I became disabled about 5 years ago. Since most of my work was as a consultant or short-term contract, I realized I would have to do as much as possible to keep my monthly bills lower once I retired. Little did I know I would be "retiring" early!!
Suddenly without income, I found out the hard way how difficult it was to get any kind of assistance in meeting my monthly bills. The first necessity to go...Electricity! I had already started using some solar-heated water, but a friend helped me build a slightly better solar water heater out of scrap parts, garden hose, and an old window. I couldn't believe how well it worked! I had replaced my electric water heater years ago with a 40 gallon LP Gas one (HUGE savings!), but now I could store the solar heated water in it. One very cold & cloudy winter, I had to light the pilot light on the water heater, but THAT'S ALL the extra help it needed to keep 40 gallons of very hot water.
The electric company (of course), wasn't much help. After the first time they cut me off, my family and an Independent Living organization got a generator for me. I got one just big enough to run the two biggest energy hogs...the pump for the well and the washing machine. They both draw about 12 amps, and the generator could easily run one, but not both at the same time. I figure that's just right because it saves gasoline that way.
Well, after the third or fourth time various people helped get my electric turned back on, only to be disconnected again after 3-4 months, my parents figured they'd save money by buying me Harbor Freight's 45w Solar Panel Kit, and a Chicago Electric 1200w inverter. I already had one WalMart Deep Cycle Marine battery rated at 115amp/hours. They have a 3 year full warranty, and a 10 year pro-rated replacement warranty, you can't beat that! Since they are so cheap ($59 minus $9 if you have an old one to turn in!), I had two more from friends & family within a couple months. I now have four of them, that's 460amp/hours of storage.
The inverter isn't the best, but beggars can't be choosers. I did rewire the thermostat in the fridge to turn on/off the inverter as necessary. It saved a lot! The fridge is old and on it's last legs, but it's small, and only uses 4.75amps at start-up.
This whole setup is now 1 year old, and providing almost all my electricity! I only have to use a small charger (2amp, draws 0.4amps of 120v AC) at night. This should only put 0.55KwH on my meter per day, but due to the electric company changing the multiplier on the meter during supposed "peak" times, it varies from the 0.55KwH it should be, to 4.0KwH a day! This is the only electrical appliance hooked into the grid! I've even run a seperate wire/circuit, and turned off all other breakers supplying my home!
The total invested so far in this system is $544, with a little extra $3-$5 now & then for little things.
Since joining this site, I see I need a good charge controller & hope to get one ASAP. I've proved a little 4amp windmill project works well, but I need to rebuild it now for a more permanant use. Either this, or the charge controller should put me over the "hump" of having to be on-grid. I just got a 10-day cut-off notice today from the electric company.
This last month, my bill says I used 88KwH in 30 days. The electric co-op states a charge of $.089/KwH (8.9 cents), but the total bill was $22.28. A little math shows the total cost is 25.3cents per KwH!
Can't wait to get off-grid permanently!
