resurrecting "the Picts", per se, myself but I would like to see Scotland win its independence, in which case exporting renewable energy power to England could be a profitable business for Scotland.
By the way, congratulations to the American ladies football team which just won the world cup 2-0 against the Netherlands.
Posted by Jim Wilkins on July 7, 2019, 6:44 pm
> On Sunday, 7 July 2019 18:01:06 UTC+1, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>
>
> What I am most interested in is providing the same power which
> people have in their comfort zones now, but with renewable energy
> and supplied for the most part via the grid, because that is the
> only way I know of to transition to 100% renewable energy.
A major concern with alternate energy sources here is the
phase/frequency stability of the grid with multiple variable and
loosely controlled inputs. Our grid is nearly one wavelength across.
http://fnetpublic.utk.edu/frequencymap.html
Posted by Jim Wilkins on July 7, 2019, 6:16 pm
> On Sunday, 7 July 2019 15:26:01 UTC+1, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> -----------------------
>>
>> For decades I've averaged 120 KWH per month, 4 KWH per day, unless
>> the
>> weather is very hot or I have a large machining and arc welding
>> project like building the sawmill in progress. I pay attention to
>> electricity consumption but I don't suffer for it.
>>
>> So far this summer my A/C has cost $.93 according to a Kill-A-Watt
>> P4460. The compact Magic Chef refrigerator's P4460 reports $.09 a
>> month.
>>
>> "So it takes a lot more investment than you might think to go
>> off-grid
>> and still enjoy the same electricity as someone on the grid."
>>
>> When I decided to try solar that calculation prompted me to monitor
>> my
>> consumption and see how much was really necessary. The electric
>> clothes dryer jumped out as a large waste easily replaced with a
>> clothesline. I replaced >200W desktops with 35W laptops, mainly to
>> reduce UPS cost. A smaller fridge and no separate freezer saved
>> over
>> $0 a month. A weather station that shows indoor and outdoor
>> temperature and humidity tells when to open the windows at night
>> instead of running the A/C. I use 3% = 1F to mentally estimate if
>> blowing in cooler but higher RH outside air will help or hurt
>> indoor
>> comfort. It's not exact but easy and close enough over the narrow
>> range where the answer isn't obvious.
>
>
>
> So, on the one hand you say -
>> I pay USD $.18 per KWH for grid power.
> - which suggests you are on the grid.
>
> On the other hand, you say -
>
>> emergency power outages which can
>> last a week here in summer hurricane and winter ice storm country.
> and
>> stand-alone systems like I built
>
> - which suggest that occasionally you are forced to go off-grid, but
> mostly are on the grid.
>
> Then you tell me you are only using an average of 4KWh a day, which
> is a tiny amount of juice for someone on the grid.
>
> I live very modestly in the inner city and consume 15KWh a day.
>
> Cutting usage down to 4KWh a day while you are forced off-grid
> because of power outages is understandable. Why invest in a huge
> off-grid generation capacity if it is only going to be used for a
> few weeks a year?
>
> But why would anyone want to cut their usage down to 4KWh a day
> while they are ON the grid and could have 40KWh a day no problem?
>
My house has a 240V, 200A electric heat service capable of 48 KW, or
1152 KWH per day. My arc/TIG welder or plasma cutter can use close to
half of its capacity.
The solar system is only 500W max, hardly a huge investment of $.99
per Watt panels. In tests on clear days it recharged a night's use and
went on float by 10AM.
I switch from grid power to the sine inverter whenever a thunderstorm
threatens, like yesterday, mainly because of the 50' steel antenna
mast, although the only lightning strike here so far hit a utility
pole and came in on the phone line.
Posted by Scottish Scientist on July 7, 2019, 11:22 pm
On Sunday, 7 July 2019 19:15:30 UTC+1, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> My house has a 240V, 200A electric heat service capable of 48 KW, or
> 1152 KWH per day. My arc/TIG welder or plasma cutter can use close to
> half of its capacity.
>
The mains voltage in the USA is 120 Volts, not "240V", which is the mains voltage in many other countries, but not the USA.
You may want to check your voltage or check what country you are in Jim.
> -----------------------
>>
>> For decades I've averaged 120 KWH per month, 4 KWH per day, unless
>> the
>> weather is very hot or I have a large machining and arc welding
>> project like building the sawmill in progress. I pay attention to
>> electricity consumption but I don't suffer for it.
>>
>> So far this summer my A/C has cost $.93 according to a Kill-A-Watt
>> P4460. The compact Magic Chef refrigerator's P4460 reports $.09 a
>> month.
>>
>> "So it takes a lot more investment than you might think to go
>> off-grid
>> and still enjoy the same electricity as someone on the grid."
>>
>> When I decided to try solar that calculation prompted me to monitor
>> my
>> consumption and see how much was really necessary. The electric
>> clothes dryer jumped out as a large waste easily replaced with a
>> clothesline. I replaced >200W desktops with 35W laptops, mainly to
>> reduce UPS cost. A smaller fridge and no separate freezer saved
>> over
>> $0 a month. A weather station that shows indoor and outdoor
>> temperature and humidity tells when to open the windows at night
>> instead of running the A/C. I use 3% = 1F to mentally estimate if
>> blowing in cooler but higher RH outside air will help or hurt
>> indoor
>> comfort. It's not exact but easy and close enough over the narrow
>> range where the answer isn't obvious.
>
>
>
> So, on the one hand you say -
>> I pay USD $.18 per KWH for grid power.
> - which suggests you are on the grid.
>
> On the other hand, you say -
>
>> emergency power outages which can
>> last a week here in summer hurricane and winter ice storm country.
> and
>> stand-alone systems like I built
>
> - which suggest that occasionally you are forced to go off-grid, but
> mostly are on the grid.
>
> Then you tell me you are only using an average of 4KWh a day, which
> is a tiny amount of juice for someone on the grid.
>
> I live very modestly in the inner city and consume 15KWh a day.
>
> Cutting usage down to 4KWh a day while you are forced off-grid
> because of power outages is understandable. Why invest in a huge
> off-grid generation capacity if it is only going to be used for a
> few weeks a year?
>
> But why would anyone want to cut their usage down to 4KWh a day
> while they are ON the grid and could have 40KWh a day no problem?
>
> Are you on a very low income Jim - you seem like a smart guy who
> could earn a good wage - or do you just have a bit of a fetish for
> low energy usage?
>
> Tell me to mind my own business if you like.
>