Energy Conscious Consultant

Solar Powered System: Calculations To Consider

2010-03-08T15:23:58-08:00

A solar powered system needs to be designed for your needs. Calculations are made for normal use of your electrical system. But energy systems for determining energy use are different. Everybody’s needs are different. Everybody wants are different. Everybody is different in the way they use energy. That is a big factor in trying to determine a set factor to determine that individual’s needs.

Calculating a load for one person and compare it to your neighbor is hard to do. You need to look at each person’s:
•    needs
•    wants
•    habits
Each person’s habits are different. For instance, when do you wash clothes? Do you wash once a week, twice a week, or daily? If you get solar power and you are using solar power to run your washing machine, you would know that you can’t wash at night. You would have to wash in the day.

But what are your needs? One person works all day and comes home at night. If they come home and want to wash all their clothes at night, they are not conserving energy. At that point, solar is not producing. Instead of one small load from one day, maybe they could wait and fill up a load before washing. That would be washing one less time, using less water, less power and therefore conserving energy.

That’s one person’s habits. Older people were taught to conserve because they didn’t have the things that we have today. They didn’t have the amount of appliances that we have today or the lighting that we have today. A long time ago, every room had one light in it. You didn’t have a closet light. You didn’t have a fan. You didn’t have anything else. So they learned to live within that one light. I know I learned to live that way when I grew up. Can you live with one light in your room? Maybe not. Maybe you are the type of person that needs all the lights on in the house to see. So that has to be taken into consideration when you are considering a solar powered system.

You need to consider how much energy a customers uses, his preferences. One customer tells me he wants to keep his old refrigerator. He says he loves it because it has lasted forever and doesn’t want to get rid of it. I look at his refrigerator and I see it takes 20 amps to run it. The new refrigerators available on the market take 5 to 7 amps to run. So, you would be saving 3 times as much electricity to purchase and use a new refrigerator. If you want to keep the old refrigerator, I’ll have to put 20 more solar panels on your roof to run the refrigerator that you have to keep.

After considering the habits of a customer, I need to consider essential needs. What electrical items are essential to your needs? What are your bare necessities that you can’t live without? The top 3 essential needs to most homeowner are:
•    Water
•    Refrigerator
•    Lights (in some areas)

If you don’t have gas (natural gas or propane) available in your area, you may add a hot water heater to your list. These can be put on a system individually operated (strictly) for essential needs. What can you do personally? Can you do without something personally? How can you conserve?

Bloom Box: Form Of Alternative Energy

2010-03-02T14:19:31-08:00

Bloom Energy announced it has released Bloom Boxes. It is a form of alternative energy in the shape of small boxes. A series of these boxes can power your refrigerator, or lights. Larger series of these Bloom Boxes have been placed to power businesses such as Google and EBay. These boxes are actually fuel cells that have been painted with a special formula. This paint formula is painted on a special surface of treated beach sand. I like the fact that he is using natural resources to obtain his alternative energy. Once stacked, they are series or grouped together in a larger box the size of a refrigerator.

According to the 60 Minutes interview last week, oxygen and fuel is fed into this large unit causing electricity to be produced. The fuel they refer to can be natural gas, bio-gas, land-fill gas, or solar. It sounds like a good idea but I am concerned about using fuel to create electricity. The cost of natural gas continues to rise. Is it a good idea to continue to use natural gas to produce electricity?

In the interview, K.R. Sridnar, the designer, said he hopes to have one in every home within 5 to 10 years and at a cost of $3000.00. Of course, he did mention that one of those refrigerator sized boxes cost EBay approximately $700,000.00 and they needed 5 of them to offset their electric usage. One can only hope that the price will come down from $700,000 to $3000. He went on to say that a stack of his boxes (one stack is equal to the size of one brick) would run an entire household. Each stack is capable of producing its own voltage.

The idea behind it seems doable but at what cost? It will still require gas (natural gas, etc) to produce. If you use bio-gas, it can be considered carbon neutral. Why not simply use solar? It has improved so it takes up less space per watt. What do you think?

Electricians Going Green

2010-02-23T07:17:59-08:00

As a trained electrician, I have followed the National Electric Code. I have even, on occasion, whipped out my NEC book. When someone dared contradicted my work, I can prove them wrong through the code. This code is not just for your local ordinances or state wide. In the United States, it is guidelines that ALL ELECTRICIANS must follow around the country. The code also describes, in detail, code for solar powered systems as well as wind powered systems. All installers must follow this code.

