- This topic has 175 replies, 27 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 11 months ago by
svelte.
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April 9, 2015 at 5:27 PM #784578April 9, 2015 at 5:36 PM #784579
skerzz
Participant[quote=bearishgurl][quote=skerzz][quote=bearishgurl][quote=skerzz]Coronado Hills Neighborhood of San Marcos (epicenter of last year’s Cocos fire).[/quote]
skerzz, is the fire the reason you no longer have gas service or were gas lines never installed there?
I seem to remember that area was near (or overlooking) CSUSM (predated CSUSM) … not sure.
I guess you must be paying $3K+ yr homeowner’s insurance premiums as well … with a limited selection of carriers to choose from ….[/quote]
An,
SDGE only provides electrical service to the area (gas lines never put in), so it’s all electrical unless you pay for a propane tank. That’s the area. The west side of the hill overlooks CSUSM and the east side looks out over parts of San Marcos, Escondido, Ramona, Poway.
I’m insured through statefarm for less than $2K per year. I’m a loyal customer with several policies and they have always treated me right. Not sure if it would be difficult to find another insurer because of the recent fires (the risk of fire is low now that all the brush has burned)…I’ve haven’t tried since statefarm is one of the few insurers that doesn’t discriminate against dog breeds (I have a “scary” rottweiler).[/quote]
Oh, I just remember the area where the fire started from the TV coverage. That’s great your home is still eligible for coverage by a well-known, reputable carrier, skerzz. <$2K yr is not too bad for a fire prone area. I pay <$1K yr for a Farmer's "Protector Plus" (replacement value) policy but I live in an urban area which is not close to any fire-prone areas. I find it odd that your micro area does not have access to natural gas. Did your area predate the incorporation of SM? Is there a reason that gas lines could not be dug there? Maybe other longtime SM dwellers can shed light as to why .... svelte??[/quote] Not sure, but perhaps has something to do with the low density (1 acre min lot size, and most homes have lots many times larger). We're also not on city sewer, everyone has their own septic tank, there are no sidewalks, we know all of our neighbors by first name, and we frequently have deer visit the property. It's truly like living in the country just minutes from freeways and PUD track homes.
April 9, 2015 at 5:46 PM #784580bearishgurl
Participant[quote=skerzz]Not sure, but perhaps has something to do with the low density (1 acre min lot size, and most homes have lots many times larger). We’re also not on city sewer, everyone has their own septic tank, there are no sidewalks, we know all of our neighbors by first name, and we frequently have deer visit the property. It’s truly like living in the country just minutes from freeways and PUD track homes.[/quote]
Yeah, I just looked at a couple of listings there on Redfin. I see now that it is made up of custom homes on septic. I could see how it is possible that utilities weren’t brought to every street.
I see that a few of your neighbors have cleared FAR down the slope from their homes and planted drought-resistant landscaping.
Good idea. Hopefully, your fire dept has access to nearby fire hydrant(s) on your street. If not, its every homeowner for themselves until the planes are called in. Compare to the likes of Oakland Hills ….
Oh, and it looks as though a sprinkling of your “neighbors” do have natural gas service. Maybe it was only brought into some streets but not others.
April 9, 2015 at 5:47 PM #784581FlyerInHi
GuestBG, in general, people live in areas where they need to control the indoor climate. And it’s a good thing that we have technology to allow us to set the temperature we like, light up the house the way we want, and run our appliances and electronics. Solar is great technology to lower the cost of comfort. Isn’t that wonderful?
BTW, natural gas is not the most efficient way to cook. There’s a lot of heat loss, and associated cooling. The most efficient way to cook would be to use insulated electric appliances like electric rice/slow cookers.
April 9, 2015 at 5:55 PM #784582ParticipantDidn’t know that. Are they located on Phoenix way?
April 9, 2015 at 6:06 PM #784584Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]BG, in general, people live in areas where they need to control the indoor climate. And it’s a good thing that we have technology to allow us to set the temperature we like, light up the house the way we want, and run our appliances and electronics. Solar is great technology to lower the cost of comfort. Isn’t that wonderful?
