Besides the rent or mortgage payment each month, one of the largest bills you likely have to pay is the electric bill. Chilly temps in winter and sweltering highs in summer mean more air conditioning and heating, which increases you power bill exponentially. To combat this, you can have a solar system installed that will greatly reduce or eliminate your bill. This is especially true of off grid solar systems Oregon.
Most houses that have a system installed do so on the grid. This means that you are still hooked up to power from your local utility, as a backup of sorts should your energy needs exceed what your panels are producing. You still save a lot of money this way, but it does not fulfill al your needs for power.
Instead of connecting to the grid, you can opt for a completely off grid system. With this setup, you are not connected to the electric company, so you must ensure your system is large enough to handle all of your daily energy needs without any backup. Daily use is called your load, and your system must be equipped to handle it, which could lead to blackouts or short outages.
To figure out what your load needs are, you must first look at all the things in your house that consume energy that you would be using on a daily basis. There are the obvious ones like appliances such as a refrigerator and your heating and cooling systems. Add up how many watts these each use. You can refer to the manuals that came with them, or find the appliance online and look at its energy usage.
In the rush to list all the appliances such as coffeemakers or heating units, some people overlook little things like lamps or phone chargers. Do not overlook these. In fact, you may want to scrutinize them to see if some can be eliminated to save power. This is important if you want to conserve energy.
If you really want to pare down your load, lighting is the quickest way to do it. Look at the bulbs you are using. If they are the old school compact fluorescent bulbs, you could be wasting energy. Replace them with LED bulbs and watch the savings add up.
After you have pared down and made your list, your local solar contractor can make a home visit and decide which system you need to be set up with to go truly off grid. This setup usually involves several panels and batteries, as well as an energy inverter and charge controller. Ask for a package deal to save money.
The contractor can also survey your property to find the sunniest spot that will yield the most power. Placement is absolutely essential, because if you put it in a shady area or a place that only gets sun part of the day, you are not using your panels to their full potential. They can find a spot that gets the maximum amount of sun for maximum output, so you never have to worry about your electricity going out due to insufficient power.
Most houses that have a system installed do so on the grid. This means that you are still hooked up to power from your local utility, as a backup of sorts should your energy needs exceed what your panels are producing. You still save a lot of money this way, but it does not fulfill al your needs for power.
Instead of connecting to the grid, you can opt for a completely off grid system. With this setup, you are not connected to the electric company, so you must ensure your system is large enough to handle all of your daily energy needs without any backup. Daily use is called your load, and your system must be equipped to handle it, which could lead to blackouts or short outages.
To figure out what your load needs are, you must first look at all the things in your house that consume energy that you would be using on a daily basis. There are the obvious ones like appliances such as a refrigerator and your heating and cooling systems. Add up how many watts these each use. You can refer to the manuals that came with them, or find the appliance online and look at its energy usage.
In the rush to list all the appliances such as coffeemakers or heating units, some people overlook little things like lamps or phone chargers. Do not overlook these. In fact, you may want to scrutinize them to see if some can be eliminated to save power. This is important if you want to conserve energy.
If you really want to pare down your load, lighting is the quickest way to do it. Look at the bulbs you are using. If they are the old school compact fluorescent bulbs, you could be wasting energy. Replace them with LED bulbs and watch the savings add up.
After you have pared down and made your list, your local solar contractor can make a home visit and decide which system you need to be set up with to go truly off grid. This setup usually involves several panels and batteries, as well as an energy inverter and charge controller. Ask for a package deal to save money.
The contractor can also survey your property to find the sunniest spot that will yield the most power. Placement is absolutely essential, because if you put it in a shady area or a place that only gets sun part of the day, you are not using your panels to their full potential. They can find a spot that gets the maximum amount of sun for maximum output, so you never have to worry about your electricity going out due to insufficient power.
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You can find an overview of the benefits you get when you install off grid solar systems Oregon companies offer at http://www.rvpartsplusbatteries.com right now.
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