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April 12, 2015 at 7:17 PM in reply to: The cost of an Ivy League undergrad degree next year…. #784640
an
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.ParticipantWhat I’ve heard is the reason why we’re producing so much of the crops is because farm land address mostly controlled by large farms planting feeding corn for cows. So, if we remove the ethanol subsidy, ethanol requirement for fuel, maybe other cross would be planted in other states as well. It feels like a bunch of side effects from government intervention. The water wasted every year on the delta smelt alone is enough for 3 million residence. Also why aren’t we building more dams to save water from the wet years? They were flushing fresh water from the reservoir the last time we experienced wet years because the reservoirs were full.
Participant[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]FYI, you’re responding to bearishgurl, not me.
Participant[quote=Clifford][quote=AN][quote=rockingtime]IN Socal, Keeping green grass is completely unethical…
I think these days are coming to an end now..[/quote]Not all grass are the same. My yard is green and I’m only watering it 5 minutes a week.[/quote]5 minutes a week year round ?
Is it green year round ?[/quote]I don’t water it between October and February. I turned on the sprinker in the beginning of February and had it at 20 minutes a week, but ~1 month ago, I switch it to 5 minutes a week. It has been hot the last month and no rain, yet the grass is still green and growing. It was turning brown (going dormant) around December and January.Participant[quote=Clifford]>> 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.When you have net metering, how does SDG&E determines that your system is over producing ? Because, you could be over producing one month & then under producing another month.[/quote]From month to month, it averages out. But I think at the end of the year, if you have a surplus, they’ll pay you out. Don’t quote me on this, since my system doesn’t over produce. On months where I over produce, it keep on adding up until months where I under produce and the the kWh will be used.
Participant[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.Participant[quote=Clifford]AN,
Did you lease or buy ?
If you bought, what was the price before & after rebates ?
Also, how many kWhr do you use per month ?[/quote]
I bought. It’s a 3.8kWh system. before rebate was ~$16k and after rebate was ~$11k. I couldn’t go bigger even if I wanted to. The roof on the good side for solar is not big enough.ParticipantAn interesting video about one of the cause of our water problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD87jsdQh-U
I didn’t know we’re dumping a shit load fresh water into the SF bay to save some tiny fish. This is crazy.
ParticipantWell, this is an interest fact I just stumbled upon today: http://www.acwa.com/news/delta/water-supplies-curtailed-once-again-protect-delta-smelt
“Pumping restrictions aimed at protecting Delta smelt have reduced deliveries to water agencies in the Central Valley, Southern California and San Francisco Bay Area by more than 700,000 acre-feet since Nov. 1, state officials announced Feb. 13.”
“Cowin said water supplies lost as a result of the restrictions would have been enough to meet the needs of 1.4 million households for a year or to irrigate 200,000 acres of farmland.”
April 5, 2015 at 2:30 PM in reply to: State of the economy and affect on housing in S California #784478Participant[quote=CA renter]Depends on why deflation is happening. Look at the PIIGS, for example, or even the U.S. when the financial crisis was coming to a head. Rates went up drastically until the central banks of the world intervened together.
What happens when/if central banks run out of ammunition? We’re already at ZIRP and with each successive QE intervention, the effects become smaller and smaller.[/quote]
Interest rate is something the central banks set they only raise rates when there’s inflation. Your example about when happened in the US when financial crisis was coming is a prime example. When the data show that there is negative growth/recession, they dropped rate. They only raised rates when the data was still showing growth/inflation. Tell me, what did they do in 2008-2009?
As for PIIGS, that’s a different scenario, because PIIGS is only part of the EU and the European central bank have more to worry about than just PIIGS. That’s like saying, a few states w/in the US is seeing recession, do you think the Fed will lower rate?April 4, 2015 at 11:27 PM in reply to: State of the economy and affect on housing in S California #784474ParticipantSD Realtor, I totally agree. Those of us who locked in at this low rate, why sell when rate rise? Especially if rate rise above the current mortgage rate. If anything, I would drag that out as long as possible, since my money would be earning a higher interest rate than the bank is charging me.
If rent and income rises, why would you sell when your monthly cost to rent a similar place would be higher than your mortgage and your take home pay would make servicing that mortgage even easier.
I think the only way we’ll see lower price is if we have job loss and declining income. I.E. if we see deflation, not inflation. You won’t see rate rising with deflation.Participant[quote=flyer]It will be interesting to see if what we’re all trying to do will be enough to preserve our state for future generations.[/quote]I doubt it. I think the only thing that will make a dramatic difference is if they start to build a lot of desalination plants, build toilet to tap system, and to get the farmers to pay the same amount as the rest of us. If residential only use about 30% of the total water usage, I don’t think what we all are doing will make that big if a difference. It will make a difference, but I don’t think it’ll be enough.
Participant[quote=no_such_reality]AN. Did you use the UC Verde hybrid developed by the UC schools? Does it need regular mowing? I can only confuse my gardener so much[/quote]
I initially wanted to use UC Verde. I told my landscaper that that’s the one I wanted. But somehow, he end up just buying the buffalo grass seeds instead. It end up have similar result, it’s just the one I end up getting have seeds from the grass while the UC Verde doesn’t. But the growth height is about the same. I went through most of last year without mowing. I was fine with the look but my wife wanted it shorter, so now, I’m mowing about once a month. They grow a lot slower than Tall Fescue. At full height of 6-8″, because the blades are thin, the grass tend to lie down a little bit. Kinda of like what you see the the prairies. I didn’t water it between October and January and it started to turn brown (dormant) and when I started the sprinkler again, it turns green again.If you like the prairie look, you can almost drop your gardener completely, since it doesn’t get any taller than 8″.
Participant[quote=rockingtime]IN Socal, Keeping green grass is completely unethical…
I think these days are coming to an end now..[/quote]Not all grass are the same. My yard is green and I’m only watering it 5 minutes a week. -
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