BTW, natural gas is not the most efficient way to cook. There’s a lot of heat loss, and associated cooling. The most efficient way to cook would be to use insulated electric appliances like electric rice/slow cookers.[/quote]
Understand, FIH. I have many relatives who live in “flyover states” with 85-90 deg heat with 80%+ humidity at least 8 months per year. It’s just that we in coastal CA have a “choice.” Anyone living in oppressive heat in SD County is “choosing to.” Households residing =<7 miles from the coast likely use half the energy that more inland households do (with similar family sizes and house sizes and comparable windows/insulation).
I like a gas cooktop. I like the flames .... for tortillas and other things. I also like downdraft cooktops (which are only available in gas). I don't have high-end appls but high-end ranges (for "serious" cooks) almost all run on natural gas as do professional cooktops for restaurants. There are good reasons for this.
I do use a slow cooker once in a while (if I have other people here to share the food).
A gas furnace in SD is way more economical than an electric wall heater or electric furnace (I haven’t actually seen an electric furnace in SD but I’m sure they exist … somewhere). We are very fortunate here in that we don’t have to use the furnace very often. If we did, our utility bills would be much, much higher.
April 9, 2015 at 6:11 PM #784585Participant[quote=skerzz]Didn’t know that. Are they located on Phoenix way?[/quote]
I can’t remember the streets. I can try to find them again in about 20 mins. In the meantime, you can look and see what you find. I remember they were on big lots with views. One house looked very interesting from the outside. I didn’t look at the interior photos.
April 9, 2015 at 6:35 PM #784586LAAFTERHOURS
Participant[quote=skerzz][quote=LAAFTERHOURS][quote=skerzz]When you are under a net energy metering (“NEM”) agreement, SDGE will net your monthly over/under production on an annual basis and bill or refund on the net amount. ex. If I use 1,000kWh more than I produce Jan – May, and produce 900kWh more than I use June – December, I’ll pay SDGE for the 100kWh at the annual true-up period. I believe there’s a cap on the amount of systems that can be installed under the current NEM agreement, so these rules may be changing soon (my understanding is that the new NEM agreement will not be as favorable as the current NEM).[/quote]
best site for all of these answers is solarpaneltalk.com. Based upon a thread in that forum, the NEM will run out middle of 2016 at its current install rate. The rate you get at the end of a 12 month period is something like 35 cents so yes better than tier 1 but not enough to make up for oversizing considerably.[/quote]
Per SDGE, the rate paid for excess is somewhere around .04 per kWh. Tier 1 rates are .17 per kWh. Cost of solar per kWh is somewhere in the range of .06 – .07 per kwh in Southern CA, so it’s not economical to pay for a system that overproduces.
Per the SDGE website (http://www.sdge.com/clean-energy/excess-generation-credit/annual-compensation-excess-generation):
“Compensation is made up of two components, one for the wholesale value of the commodity, and one for the Renewable Energy Credit (REC). The wholesale compensation price is a rolling average based on the utility’s Default Load Aggregation Point (DLAP) price from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is a wholesale market price that the utility pays other generators. It’s currently averaging just under 4 cents per kWh. Your account will automatically be credited for the wholesale value should there be any excess generation after your annual true-up. We’ll multiply the number of excess kWh you have by the average price applicable to your true-up month. See true-up table below.”[/quote]
Sorry you are right. I meant .039 cents so .4. I got my numbers wrong initially.
April 9, 2015 at 6:52 PM #784588GuestBG, if I were a cook i might prefer a gas cooktop.. but I’m not.
I hate grease splatter everywhere in the kitchen. The fancy gas cooktop have those big iron thingies that are hard to clean. I prefer a smooth electric induction cooktop.One of my vacation rentals has a fancy gas cooktop and I want to slap the guests who cook and don’t cover. Gross!
If anyone interested in saving natural gas, I have installed a couple of these turn down devices and they work.
If you have have a gas water heater, you can set it not to run when you’re not home. Disclosure: I like home automation and tech stuff.April 9, 2015 at 7:39 PM #784590Participant[quote=skerzz]Didn’t know that. Are they located on Phoenix way?[/quote]
They were actually sold comps:
This one on Jason Lane states it has has a gas dryer hookup and gas heat (forced air):
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Marcos/445-Jason-Ln-92078/home/3857290#!
