RE: It s a Male Thing

[Ab Diver]

 griffsmom

 

ORIGINAL:  griffsmom
 
 
 

ORIGINAL:  SactoCampers
 
  (we re trying right now [])
 

 Wow!  You can " try"  and type, post and edit messages at the same time?  [] I m impressed! []
 

 Lori-- no big deal, all us guys can. But like the saying goes, if I gotta explain it to ya, you wouldn t understand... It s a Male Thing! []

[gsm x2]

 Ab Diver

Wow! You can " try"  and type, post and edit messages at the same time?  I m impressed!  

 

Lori-- no big deal, all us guys can. But like the saying goes, if I gotta explain it to ya, you wouldn t understand... It s a Male Thing!  

 It s my belief that most women can " try" , make a shopping list, and redecorate the livingroom at the same time.  In fact, it occurs to me that it s the thought of redecorating the living room that sometimes  takes the woman " over the top" , if you know what I mean.  []
 
 gsm x2

[Red neff Barchetta]

 Red neff Barchetta
Brian -
 You re doing a great job!!
 Way to go on saving up so Mom can stay home and enjoy the next member of your family.  Most jobs only give 8 weeks maternity leave and that is sad.
 We had our last mortgage for 4 years, so it will be 19 years when all is said and done.
 Now the mortgage on our rental house is a 30 year with 28 years left.  I lose $30.00 a month on that house every month, lol.  Oh well, we ve got terrific tenants which is definitely worth more than a $1.00 a day, as opposed to raising the rent.
 
 Do you use solar power for your house?  Amy is definitely interested in that at some point.  She has gone so far as to have someone come out to the house to talk to her about it.  It s a company up in Hopland I think.  I m working in more and more homes that are changing to solar.
 
 The best part about planning for kids is all of the practice, ha.  We re done with kids, but sure love to practice!

[Ab Diver]

 Red neff Barchetta
Yo, Jeff... the company in Hopland is probably " Real Goods" , right? DO NOT progress with your solar adventures until you talk with the folks at " Advance Power"  in Calpella (about 5 miles north of me). This guy is one of only two (yes, 2!) certified *solar contractors* licensed in the state of California that I have heard of. I ve delivered to house he set up that is *totally* off the grid, and yet they can run a 3 hp tablesaw in their shop-- that s some serious solar power. Winter storms and power outages? These folks don t have any worries. You ve got to see it to believe it.
 
 Give him a call at 707-485-0588

[Ab Diver]

 Red neff Barchetta

The best part about planning for kids is all of the practice, ha. We re done with kids, but sure love to practice!

 Meant to comment on this in the previous post, but since I m not as adept as Sacto at editing... []
 
 Planning is fun, and practicing is more fun, but sooner or later, when you re fishing, you re gunna catch something. We caught two little girls. I told the wife that we d now caught our limit.
 
 Oh, we still go fishing--- but from now on it s catch and release. []

[SactoCampers]

 Red neff Barchetta

Do you use solar power for your house?  Amy is definitely interested in that at some point.  She has gone so far as to have someone come out to the house to talk to her about it.  It s a company up in Hopland I think.  I m working in more and more homes that are changing to solar.

 Yes, I just had a 2.5 kw array installed this summer. I m grid connected with a net-metered time of use plan. That means that during peak hours (12pm-6pm) I m charged around 32 cents per KW/hr. But that s okay, because that s when my solar array is producing more electricity than we consume, even with the AC on. Then, for non-peak use, we re charged a really low rate (can t remember exactly how much right now because I haven t received my first TOU bill. Just had the digital meter installed last week). What it ends up doing is really tempering the extremely high electricity bills you can get during the summer when you start going 2-3-4 tiers above your baseline allowance. Because with solar, you never exceed your baseline allowance and you re charged really low for any amount that you do.
 
 Anyway, what made it cost effective was the state rebates. Prior to July 1, rebates were $4.00 per kw/hr for a grid-connected system. So for me that meant about $10,000. It cut the system cost in half. Now, it s $3.75 per kw/hr. You also get a 15% state tax credit for the post-rebate cost of the equipment. For me, about $1400 come tax time next year. So, I pay a 25-year home equity loan plus my small PG&E bill every month. I come out anywhere from $15-$50 ahead each month, depending on my conservation. At the very worst, the solar panels pay for themselves and they re extremely clean and reliable. It s the equivalent of locking into today s energy rates for the next 30 years. I like using the analogy of buying a house versus renting. And it increases the value of your house proportionally should you decide to sell.
 
