It`s not so unusual where I am in Northern Canada that we get a period of 10-14 straight days in January when the temps do not dip below -35C--40C. The lowest I`ve experienced myself is -49C over a period of 48 long hours. I have head to toe gear that can keep me safe down to -55C; when it becomes unsafe to directly breathe and moot to expect to survive without external heat. But that gear cost me a small fortune over many years. I`m told that to purchase the same kit today it would cost even more than I`ve paid and that it`s out of stock anyway.  Not everyone will be able to afford to stay warm this winter in my part of the world. When those fancy 80K trucks start breaking down, the cotton jeans that their owners wear inside them will kill them cold.  I remember a MASH (being a past American TV show of the 1970s) episode when the weather was particularly cold and everybody was desperate about getting one pair of long wool underwear. We`re almost there.  In our southern cities where the vast majority of us live; it is foreseeable that many will die or be seriously injured by exposure this coming winter. My country is an oil producer and because it is so vast and cold, it also means that we consume vast quantities of energy (all too often, frivolously). That`s jobs therefore; income taxes; and taxes that our Canadian governments aren`t going to not collect, just for the sake of doing the right thing. It`s a shame.  

I am old. I ain`t keeping up with the times, I guess, eh?! But to be honest, I`m often glad that I`m not.  We`re going to have a tough winter ahead of us here. I often listen to the news in Europe, where I was, a long time ago. I count my blessings, and I hope that things will get better for those over there, who surely do not deserve what`s going to happen this coming winter.

54 minutes ago, sightseer said:

I forgot you had solar.  Thats pretty cool that it helps so much in the summer.  Does it have battery backup or does it use micro-inverters?  or something else?

The battery option back in 2014 was too expensive. Being at home most of the time I can make use of the power generated.

I have panels on three sides of my roof facing ESE, SSW and WNW. I therefore need a micro-inverter for each of 16 panels. Having a Solaredge inverter I use their app to monitor output from each panel. Neat!

Being a professional nerd I also record power generated into an Excel spreadsheet for analysis. 😁👍

1 hour ago, martin-w said:

 

I was listening to a guy from the National Grid talking about that this morning. Not really a solution. 1. It takes time to create an industry 2. Very little volume from our geology but lots of disruption. 3. The gas that would come out of the ground would still meet a Pan-European gas price so it doesn't matter if you made it here or not, you wouldn't get it cheaper. 

Let’s see. I don’t see why any gas extracted for pure domestic consumption could not be priced differently. If laws need changing so be it. 

2 hours ago, psolk said:

$12,500 all in for 17.5kw after local credits. 

Do you know how much it would have cost without the govt. subsidy/credits?

Thanks.

Dave

40 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

Do you know how much it would have cost without the govt. subsidy/credits?

Thanks.

Dave

I think it was 15-16k... That was with everything, permits, turn on, soup to nuts.  We figure it is ~$4,800 in annual savings so our break even was a no-brainer.  

Edited August 26, 20223 yr by psolk

35 minutes ago, psolk said:

I think it was 15-16k... That was with everything, permits, turn on, soup to nuts.

I've been looking into installing a system and the average cost for a 6kw system is around $15K.  A 15kw system costs twice that.

Your 17.5kw system cost less than half the average cost.

How did you get such a good deal?

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/solar-energy/how-much-do-solar-panels-cost.html

https://news.energysage.com/15-kw-solar-system-cost/

https://homeguide.com/costs/solar-panel-cost

Dave

31 minutes ago, dave2013 said:

I've been looking into installing a system and the average cost for a 6kw system is around $15K.  A 15kw system costs twice that.

Your 17.5kw system cost less than half the average cost.

How did you get such a good deal?

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/solar-energy/how-much-do-solar-panels-cost.html

https://news.energysage.com/15-kw-solar-system-cost/

https://homeguide.com/costs/solar-panel-cost

Dave

I did Tesla right before they required the inclusion of the powerwall and the price doubled...  

Had I wanted my system plus 1 powerwall for "up to" 8 hours backup it was 28k.  Now you can not do Tesla without the powerwall option. My system with them now is probably 28-30k b/c you have to do a powerwall as well.  It was literally while I was waiting for permits and install they changed their requirements and my contract had to be honored.   

Edited August 27, 20223 yr by psolk

Dave, I do have window air conditioners with heat but we hardly need to use them since out gas furnaces seem to do OK.  Out winters aren't that bad.

Noel

12 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Let’s see. I don’t see why any gas extracted for pure domestic consumption could not be priced differently. If laws need changing so be it. 

 

Well I don't know enough about pan-european gas prices to comment. I guess the guy from the National Grid does though. And there's still the other two points he made. Last thing we need is wrecking the environment with franking.

We know where to get the money to help people from Ray.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60295177.amp

 

"In recent years, such methods have meant that BP and Shell, for example, have paid almost no tax in the UK.

BP and Shell both received more money back from the UK government than they paid every year from 2015 to 2020 (except 2017, when Shell paid more than it received)."

 

Edited August 27, 20223 yr by martin-w

4 minutes ago, martin-w said:

 

We know where to get the money to help people from Ray.

The likely PM has said she is not in favour of a windfall tax.

9 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

The likely PM has said she is not in favour of a windfall tax.

Awesome... and typical. Meanwhile oil profits are 50 billion. And that's just the quarterly profit. 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/02/big-oil-profits-energy-bills-windfall-tax

"Bumper profits of nearly £50bn shared by the world’s five biggest oil companies prompted a chorus of calls for higher taxes on the sector as UK households were told to brace for average annual energy bills of more than £3,600 this winter."

"The UK firm BP was accused of “unfettered profiteering” after it said on Tuesday underlying profits had tripled to $8.5bn (£6.9bn) between April and June, thanks to high oil prices. It was its biggest quarterly profit in 14 years"

Edited August 27, 20223 yr by martin-w

@martin-w, sorry but this is not a discussion I want to get into.

an interesting listen.

Edited August 27, 20223 yr by fluffyflops

13 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Let’s see. I don’t see why any gas extracted for pure domestic consumption could not be priced differently. If laws need changing so be it. 

we sold off our ability to store gas years ago, and we cant frack. so we have no choice but to buy energy at whatever the rate is.   

Judging by Noel's opening post, "energy" costs are shooting up in many other places.
There is a view that, just as by consent, gold is "worth" a lot of money, it is by
consent that if there is a perceived and upcoming but not yet actual shortage, then the
price of energy that has not yet been purchased must rise.
We are the authors of this ludicrous situation and if we were to all agree not to pay
the inflated price but to pay a realistic price, then the inflated price would be unsustainable
and the already mega-rich would stop getting richer.
In the meantime, in Europe, we are told that the main gas supplier is burning off the gas
instead of selling it.

Yet again, Einstein was right.
"Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity and I’m not sure about the universe"

Edited August 27, 20223 yr by Reader