Michael Willems wrote:
I am building a house as we speak. This is what I am doing:

- Additional panel that switches over and powers a portion of the
house - Yet to be decided: "auto switchover and generator that
autostarts", or "manual switchover and generator htat needs to be
kicked". - Propane powered generator (500 gallon tank of propane
feeds our heating - this is rural so no natural gas, plus I like the
independence) - A big UPS for the X10 controller, fridge, and a light
in each room - Ham radio (VA3MVW) for comms

The best way to save money on power is not to add solar panels or
wind or hydro - it's to reduce usage first.

This is relevant here because I'll presume, before you power a house,
that the fridge is a highly efficient fridge. Not perhaps propane
(virtually mandatory for off-grid setups), but very highly rated
per energy star and installed well (heat can escape, etc).

I'm told that empty is less efficient than full. We used to keep milk
gallons of water in a spare fridge at some point. Keeps all the cold
when from leaving open the door? I dunno.


That light you'll be powering in every room? I presume it's
fluorescent. Perhaps 48VDC for direct powering from batteries?

The TV, for best power use, should be an LCD.

Computers? Absolutely laptops! Macs are lower power than PCs (Intel
chips suck power, where PPCs are relatively efficient.

In work places, an LCD monitor will pay for itself over a CRT monitor
in under a year in power and cooling requirements (not to mention
disposal - anyone need some 14" monitors?).

For clocks and not resetting them:
self setting clocks are no longer a novelty (and my VCR finally started
taht). And most clocks radios of the last 15 years take a battery.
$2 for a battery is a lot cheaper than wiring a genny in to power
every circuit in the house. And it's a lot cheaper than getting
a genny that large.

If you are BUILDING the house, you get to run low voltage DC power
for some of the lights. I live in earthquake land, so there are a
couple (fluoresent) flashlights that plug into the walls (with wall
warts) that go on automatically if power goes. They tend to last
many many hours. For long outages, they take a 12VDC input to
recharge and stay on.

Using DC: bulbs supposedly last longer, 48VDC doesn't require the
fat wires that 12VDC wants, batteries and solar can easily provide
48VDC. AC can be derived from the batteries with an inverter.

You can do the whole house thing, but the money best spent is spent
lowering consumption FIRST. In emergencies, you can just leave things
off, not hit the fridge often, etc.


Additional note:
At least in calif, off grid installs are NOT eligable for the rebates.
And the rebate is lowered if you self install. One of the goals is to
jump start the businesses and contractors; I can't really disagree.