I can’t seem to re-locate the “interesting-looking house” I saw in CH. It was likely a sold comp as well. I’ll keep trying.
April 10, 2015 at 8:12 AM #784593Participant[quote=bearishgurl][quote=skerzz]Didn’t know that. Are they located on Phoenix way?[/quote]
They were actually sold comps:
This one on Jason Lane states it has has a gas dryer hookup and gas heat (forced air):
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Marcos/445-Jason-Ln-92078/home/3857290#!
I can’t seem to re-locate the “interesting-looking house” I saw in CH. It was likely a sold comp as well. I’ll keep trying.[/quote]
I know that area. That house has an electric stovetop, and if does have a gas dryer or heater it is definitely because they have a big propane tank providing the fuel.
April 10, 2015 at 1:05 PM #784595Clifford
Participant[quote=AN][quote=Clifford]I’m new at this, so excuse the novice questions:
3.8kWh x 4hours of sun/day x 30 days = 456 kWh/month
1. Do you use about 450 kWh/month ?
2. If you end up using less than what your system produces, what is the rate that SDG&E pay you ?
3. How long does it take before you’ll recoup your investment ?[/quote]Most of the time, I use more than what my system produce. It has kept me in Tier 1/2 most of the time though. It does a better job keeping me in Tier 1 during the Summer and worse during the Winter. Especially months where there’s a lot of cloudy days. I have net metering so, so months where I over produce, it’ll stay as a kWh credit to offset my future over usage. I’ve been averaging about $150/month saving each month. So, for $11k investment, it should pay for itself in ~6 years. SDG&E pay you back in wholesale price (which is lower than $0.17/kWh you’re paying for Tier 1), so it’s not a good ROI to get a system that over produce.[/quote]AN,
I’m in Tier 2 most of the year (I rarely go into Tier 3). Financially, would it be worth it to install solar panels ?April 10, 2015 at 5:12 PM #784597an
Participant[quote=Clifford]AN,
I’m in Tier 2 most of the year (I rarely go into Tier 3). Financially, would it be worth it to install solar panels ?[/quote]I would say no. It’s only worthwhile if you’re constantly in Tier 4. Solar is getting cheaper and better, so it might be worthwhile to just want, since you’re not paying very much to SDG&E. The general number is, if your electricity bill is >$150/month, that’s when the number really make sense.April 10, 2015 at 7:08 PM #784599GuestI would agree with AN.
I think that in the next 10 years, we will see solar technology making great strides. It might eventually be taken for granted in every house. The utilities are getting somewhat worried so they are thinking about the future and how to get people to pay for the infrastructure.
April 10, 2015 at 9:03 PM #784601CA renter
Participant[quote=AN][quote=Clifford]AN,
I’m in Tier 2 most of the year (I rarely go into Tier 3). Financially, would it be worth it to install solar panels ?[/quote]I would say no. It’s only worthwhile if you’re constantly in Tier 4. Solar is getting cheaper and better, so it might be worthwhile to just want, since you’re not paying very much to SDG&E. The general number is, if your electricity bill is >$150/month, that’s when the number really make sense.[/quote]Also take into consideration the fact that
SDG&E is trying to flatten the tiered pricing structure, going from four tiers back to two, like we had before the “energy crisis” in the early 2000s.This will change the calculations for many people. With the 4-tier pricing, solar is an absolute no-brainer for people who are consistently in the 3rd and 4th tiers (we were almost always deep into tier 4 in this house). After flattening the tiers, the once higher-paying customers won’t benefit as much as under the 4-tier structure (still a good idea to go solar, though), but it might start to make even more sense for those in the lower tiers to go solar.
http://www.sdge.com/tiered-rates
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/28/fixed-electricity-fee-coming/
They claim that they are doing this to make the pricing “fairer” for the higher-paying customers, but the real reason is because those VERY profitable customers are fleeing to solar in relatively large numbers. They are trying to recoup some of that lost money and slow/stop the bleeding.
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