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Post by alleycat on Jan 24, 2015 13:47:48 GMT -4
How much do you guys typically pay/month for heating for dec,jan, feb? How much should oil/baseboard heating for a house under 2000sq ft cost? How much is heating oil costing these days? Thanks!
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Post by alleycat on Jan 25, 2015 6:05:08 GMT -4
Gee. Thanks for the help.
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dano
Full Member
Posts: 166
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Post by dano on Jan 25, 2015 8:03:29 GMT -4
Our electric bill was $481.00 for the month of December 2014 ! We have electric baseboard(100%). No oil heat or furnace. This was by far the highest bill in 30 years we've been here There must be a better way rather than continuing to enrich Delmarva Power, so we've decided to consider Solar as an alternative.
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Post by cranky64 on Jan 25, 2015 9:20:40 GMT -4
Sorry, I don't think I would be able to help you compare since I don't turn on my heat unless it is over 45f.
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Post by alleycat on Jan 25, 2015 10:17:10 GMT -4
Cranky, you mean under?
We seem to be paying a tremendous amount for those three months...like we left a window open or something.
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Post by oriolesfan on Jan 25, 2015 11:25:59 GMT -4
Last hearing bill covered 6 weeks instead of the normal 4 at least for us anyways
Baseboard heat can get really expensive.
Don't have oil so can't help there
Our heat/electric has been around 170-180 the past few months minus the 6 week one
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Post by cranky64 on Jan 25, 2015 12:33:18 GMT -4
Nope.. I heat 80% of the winter using a pellet stove. The only time I turn on the house heat, which is 2 "heat" pumps is when it is milder. I do have a 3200 SF home and I burn $240 in pellets and use about $175 in electric during the coldest months. Cranky, you mean under? We seem to be paying a tremendous amount for those three months...like we left a window open or something.
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Post by oriolesfan on Jan 25, 2015 14:44:47 GMT -4
Nice. Getting a pellet stove this spring for next year
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Post by cranky64 on Jan 25, 2015 16:39:22 GMT -4
Have the A/C, I mean "Heat Pumps" on today since it is so mild. The pellet stove can over warm us on days like this.
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Post by lainey on Jan 27, 2015 12:15:20 GMT -4
I love my solar panels. Best electric bill with panels $20.00 April 2014. Worst electric bill since panels - this december which had 5 weeks in its billing cycle 187.00 with Xmas lights all over the house. I have propane furnace for downstairs and an electric heat pump upstairs. House is about 3000 sq ft. My panels were estimated to offset my power usage by 1/4. Im producing 1/3. The SREC income I get is tax free. Last year, my SREC was more than the entire bill to Delmarva power. I paid DP 1301.00 for all of 2013. I earned 1361.00 with my SREC income (Sustainable Renewable Energy Credits) We also have propane hot water, gas fireplace, gas cook stove. I normally do 2-3 tankfuls a year, so 2-3K in gas annually. Spring and fall rock with the solar panels. Winter is better than I expected it to be, equals about the same production as summer. Something about the electricity moving better in colder temps, so the short winter days are as good as a long hot summer day.
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Post by ksollod on Jan 27, 2015 12:50:14 GMT -4
Lainey,
Would you mind sharing what your panels cost? We're completely electric, about 1500 sf and paid Delmarva about $2600 last year. We looked into solar panels twice (once 7 years ago and again 2 years ago) and both times the cost was out of reach for us. Thanks!
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Post by oriolesfan on Jan 27, 2015 13:05:39 GMT -4
Lainey. I'd like to know more too
Maybe start a solar panel thread?
Solar City is pushing this 20 year lease at no cost to the homeowner so I'm def interested but curious at bottom line savings
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Post by lainey on Jan 27, 2015 18:34:23 GMT -4
I dont know anything about the lease situation with Solar City but I do know leasing v. owning, in general, owing is typically cheaper in the long run. I went live with my panels November 2009. The pricing was completely different then. I believe you can still get the 30% federal tax credit (dollar for dollar match of your federal tax dollars paid in) The State of Md incentives and SREC formulas have changed too. The cost of the system has also dropped significantly. My guy told me my system cost has almost cut in half since my installation last time I talked to him. So, I paid $33,500.00 for a 4600 watt system with an inverter, all tied into the grid. No battery backup. I got a 30% federal tax credit -10,500.00 and a state of MD grant (taxable income) of -5,600.00. This was paid to me right after going flipping my switch on. The SREC schedule varies by when you buy in and it is political, so who knows how long it will last? Well get back to that. I signed up with 21st Century Power Solutions from catonsville- tell Clark I sent you, I get a referral bonus! They installed my Sunpower (USA) solar panels- 25 year warrantied production. They hooked me up with 12 months same as cash financing. I had 12 months to convert my tax credit to real dollars and come up with the total price to me of 17,400.00. So I paid no interest on the loan. I have never had a problem with them. They are not taxable on my State of Md real property tax bill either. No HOA in MD can deny you the privilege of catching some rays on your roof either, unless you are in a historic district. Did I miss anything?
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Post by oriolesfan on Jan 27, 2015 18:55:49 GMT -4
What was you average bill before and after?
