On Apr 9, 12:04�am, wrote:
On Thu, 8 Apr 2010 17:15:08 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

wrote:
http://gizmodo.com/5104016/dean-kame...s-now-entirely....

Well, yeah. His home is typical of folks who invent the Segway or the
Pop-Tart. Bill Gates probably saves bags of money on air-conditioning by
living inside a mountain.

I guess you missed a few things, like the fact that part of getting
off the grid involved figuring out ways to use LESS energy.

There is no single magic bullet. If you have that sort of tunnel
vision, you are doomed to failure and extinction.

By using less energy, and producing more of it at the point of use,
you CAN save money. You don't have to be Bill Gates to do it, either.
I'm currently looking into installing geo-thermal in my primary
residence. I will use photovoltaic solar to provide the electricity
needed to operate the controls and pumps. So, I will be heating and
cooling that house without any connection to the grid, and no fossil
fuels. I'll be able to keep my house at any temp I want without
worrying about how much energy I'm using to do it. I'll also be able
to heat my hot tub for free, saving an additional $30-$40 a month. The
initial installation will be expensive, but part of it will be offset
by the boiler I won't be replacing. �Since I won't be buying any oil,
I'll break even in about 10 years at MOST. More likely about 7 years.
After that, heat and air conditioning will be FREE other than
maintenance, which is pretty minimal on these systems. �

The problem is there will be no power when you need it the most. ie at
night and in cold cloudy weather.