Navydoc, do you have a deep/diving pool? That can really keep it cold, too. I’ve had a pool for most of my life, but our current pool is very shallow and I’m always surprised by how fast it heats up (and cools down!). We’re getting a solar cover this year to keep the water in because the water seems to evaporate much faster than any of the other pools we’ve had, and because it really does help to heat the water up a bit and, most importantly, it keeps it warmer through the night.
Glad to hear we’re not the only ones with such high electricity bills. The bills in our current house were higher than our other house (the one we were renting around the corner) even when this house was empty. It has to be the (very old) pool pumps — two of them because our pool vac has to use a dedicated pump and it would cost a fortune to convert to another type of vacuum system. We’ve been told that it would be more difficult to get the newer variable-speed pumps because of the system configuration; still have to do some more research on it, though. Add to that the A/C that we like to keep at 71 degrees, and getting solar is a no-brainer. We once had a $750 bill for one month!!!! 🙁 As crazy as this may sound, we’re getting an 11KW+ system in an attempt to completely eliminate our bills. SDG&E is moving to a two-tiered system (and then to a TOU system), so solar customers won’t be able to lower their bills by as much as they can with the current 4-tiered system.[/quote]
very good point about the depth of the pool. it could be a difference between a 12000 gallon pool vs a 30000 gallon pool. that temperature difference can be huge.
I also heard about SDGE moving to two-tiered and TOU as well. over the last month or two I have casually spoke with a number of folks working in the solar industry, and they all say the same thing, that pass $300/month, moving to solar is an absolute no-brainer. And that’s exactly what has been happening. Essentially SDGE has lost almost all of its very best cash cows all to solar. We are only looking at $150 average per month at this point, otherwise we would be all over solar as well.