 If Amy has already had somebody out to analyze your sun exposure, energy usage, etc., then she probably has some good information already. I can t speculate to what extent it would benefit you, I just know that it will. I went through a co-op called CCEnergy:
 
 www.CCenergy.com
 
 Due to being a coop, their negotiating leverage with suppliers makes their costs lower. For example, I got my entire system installed for the price other outfits were offering for the equipment alone. Besides, I had a local rep here in Davis and that was important to me. I think there s one in the Santa Rosa area. I know they re having a big Solar Fest type of thing in Sebastopol coming up. Let me know if you re interested and I ll give you more info. But check with your representative or CC energy to ensure the Energy Commission rebates are still in effect! It s really a great buy-down program and makes it cost-effective for everyday folks like you and me to go solar. Otherwise it s still too expensive (for me anyway). It s really a no-brainer. The only hit is I can t now borrow as much on my HELOC. If environmental issues are important to you and Amy, solar arrays are a great way to reflect that value. If not, then they re a smart economic decision, too. Biggest problem is that the rebates decline by 25 cents per KW every 6 months. So the longer you wait, the lower the rebate [].
 
 Let me know if you want any additional info. I haven t regretted it and people ask me about it all the time.
 
 

The best part about planning for kids is all of the practice, ha.  We re done with kids, but sure love to practice!
 

 [][]

[SactoCampers]

 Ab Diver

ORIGINAL:  Ab Diver
 
 Yo, Jeff... the company in Hopland is probably " Real Goods" , right? DO NOT progress with your solar adventures until you talk with the folks at " Advance Power"  in Calpella (about 5 miles north of me). This guy is one of only two (yes, 2!) certified *solar contractors* licensed in the state of California that I have heard of. I ve delivered to house he set up that is *totally* off the grid, and yet they can run a 3 hp tablesaw in their shop-- that s some serious solar power. Winter storms and power outages? These folks don t have any worries. You ve got to see it to believe it.
 
 Give him a call at 707-485-0588
 

 Dave,
 
 He s probably tapping into his battery bank a little bit to instantaneously run the 3 hp saw. But no big deal, the solar array will charge it back up in no time. I couldn t guesstimate the size of his solar array. But probably somewhere around 5 KW if he s grid independent....maybe more(?).
 
 In order to receive the Energy Commission rebate, the solar arrays must be installed by licensed contractors. They have a list on the Energy Commission website. Your system must also be grid-connected and all parts and labor must be warranted for 5 years by the contractor. So no worries for the customers. Solar panels have 20-25 year warranties with expected lifespan of 30 years. Inverters have a life of about 10 years. So you ll need to replace the inverter probably once. Mine s a Sunny Boy.
 
 If you want to go grid-independent, it will take a larger system and cost much more. You will need to be set up with lots of deep cell batteries to power you through power outages. Unless you live in the boonies with no service, you want to be grid-connected. Who knows, maybe someday they ll pay us for any excess production!(?). Right now you can only zero it out.
 
 Before you make a decision. Contact CCEnergy. They ll come to your house and assess your property and give you a contract estimate. Compare it with others you receive. I would be surprised if it wasn t lower than the others. I bet they would match or beat the others prices. They are really interested in solar taking off. Their angle is more than just commercial. As a co-op member, your interests are politically represented by CCEnergy. They were successful in lobby the renewal of the grid-connected time of use rate plan legislation that PG&E attempted to overturn. All grid-connected solar users enjoy this benefit but it was CCEnergy that got it done. These issues may periodically arise in the coming years. PG&E doesn t like solar...it competes with their business. They consider it a real threat. I want solar to flourish because it s good for the state. I like that somebody is lobbying on behalf of it.

[Red neff Barchetta]

 Red neff Barchetta
Wow!  Thanks for the info. Brian & Dave.
 You d have thought I d asked Dave about axles and Brian about mini-vans by the length of your posts, lol.
 Seriously, I will pass along the info. to the boss of the house.  That is, when she returns from buying styrofoam cups, disposable diapers, and those new throw-away plastic food containers.  J/k!
 Aahh, America.  Just throw it away.  The dump is not near my house so who cares.

[SactoCampers]

 Red neff Barchetta

ORIGINAL:  Red neff Barchetta
 
 Wow!  Thanks for the info. Brian & Dave.
 You d have thought I d asked Dave about axles and Brian about mini-vans by the length of your posts, lol.
 Seriously, I will pass along the info. to the boss of the house.  That is, when she returns from buying styrofoam cups, disposable diapers, and those new throw-away plastic food containers.  J/k!
 Aahh, America.  Just throw it away.  The dump is not near my house so who cares.
 

 I forgot to mention it, but yesterday I received a newsletter from CC Energy indicating that due to the high response for the solar rebate program, they (the Energy Commission) may stop accepting rebate applications by the end of the month since their money may be exhausted. I don t know for sure, but it s worth checking out soon if it s something you think you may want.