Tag Archives: Natural gas

We Hit Our Generation Target after Only 351 Days!

Well we did it! We generated as much electricity in 2011 as we consumed in 2010, with five days to spare!

We need to make long term comparisons like this because actual generation depends so much on weather, but a one year mark makes sense to me.

Now e also plan on consuming more electricity in 2012 than in 2011 because we will have a full year with our mini-split heat pumps. But don’t worry. For every BTU from the heat pumps we will use a BTU less of natural gas or wood.

The mini-split systems also provide the benefit of mini-zones. That is, temperature control by room.

For example right now my office is being heated up to be in the seventies. Yesterday morning my wife was cooling our family room down to the sixties. Most of the home isn’t using any energy now and stays in the mid sixties to mid seventies range. In a conventional home heating/cooling system all rooms would typically end up being heated or cooled to the same point.

This video shows a similar system in use in another solar home:

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