Yet, there are organizations who strive to cut out the electrician and his code by developing their own rules for installing solar and wind powered systems. Getting a group of professionals together and training them is great. But to change the established rules of the NEC should not be acceptable within the electrical field. For instance, my state, Louisiana, requires that I take a course by a group that installs solar powered systems. In order for my customers to receive any state tax credits, I must take this course. Who developed this course? Who developed the requirements for it? Everything I need to know is in the NEC. Why must I go under another company and their rules?

Who is the teacher? Is it a licensed electrician or someone who takes a course and thinks he is more knowledgeable than a licensed electrician? Must we retrain ourselves to follow something we have already been installing just because an organization says I need to take their class to install solar?

I was researching the internet the other day and came across this quote. We must all adapt to convert to green.

“In the next ten to twenty years, ‘electrical contractor’ will no longer be a suitable job title for electricians. They will transition into “energy contractors” to support the fast-growing green construction market.”

I agree with it but I will continue to follow the NEC to install solar and wind systems properly. Now is the time for electricians to come together before you become obsolete. Electricians, do you follow NEC or do you follow whatever your boss says on a job?

Electrical Changes Before Inspection

2010-02-17T10:09:47-08:00

You need to hire an electrician to wire your new home or the addition to your present home. He will wire it up to code and have his work inspected.

Here’s a scenario:
While building your new dream home, there are many changes that you would love to have or forgot to put into your new home. After the electrician finishes his job on the rough in and you have paid him, you stick a receptacle here or there and add another lights in a closet somewhere. But you didn’t realize that the electrical inspector had not yet come. So, he shows up and fails your electrical contractor. Then your electrical contractor wants to charge you additionally for another inspection as well as to correct the mishaps you tried to install. Sound familiar?

Once your electrician finishes his rough in and has been paid, the homeowner, general contractor, or anyone else for that matter, should not add anything!!! Did you hear me? Not anything. When you make changes or additions, you have messed up the job you just paid an electrician to perform. Your receptacles may not work. Your lights may not work. And it will not be the electrician’s fault.

A licensed electrician can provide an estimate for his work and tell you how involved the job will become. One time I had to give an estimate for installing a ceiling fan in a porch addition. When I quoted the price for half a days work, the homeowner said no, thinking it was too expensive. What the homeowner didn’t realize was that they wanted a ceiling fan hung on a switch, not a pull string, in an addition to an existing home. In another words, there was no exposed walls to run the wire. I would be feeding the wire to a switch and then to the ceiling fan.

There is a reason why you, as a homeowner, draw up plans before the house is wired. Stick to the plans. If you change the plans, let your electrical contractor know so he can make the additions. For example, a microwave needs a circuit by itself. If you move the microwave, you need to notify your electrician ASAP. Changes can be made before the electrical inspector is called out. Did you tell your electrician about your changes?

Save Energy Through Energy Efficienct Homes

2010-02-11T07:04:56-08:00

Energy efficiency should be a priority before going solar. Some people use solar energy to lower their bills. It’s a big consideration as a reason for going solar. But to have solar and leave all the doors and windows open and the air conditioner on does not make sense. Would you turn your outside flood lights on and leave them on all night? If you want security, get a motion sensor in your flood lights. But don’t leave the lights on 24 hours a day. If you do and you have solar, that is abusing the energy you are producing.

You can also use a solar powered system as supplementary power so you won’t be using as much electricity, gas or propane. If you use photovoltaic, you don’t have to incorporate your whole house. You can do a portion of your home if you make your house energy efficient. It makes it possible to take a little that you have and go a long way. But if you want to be a glutton for energy, you can, and keep going the way you are. You can keep burning the fuel you want to burn. You can keep the electric companies in hog heaven, if you want. It’s not up to me. It’s up to the individual customer to decide what energy level they will use. Do you want to be a glutton for energy or conserve energy?

One customer kept telling me he wanted to go solar. Yet, he seemed to want to run every appliance in his house at the same time. The idea of energy efficiency is to reduce your usage of energy and reduce the impact on the environment. You must do what is necessary to maintain your efficiency by not being gluttonous for power. Some people have solar but are inefficient with their system. Do you want your heated pool to be 100 degrees at 3:00 AM when you are sleeping? Do you bake in your oven, heat in your microwave, wash clothes, dry clothes, and shower at the same time and proclaim to be energy efficient? That affects the purpose of saving money and saving energy. Why have solar if you are going to abuse it? It is like saying you want to eat everything – cakes, pies, ten course meals, cookies, and all sugary treats – and not get fat. You can still use what you want within your home. But be efficient and prioritize your use. Make wise decisions of what energy you use at what time.

