Our solar production

[Yanquetino]

February stats are in. Looks like my solar array is back to generating more juice than I use. Looking brighter every day!

 

[N952JL]

Feb 2012 has been my lowest monthly total since I went online July 2010. I only produced 872.865 kWh. PCWatts estimated 1176 so I'm down 303 kWh for the month. So far March is shaping up bad as well. Haven seen the sun since Sun Feb 26th.

 

[hill]

Feb 2012 has been my lowest monthly total since I went online July 2010. I only produced 872.865 kWh. PCWatts estimated 1176 so I'm down 303 kWh for the month. So far March is shaping up bad as well. Haven seen the sun since Sun Feb 26th.

With our system sized just a tad above our usage, January and most of February are our only yearly parts that we don't over generate ... generally our surplus will drop by 200 to 500kWh's - up 'till about the last week of Feb. Now that it's march - our surplus is on the march ... how appripo !

 

[N952JL]

Feb 2012 has been my lowest monthly total since I went online July 2010. I only produced 872.865 kWh. PCWatts estimated 1176 so I'm down 303 kWh for the month. So far March is shaping up bad as well. Haven seen the sun since Sun Feb 26th.

With our system sized just a tad above our usage, January and most of February are our only yearly parts that we don't over generate ... generally our surplus will drop by 200 to 500kWh's - up 'till about the last week of Feb. Now that it's march - our surplus is on the march ... how appripo !

With the size houses (4500) i need 15kw and I'm limted to 10kw Not enouth th heat in winter nor cool it sumer. My next energy inprovement will be replacing my air based heatpump with gerotermo heatpump.

 

[DaveEV]

With the size houses (4500) i need 15kw and I'm limted to 10kw Not enouth th heat in winter nor cool it sumer. My next energy inprovement will be replacing my air based heatpump with gerotermo heatpump.

Have you seen the specs of the latest ductless mini-split systems? Perhaps not appropriate for a 4500 sq/ft house unless you primarily stay in a few rooms, but the latest have up to 27 SEER and 12.5 HSPF ratings... quite amazing! 4 of these would probably heat/cool the whole house at a fraction of the cost of a geo-thermal system...

http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/wallmountedRLS2_specs.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[SilverLeaf]

February production in kWh DC was 854.54. This is my first February production (Commissioned in March 2011).

Effective March 1, 2012 I will be able to report both kWh DC and AC.

I have successfully upgraded my Sunpower System from 5.52 kW to 6.9 kW
and added a SMA Bluetooth Piggy-back card to my Sunpower Inverter
and added a Sunny Beam Monitor

I am waiting for a BT Dongle for my desktop to send my production to PVOutput.

Since I did the firmware upgrade to the Sunny Beam, everything works great now
including leaving the SB permanently connected to my desktop via USB.

 

[N952JL]

With the size houses (4500) i need 15kw and I'm limted to 10kw Not enouth th heat in winter nor cool it sumer. My next energy inprovement will be replacing my air based heatpump with gerotermo heatpump.

Have you seen the specs of the latest ductless mini-split systems? Perhaps not appropriate for a 4500 sq/ft house unless you primarily stay in a few rooms, but the latest have up to 27 SEER and 12.5 HSPF ratings... quite amazing! 4 of these would probably heat/cool the whole house at a fraction of the cost of a geo-thermal system...

http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/wallmountedRLS2_specs.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks I'll look into it. The reason the house is so large is because I added a "mother" addition. Mother is 90 and in 2008, I added a 1864 sq ft addition for her. The addition looks like a pool house, has 2944 sq ft under the roof. (Includes two car garage, covered front porch overlooking the pool, and a 380 SQ foot utility storage where I installed the inverters for the PV system). It only has 5 rooms not counting the two bath rooms, but all rooms are large. The Main house is about 2500 sq ft but 3744 under roof which includes over sized 2 car garage, covered front porch and 450 sq ft patio. This house has only 7 rooms not counting bath rooms. I say all this because the Split systems you mentioned work best in very small rooms, they start loosing their advantage when the rooms are over 400 sq ft (four such rooms), the smallest is 168. One additional plus, the byproduct of cooling the two during the summer, is heating the pool. With the tax incentive the pay back is about 3 years with a life of over 20, where as the air to air, being an outside unit has a life of 15.