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Post by lainey on Jan 28, 2015 12:10:10 GMT -4
Money paid to Delmarva Power, Pre Solar by year: 2006 1868.03 2007 2360.15 2008 2751.60 2009 2424.40 went solar November 1
2010: 1889.36 2011: 1892.35 2012 1545.21 2013 1301.00 2014 1350.43
in general I save between $75 and 100.00 of every monthly bill.
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Post by ksollod on Jan 28, 2015 12:12:41 GMT -4
Thanks for sharing. We priced ours in 2013 and it was estimated $30K and that it would reduce our electric by 42%. Even at 50% that would only save us about $1300 per year. We were told there's a 30% tax credit and a flat $1,000 from Maryland, but we'd still need the $30K up front. Ecologically we'd love to go with solar but economically the numbers just don't add up for us. . . it would take too long to see a return on our investment. At $1300 a year it would take over 30 years to get to $30K. We'd love to find a way to do homeowner-installed panels. Or use the abundant wind in our area as energy. Thanks again for sharing.
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Post by lainey on Jan 28, 2015 12:36:09 GMT -4
Ksollod, Give my guy a call and let him give you an estimate. Do you know what size system you were quoted on? Clark is the owner of the company, 1-866-21-SOLAR. Im just thinking 30K is too much for a 1500 sq ft house. My parents looked at buying a house with leased panels. That did not make sense economically either, but that was the lease company getting all the benefits.
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Post by ksollod on Jan 28, 2015 12:43:56 GMT -4
Lainey, It was 6.24kw system. Just looking at your numbers you are saving $75-$100 per month. If that's $1,000 per year it will take you 17 years (based on the $17,400 above) to break even. Or am I missing something?
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Post by Rich Fisher on Jan 28, 2015 13:18:06 GMT -4
My last Delmarva bill was $560. A month before that was $220. I have a heat pump / forced air electric which sucks as much as it blows... Dries my skin out and is never an even heat. I have a dusty pellet stove, but it keeps going out and recently "burped" a bunch of smoke into my house which still smells lovely. Now it just drops pellets, lights them, then goes out. To fix the p.o.s. would be a minimum of $300 to have someone clean it out (which I already do) and another few hundred to replace a sensor or whatever is wrong with it. Not happy. I wish that I could just sell my poorly insulated house, but we are stuck owing way more than it's worth. So angry...
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Post by alanr on Jan 28, 2015 14:03:35 GMT -4
Wow, I must be lucky. 3000 SF several levels. Gas on the first two floors and elec heat pump on the rest. Gas and elec. averages 230 per month per year. It has stayed within 10 dollars for a few years. Last month was 110 elec. 90 gas.
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Post by lainey on Jan 28, 2015 14:59:49 GMT -4
KSollod,
But I am also receiving SREC income to offset my system costs. (5750 off the top of my head since installation) You are thinking correctly on this, yes it would take about 17 years to recoup and break even on the electricity, but then I still have 8 years of warrantied production to consider. And we dont know how long the panels will actually continue to function. Sunpower, my manufacturer, was started by two guys in the 90s. Both of these guys had played with solar back in the 70s. They each have panels that they made back then in the 70s that are still producing electricity at about 70-80% of peak production. Add to that we have no idea how much Delmarva Power may be charging per KW in another 10 years. The production will be based on lots of factors, like angle of the roof, direction of the roof, etc. They told me my roof was about 2 degrees off of perfect and my production has been very good.
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Post by ksollod on Jan 28, 2015 15:43:24 GMT -4
alanr - I'd consider myself lucky, too with those numbers.
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Post by cranky64 on Jan 28, 2015 16:31:23 GMT -4
Rich, I burn at least 4 tons a year for the past 4 years and have not had any issues. You do have to clean them now and then. I have a Sears shopvac with a HEPA filter I use. Most all of the parts are found online and easy to replace yourself, it is not rocket science. You should also get a humidifier, we run one in our bedroom. What brand and model do you have? My last Delmarva bill was $560. A month before that was $220. I have a heat pump / forced air electric which sucks as much as it blows... Dries my skin out and is never an even heat. I have a dusty pellet stove, but it keeps going out and recently "burped" a bunch of smoke into my house which still smells lovely. Now it just drops pellets, lights them, then goes out. To fix the p.o.s. would be a minimum of $300 to have someone clean it out (which I already do) and another few hundred to replace a sensor or whatever is wrong with it. Not happy. I wish that I could just sell my poorly insulated house, but we are stuck owing way more than it's worth. So angry...
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Post by Rich Fisher on Jan 28, 2015 23:28:33 GMT -4
It's a Whitfield. I wish it would stay lit...
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Post by alleycat on Jan 29, 2015 3:21:47 GMT -4
Last hearing bill covered 6 weeks instead of the normal 4 at least for us anyways Baseboard heat can get really expensive. Don't have oil so can't help there It is hot water baseboard with an oil fired boiler, not electric baseboard. It should be less expensive than some of the alternatives, but it seems outlandish. We decided against pellet a number of years ago, but I can't remember why. Sounds like a good thing, though.
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