How much power will I need?
The capital investment needed for the power
system is directly related to the power requirement so consider these
ways to reduce your consumption.
- Design the house so it requires a small level of energy consumption
for space heating and lighting eg. passive designed and well lit facing
true solar north reducing.
- Reduce the demand on water heating. Install a solar thermal heater
or gas heater. This will reduce the power load by eliminating the space
and water heating which are the two biggest demands on power.
- Consider cooking using wood or gas.
- Install a self managed fridge (uses half the amount of power of self
defrosting one) and position in a dark, southern cool spot away from
any heating appliances. Go for a 5-6 Star Rating and consider the capacity
of only what you really need.
- Use low energy PLC globes, low energy fluorescent lights and low
wattage globes. Design your lighting system so you have task lighting,
like reading lamps where you need them and if possible look for the
new LED lights that are available.
On a yearly basis, if your demand comes to 17,000 kilowatts of energy
your system will cost you 1.5 times that, and converted to dollars
ie 17,000 X 1.5 = $25,500 so start thinking about where you use your
energy and be frugal.
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