 

[N952JL]

First sun in a week, here in middle GA. Daily total was over 62.42 kWh more than I made all week. March, April & May are my best months. March because the leaves are not out yet so I have morning sun, and temps are low. High Temps bring down production for June to Sept and shade from next door and across the street trees lower things till Dec when most leaves are gone, but after Nov the sun goes as well.

 

[dhanson865]

With the size houses (4500) i need 15kw and I'm limted to 10kw Not enouth th heat in winter nor cool it sumer. My next energy inprovement will be replacing my air based heatpump with gerotermo heatpump.

Have you seen the specs of the latest ductless mini-split systems? Perhaps not appropriate for a 4500 sq/ft house unless you primarily stay in a few rooms, but the latest have up to 27 SEER and 12.5 HSPF ratings... quite amazing! 4 of these would probably heat/cool the whole house at a fraction of the cost of a geo-thermal system...

http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/wallmountedRLS2_specs.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd love to have the 9RLS installed in my master bedroom upstairs. The high efficiency heat pump I'm using for the whole house has two drawbacks.

#1 Cools quickly enough that it won't lower humidity as much as I'd like. Not deal breaker bad, I just wish it were a half ton smaller unit so it would run longer and pull more moisture out. As is I'm running a small dehumidifier in addition to the central AC and if it weren't for the noise/electricity/initial cost I'd put a bigger dehumidifier into service.

#2 In mid summer it can be 5 degrees F warmer upstairs vs downstairs. I run the fan on continuous to try to even out the temps but I have a split foyer so cold air just rolls down the stairs with no walls or doors to block the airflow.

Having a very small unit upstairs in addition to the central would allow me to dehumidify more without dropping the temp downstairs into refrigerator territory. I just can't afford to spend more money putting in a less efficient unit. The current unit is about 19 SEER (it's a 20 nameplate but you only get the 20 at a certain tonnage/air handler combo).

 

[DaveEV]

The high efficiency heat pump I'm using for the whole house has two drawbacks.

#1 Cools quickly enough that it won't lower humidity as much as I'd like. Not deal breaker bad, I just wish it were a half ton smaller unit so it would run longer and pull more moisture out. As is I'm running a small dehumidifier in addition to the central AC and if it weren't for the noise/electricity/initial cost I'd put a bigger dehumidifier into service.

#2 In mid summer it can be 5 degrees F warmer upstairs vs downstairs. I run the fan on continuous to try to even out the temps but I have a split foyer so cold air just rolls down the stairs with no walls or doors to block the airflow.

Yep, common problems with a system that is sized too big. Keep in mind that running the fan on continuous will increase humidity since any water on the coils will get sucked back in to the house. You may want to see if not running the fan continuously lowers humidity enough to offset the temperature differential since higher humidity makes it feel warmer. Don't know if you can play with the vents, but partially closing the vents downstairs to help push more air upstairs may help although most HVAC guys don't typically recommend it.

I'd love to have the 9RLS installed in my master bedroom upstairs.

Having a very small unit upstairs in addition to the central would allow me to dehumidify more without dropping the temp downstairs into refrigerator territory. I just can't afford to spend more money putting in a less efficient unit. The current unit is about 19 SEER (it's a 20 nameplate but you only get the 20 at a certain tonnage/air handler combo).

It sounds like having a dedicated mini-split upstairs would be ideal for your setup. They are very affordable compared to central air systems.

 

[N952JL]

With the size houses (4500) i need 15kw and I'm limted to 10kw Not enouth th heat in winter nor cool it sumer. My next energy inprovement will be replacing my air based heatpump with gerotermo heatpump.

