Going Solar? OnDemand hot water? Sustainable Living in the Small House

Life in the small house has been good. We continue to adjust to living with less and finding new and more creative ways to utilize the space we have. We have been looking at ways to make the house more energy efficient as well. The house is pretty energy efficient as far as having insulation in the walls and attic, it has new windows, and uses a hot water heating system. We installed attic vents and programmable thermostats last summer, and we are looking into putting in new windows in the basement and several new doors. This winter we replaced our tank hot water heater with an on demand one and we are looking into putting up solar panels to provide our electricity.
In November we realized that our hot water was looking very brown. The shower curtain was brown, the fixtures were tinged brown, yuck. We had a plumber come to look at the water heater and were advised to replace it. We had looked into On Demand Hot Water Heaters a few years back while still living at our old house and decided to look into them again. The gas company was willing to give us a standard water heater for $800. Our plumber came and gave us a quote for the Rinnai On Demand water heater for $2950.00. From that, we could subtract $700 from the gas company rebate and then another $885 from the federal energy credit (as long as it was installed before Dec. 31, 2010). So, minus the $1585, it would cost us $1365. Considering that the On Demand would save us money in gas costs, and last close to twice as long as the standard tank water heater, we figured we would be coming out ahead financially AND getting to put in a more efficient water heater, that would use less fossil fuels! We went for it and have been so happy with the choice. We were warned that the On Demand hot water heater can take longer to get the hot water to the tap, but this has not been an issue for us. It does not seem to take any longer than our tank water heater did. Plus it never runs out of hot water! Although, I must note, that Aaron said he had a shower the other morning where it stopped working mid-shower. It was a first, and hopefully a last. Another bonus is that it takes up far less space in the basement and in a house that is not so big, any extra space is welcomed.
In December we had a representative from GroSolar (now SolarCity) come out to talk with us and give us a quote for solar panels on our house or an array out in the back yard. The rep took a look at our house and told us that the roof panels would not be ideal, unless we cut down a row of trees on the south side of the house. We are not in a position to do that at this time, so we asked her to take a look at the property to see if a freestanding array would work. We have almost an acre of property and the back half of it is a briar patch so we thought it might be the ideal spot. She took a look and indeed it is a great spot to put an array. The array would be 20 panels and would produce 4.6Kw, which she told us would cover close to 100% of our electricity needs. They have three plans which you can choose from. One is a low down payment ($2500) with a fixed monthly cost ($78). Then there is a plan where you pay a lot more, but it allows you to get the solar energy credits each year and they will maintain the array for you. The third option is to buy the array outright for even more money, but you get the federal credits, state credits, and the yearly solar credits. We have been trying to figure out which plan is going to work the best for us, but now GroSolar has been bought out, so we will have to find out what plans the new company is offering. We have figured out though that between the fixed energy rate with solar, and the solar credits it is a really good investment with as much as a 15% yearly return. It would be so nice if money was not the issue with all of these “green” choices, but alas it is. At the moment we are heading in the direction of getting the solar array, it is just a matter of choosing the plan that is going to work best for us. It feels very exciting to think that we could be getting our electricity from the sun and making a choice that is going to benefit future generations.

Advertisement