Re: New paradigm for home heating automation and control

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Brett Griffin" <bret.griffin@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> Why not just rule out the cost side and pay for it up front with today's
> dollars and not tomorrows.

That's a hard choice for many people.  You need to be in a house for a long
time to recoup but you need to be able to move around the country to move up
in most companies.  Where do you make that cut?  Ideally, the government
should make sure that whoever does the work gets compensated for it fairly
with tax credits and other stimulants.

> Many live well on alternative energy.  Solar with home automation is a
great
> way to go.  Many states have subsidies to help defray the costs.  If you
> plan to live in your home for more than 6-8 years, it will pay for itself.

I'm not so sure.  The last time I looked, solar had an awfully long payback
time and most people said it was a labor of love of the environment more
than a love of cost saving. That was only a few years ago.  Maybe the swing
in energy costs has made solar more favorable than it was.

> The best setup I have seen is a zero energy home.  It produces more energy
> during the day and the meter spins backwards, at night you use more than
you
> generate, so it spins forward.  Ideally at the end of the month the end
> result is zero change.  I have seen some home make money from the electric
> company. Works better in Florida than Fairbanks in the winter, but even in
> Seattle it is a viable source.  My mother lives this way 1 hour outside of
> Seattle.

Really?  Tell us more.  I always thought Seattle was in one of the zones
where solar was really an iffy proposition because of the number of cloudy
days a year.  What were the up-front costs?  Would it work for a
high-wattage geek as well as your mom?

> Pair this with a well programmed home automation system, florescent lights
> and a electric based heating system and you are doing well.  In addition
get
> a 30 gallon tank for the roof, with a on demand heater for back up and
your
> covered, conserving all around.
>
> But there is that pesky price tag up front....

That's the lynchpin.  If the Feds were really sincere about becoming energy
independent, we would see serious assistance in the purchase and
installation of solar systems.

--
Bobby G.