Well we’ve completed another month and as such we are coming up with another goal that we are working for. In previous months we’ve worekd for a new roof and to pay our taxes. This month we decided that it would be a good idea to come up with a solution to what appears to be high energy bills in PR.
We are planning on living on a budget and it would appear that the utilities might take up quite a bit of that. So this month I figured it would be a good idea to save up for some solar panels.
We don’t plan on using too much electricity other than for a few fans, a new refrigerator, music, charging laptops and using computers and lights. Of course there will be other things like dishwashers, various kitchen appliances and the like. I don’t even need to be off grid, I just want to off-set some of the long term subscription costs so I will have to start thinking about a design.
From what I read on CA2PR’s blog, electricity in Puerto Rico costs 29¢ a kilowatt-hour. I think we pay around 4¢ here in colorado if you stay under 500kwh, everything above that gets billed at 9¢. So the cost of electricity is quite a bit higher!
I will start to research what it will take, and asking our firends Jeff and Katrina for advice as they had a solar system setup on their previous home.
The government offers solar incentives on and off. It’s the best first step. Cooling is best done by inverter type split unit ACs, not by fans, which can be energy guzzlers and they basically just move hot air and dust (Sahara dust) around. Since they are expensive, it’s a good idea to get a multi-unit compressor, which handles up to 4 units (not all at a time), rather than getting a compressor for each unit. For me, any day where the temperature reaches 90 is intolerable (remember the humidity) and requires AC. Last year we had very few days like that, and many times just opened windows. But this year, we have had record heat in June and August, over 90 most days. We now use the Daikin ACs every day. The other thing is hot water. I’ve seen many a rusted out solar water heater on roofs. We use an on-demand heater (calentador de linea), which is very economical. You just need to get used to the 5 minute cycles of hot, then not hot. Gas is also a good option for water, stoves, and dryers. We use a dishwasher on occasion, but most Puerto Ricans do not because they are so expensive to run. All this, plus the common energy savings tips keep our bills manageable (no more than they were in California). — Fran