Have you seen the specs of the latest ductless mini-split systems? Perhaps not appropriate for a 4500 sq/ft house unless you primarily stay in a few rooms, but the latest have up to 27 SEER and 12.5 HSPF ratings... quite amazing! 4 of these would probably heat/cool the whole house at a fraction of the cost of a geo-thermal system...

http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/wallmountedRLS2_specs.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd love to have the 9RLS installed in my master bedroom upstairs. The high efficiency heat pump I'm using for the whole house has two drawbacks.

#1 Cools quickly enough that it won't lower humidity as much as I'd like. Not deal breaker bad, I just wish it were a half ton smaller unit so it would run longer and pull more moisture out. As is I'm running a small dehumidifier in addition to the central AC and if it weren't for the noise/electricity/initial cost I'd put a bigger dehumidifier into service.

#2 In mid summer it can be 5 degrees F warmer upstairs vs downstairs. I run the fan on continuous to try to even out the temps but I have a split foyer so cold air just rolls down the stairs with no walls or doors to block the airflow.

Having a very small unit upstairs in addition to the central would allow me to dehumidify more without dropping the temp downstairs into refrigerator territory. I just can't afford to spend more money putting in a less efficient unit. The current unit is about 19 SEER (it's a 20 nameplate but you only get the 20 at a certain tonnage/air handler combo).

I'm in middle GA so we do have humidity. I have a humistate, instead of a termastate. I set both tempature desired and a humidity desired. The system runs to meet both requirements.

Where is the spell checker?

 

[davewill]

... Where is the spell checker?

It's generally part of your browser.

 

[N952JL]

... Where is the spell checker?

It's generally part of your browser.

I've never seen one on ether Internet Explorer or FoxFire. It is part of my email package.

 

[davewill]

... Where is the spell checker?

It's generally part of your browser.

I've never seen one on ether Internet Explorer or FoxFire. It is part of my email package.

In Firefox look under "Options", "Advanced", "General". There's a checkbox labeled "Check spelling as I type". It should spell check any edit box with more than one line.

Firefox: Using the spell checker

 

[N952JL]

Oh it tells me when I mis spell a word, but it doesn't "spell check" by trying to correct my spelling like Thunderbird email or Outlook, or word etc.

 

[Nekota]

Oh it tells me when I mis spell a word, but it doesn't "spell check" by trying to correct my spelling like Thunderbird email or Outlook, or word etc.

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20spell%20checker?s=spell+checker&r=0&e=es&as=s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And if you right click on the underliined mispelt word you have choices {underlined underline underling undetermined underpin}...

 

[N952JL]

Oh it tells me when I mis spell a word, but it doesn't "spell check" by trying to correct my spelling like Thunderbird email or Outlook, or word etc.

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20spell%20checker?s=spell+checker&r=0&e=es&as=s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And if you right click on the underliined mispelt word you have choices {underlined underline underling undetermined underpin}...

Never knew that. Thanks. It worked. Learn something new ever day.

 

[dhanson865]

Yep, common problems with a system that is sized too big. Keep in mind that running the fan on continuous will increase humidity since any water on the coils will get sucked back in to the house. You may want to see if not running the fan continuously lowers humidity enough to offset the temperature differential since higher humidity makes it feel warmer.

The thermostat has a humidity setting that will stop the fan when the compressor is off (overriding the continuous fan setting) but the temp differential has been as high as 10 degrees F before so I'll take the 2% higher humidity for more even temps. It really doesn't save much on humidity to turn off the fan.

The humidity in the house never gets out of control bad, it just doesn't respond to me futzing with the controls as much as I'd like. Running the AC non stop doesn't pull out enough moisture to keep ahead of the showers, dishwasher, plus rain. You don't realize how much the humidity outside effects the humidity inside until you are monitoring it with a digital gauge.

Also I only use AC heavily about 4 months a year, it gets used in spring and fall just no where near enough to keep up with the moisture swings. Even if the unit were perfectly sized I'd still probably need a standalone dehumidifier for the spring/fall periods when moisture is high. And for all I know it is perfectly sized, maybe if I went 1/2 ton smaller it wouldn't keep up with a 100 degree F summer day when we get those. I'm not sure, I just know I'd enjoy having a smaller unit in addition to this one so I could mix and match as needed.

