Saving Money / Green Geothermal vs Solar?
NJ is hiking our electric costs about 35% for the summer due to our consumption level (6000 kwh with AC). All electricity over 2500kwh will have a .09/kwh fee levied.
I’ve got a variety of alternatives to get my electric bill down:
Replacement my 10 year old fairly ineffeicient central AC units (we have 2) with a high SEER unit in the 13 to 17 range.
Possibly have solar panels for electricity installed on the roof.
Get a geothermal unit drilled vertically into our yard for heat and AC.
I can only afford to do one.
Which probably will return the most ‘bang for the buck’ fastest?
Our home is about 10 years old and is fairly energy efficient. We have new highly insulated garage doors and have replaced most lights with CFC’s where possible (we have a fair number of halogen units built into the ceilings that don’t have a viable CFC or LED alternative)
Research; "energy envelope", air penetration mitigation, check your current level of insulation and look into beefing that up, new windows in older homes can save more too… just going out and buying the latest and greatest won’t be your best solution with out looking into some of these other things that are so basic many people over look them!
Now that you’ve done all that you can to SAVE energy, look into the alternatives for generating power and or geothermal for heating and cooling. These are 2 different issues… does that make sense?
You don’t have to go out and buy a new home, fix the one you have! There is lots of great info out there, look at case studies that fit your situation and do what they have done…
The link below is just a place to start, good luck!
Research; "energy envelope", air penetration mitigation, check your current level of insulation and look into beefing that up, new windows in older homes can save more too… just going out and buying the latest and greatest won’t be your best solution with out looking into some of these other things that are so basic many people over look them!
Now that you’ve done all that you can to SAVE energy, look into the alternatives for generating power and or geothermal for heating and cooling. These are 2 different issues… does that make sense?
You don’t have to go out and buy a new home, fix the one you have! There is lots of great info out there, look at case studies that fit your situation and do what they have done…
The link below is just a place to start, good luck!
References :
http://www.practitionerresources.org/documents.html?c=317
Since I’m not an expert on any of this I can give you this piece of advice: Get quotes. When I had my solar system installed I got quotes from a couple companies and they were all about the same cost, but they gave me detailed info on costs, rebates, expected production and break even time. Most companies will come out and give you a no cost no obligation quote. Since every house and area is different this would likely give you the most accurate info.
References :