Trees do grow here, but we are in one of the worst droughts in the history of
this area. So they may start bursting into flames before it's over. We need a
tropical storm to come through so we can get some rain. We are about a foot if
not more below normal.
Shane
----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Rossi
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] building a house
Shane,
Since cooling is such a big factor for you, don't forget that landscaping
may also be very useful. Take all the advice you've gotten so far, and
add in some trees and shrubbery to shade the house. Do trees grow in
South Texas or do they just burst into flames?
One of the women on my Peru trek built a house and went off the grid. She
uses solar hot water for the under floor radiant heat, and for her hot
water. She has several solar panels for electricity. She has no other
electric, but I think she said she has a generator. She is in Colorado
outside of Denver.
If you really want to lower your electric costs, you may want to look into
a solar panel or two. They are freakin expensive but you might be able
to get a good rebate with all the green stimulus stuff going on these
days.
I got a quote of about 5 grand installed, after some rebates, but that was
before the big stimulus package passed, so I might be able to nock some
off of that price.
For 5 grand, I would get 1100 KWH a year in the Pittsburgh area. You
would get more in Texas.
For numbers sake, 1100 KWH a year is about half of my total electric
usage. We don't use a lot of electricity, gas hot water heat, gas hot
water, gas stove. My annual electric cost is roughly 400 bucks a year.
So, a single solar panel would save me about 200 bucks a year, so would
take about 25 years to pay it off. Of course, electricity will get more
expensive over the years, so my payback time will probably be a fair bit
less than 25 years.
You may save more depending on how much your electric costs.
Never-the-less, if you can suck up the up-front cost, it will certainly
save you on your monthly budget.
--
Blue skies.
Dan Rossi
Carnegie Mellon University.
E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu
Tel: (412) 268-9081
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