Cost might keep me from doing that though. Money's tight and the issue really isn't that high on my priority list.

To give you an idea what I deal with check out this quote from http://www.tva.com/river/flood/rainfall.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Tennessee River watershed is one of the rainiest in the United States, with an average of 51 inches of rain a year. The Gulf of Mexico is a major source of moisture. The Tennessee Valley region also is subject to heavy rainfall resulting from dissipating hurricanes moving across the Southeast.

December through early May is the major flood season in the Tennessee Valley. Winter storms provide the most rainfall because they are generally more numerous, last longer and cover larger areas.

The monthly average rainfall in the Tennessee Valley region ranges from 3.0 to 5.5 inches. March, July and December are typically the wettest months, and September through November are usually the driest.

Most parts of the country wouldn't consider 3 inches of rain a dryer month. Don't get me wrong we get droughts here too but its pretty common to have 3 days rain 2 days sunshine rinse repeat.

 

[dhanson865]

I'm in middle GA so we do have humidity. I have a humidistat, instead of a thermostat. I set both temperature desired and a humidity desired. The system runs to meet both requirements.

Where is the spell checker?

Dunno if you have the same as I have or not but I get to set min humidity for the humidifier, max humidity for the AC, and min temp for heat, and max temp for AC.

The thing is that's just a controller turning on/off the varying subsystems. The underlying tech can't work miracles.

In specific mine is a re-badged Honeywell touchscreen like this http://www.americanstandardair.com/products/pages/productdetail.aspx?prod=c01" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My biggest complaint about it is having only 4 time periods per day. I'd love to be able to set desired temps 6 or 8 time periods in a day. As is I set the thermostat conservatively and use the manual override to create additional time slots. It's smart enough to let you manually set a hold temp in 15 min increments so I can walk by in the middle of a 10 hour period and program a manual change to last a shorter time say 2 hours.

As an example in the coldest of winter I set it for

wake - 7am 62f
leave - 8:30am 64f
return - 10:30am 65f
sleep - 10pm 60f

on a warmer winter day when I can afford to do so I walk by somewhere around noon and set it to 66f or even 67f until 3 or 4 pm to create a virtual 5th time period

You might look at that and say why clump 3 trigger points so close together at 7, 8, 10am? On a really cold morning (think low 30s, high 20s) the aux heat comes on until the sun gets high enough to directly heat the heat pump. Programming it that way keeps the system from trying to recover from 60f overnight back to 65f before the sun clears the trees in the back yard. At one or two degree chunks the heat pump will do it's thing, 4 or 5 degree chunks on a really cold day the computer thinks you want heat at any cost and automatically kicks in the more expensive resistant heat.

I want the heat when I get out of bed but I'm also willing to wait for the sun to get high enough that I'm getting direct sunlight before I ask the heat pump to fight the cold.

 

[DaveEV]

You might look at that and say why clump 3 trigger points so close together at 7, 8, 10am? On a really cold morning (think low 30s, high 20s) the aux heat comes on until the sun gets high enough to directly heat the heat pump. Programming it that way keeps the system from trying to recover from 60f overnight back to 65f before the sun clears the trees in the back yard. At one or two degree chunks the heat pump will do it's thing, 4 or 5 degree chunks on a really cold day the computer thinks you want heat at any cost and automatically kicks in the more expensive resistant heat.

I want the heat when I get out of bed but I'm also willing to wait for the sun to get high enough that I'm getting direct sunlight before I ask the heat pump to fight the cold.

The thermostat you have looks like the same as mine (I have a Trane, basically same as American Standard) - there's a timer lockout in the advanced settings that lets you set how long the heat-pump can run before it kicks on resistance heat. I think the default is 30 minutes - sounds like you want to bump it up longer? There might be some temperature lockout settings, too...