Solar Powered Home Brewery

[BrewBum]

We only pay 16 cents per kwh right now it appears. My electricity is pretty cheap I feel, mainly because we are a public power state. I don't think I can grid tie yet, but I have talked to the right people and I think they are working toward it.

The problem is that my electricity is so cheap. I have switched to CFLs for nearly every light and recently bought a new front load washer and dryer and that has helped a ton, just wrapped my house in Green Guard when they replaced the siding. Plan on upgrading the insulation in the attic and the crawl space/cellar. All these things should really help.

I just feel like I am wasting an opportunity to grab the solar power available to me. One day it will make sense.

[bikefoolery]

LED Bulbs?

I can't stand the light produced by CFLs. I use them for outdoor lighting and the garage only.

Anyone have suggestions for LEDs that are equivalent to 60 watt bulbs for use in a living room?

What about flood lights for track lighting?

I've seen prices that range $10-$100 per bulb.

Thanks,
The Fool

[BrewBum]

LED Bulbs?

I can't stand the light produced by CFLs. I use them for outdoor lighting and the garage only.

Anyone have suggestions for LEDs that are equivalent to 60 watt bulbs for use in a living room?

What about flood lights for track lighting?

I've seen prices that range $10-$100 per bulb.

Thanks,
The Fool

You can get CFLs that produce the same light as regular lights. Finding LEDs that do the same is usually more costly. When CFLs first came out they were that awful white fluorescent light but now they are much softer and much closer to regular bulbs.

[ApresSkiBrewer]

BC, You're the man.

Bravo.

[bcmaui]

The color is pretty crappy with the CFL's I have tried and I know folks are just dumping them in the landfill here as no one wants to address the mercury recycling at this time.

I have not experienced the long bulb life that CFL's have promised, so I stopped purchasing them after trying several different types.

Many of my lights in the added section of my house are low voltage halogen already - these I will slowly switch over to LED's (which will be 3-10 watts) as the bulbs and prices get better. Even halogen's are an improvement as they only consume 35watts and put out 1000 lumens of light which is about the same as a 75 watts incandecent. And a quality halogen bulb is only $8. The LED standards are still emerging and there is a lot of BS in the marketing info for LED's at the mmoment as standards emerge.

My Costco is currently selling a $13 LED that seems completely adequate for exterior use in 6" cans and I am going to rig up several of these in the BBQ and brew areas to give them a test run.

I would like them to have a better lense for interior use - I think that might be why there currently is a large difference in LED pricing at the moment as this technology evolves.

[LocalBrewer]

Congrats BC!!!!!

[Brandt]

LED's are still expensive. My neighbor just spent several thousand dollars on light bulbs when he renovated his kitchen. But the total energy he consumes is ridiculously low. I use CFL's where I just need general lighting (basement, outside), but halogens where color matters like the bedroom or living room. You know incandescent lights are over 100 years old now? It's time to embrace new technologies. They will ne illegal in the European Union by next year, I think I heard... and the US is following suit with similar legilsation but the deadline is several years away. Maybe 2016.

Congrats on the system BC! Panels are cheap here, but so is electricity. We pay 9 cents/ kw hr. But the damn inverter costs a fortune.

[foomench]

Yikes! My electricity is about $0.06/kWH. But I understand that Hawaii is a very different situation.