Insulating your home is the best way to get started. Customers have different ideas of what they should do about insulation. I recommend you talk to an insulation expert. Talk to someone who can give you figures from years of research on what the insulation value can become in your home. Then, you can decide how to spend your money. You want to decrease your usage of energy and become energy efficient. What is your plan?

Solar Heated Swimming Pool Will Save You Money

2010-02-04T13:11:05-08:00

What’s involved with a solar heating swimming pool? The amount or size of solar collectors directly reflects from the size of your pool. Collectors are heat solar panels, solar heaters. Collectors collect heat from the sun to heat water. The heat of the sun is necessary for heat exchanging. We exchange cold water for warm. We are exchanging the heat. The water is collected and run through these heater panels that the sun heats up and run down back into the pool. It is similar to a regular pool pump. It takes the water from the pool and pumps it back through the filter and into the pool. If you have a pool heater, it pumped it through a propane heater exchanger. That propane tank heated up that water and it flowed back to the pool. But it used propane to do that. Solar heated swimming pools are more efficient and will save you money.

One customer called me interested in solar power. He has a swimming pool that was heated by propane and is paying over $1800 a year to heat his interior pool. That’s a lot of money, in my book. This customer would be limited to the amount of collectors that is available. With the calculations that I came up with, the collectors would raise their pool temperature to 80 to 85 degrees. They indicated to me that that wasn’t enough. They wanted it hotter. I asked the customer if he is pursuing a reasonable way of give and take which would help the environment and also help him to get a better bill or do you just want to pay the higher bill. You must give a little for efficiency and for the environment while not being unreasonable. If you must have it, you can get it, but at what cost?

This customer would be eligible for the Louisiana rebates. His actual payout for his system would be only $3000.00. In a matter of 2 years, he would have paid for the system and not paid the propane company. What’s better, $1800.00 per year or $0 per year? Duh! He would not be renting or buying gas while heating his pool to the extent that he wanted it heated. I think that 80 degrees is normal high heat when you have a circulating area. But this customer wanted a higher temperature, at least 90 degrees. Why? Just because.

This customer has an existing pool and wants to have it 5 degrees warmer than what the solar collectors can provide. They are not happy with the solar idea that I suggested because of their limited roof space where the solar collectors would be placed. To me, that’s like saying you want to be fuel efficient and yet drive a gas guzzling Hummer. You want to drive a Hummer but yet you want the mileage of a Volkswagen. That is not being money conscious. Dollar for dollar, that doesn’t pay. Why don’t you switch to a solar heated swimming pool?

House Circuits: What Can They Handle?

2010-01-27T07:24:14-08:00

To become an electrician, it takes years. You must first start at the bottom as an apprentice. Then you can become a journeyman. Then after approval from the electrical contractor you worked under, you can become an electrician. An experienced electrician has dealt with a lot of problems within the same realm of the electrical field. He can find and identify a problem - like overloading house circuits.

One time a painter was refinishing the floors for a homeowner and his equipment wouldn’t work. He told the homeowner that the problem was in a receptacle in the floor. The problem was not with that receptacle. It was the painter that was using old equipment while he plugged into a circuit that he overloaded. They were using faulty extension cords and faulty equipment which lead to tripping the breaker.

Most standard house circuits are capable of 15 amps unless they are located in the kitchen or bathroom which code requires to be 20 amp circuits. Other than the kitchen and bathroom, the rest of the house is not required to be 20 amp circuits. You have very little independent circuits other than the microwave, window air conditioners, and other small appliances.

If you plug in a floor sander and it takes more than 20 amps, it would be better to plug it into a circuit in the kitchen because most houses are not wired to handle more load than required. The point is that an electrician would know this. If repairs are needed, the electrician would repair it up to code and maybe a lot quicker. The customer would have a lot less problems in the future because they hired that professional to begin with. So they would actually save money instead of having to call back a handyman or their neighbor 4 or 5 times with the same problem.

Don’t overload your circuits. Check with an electrician if you continue to trip a breaker. There may be a wiring problem that you are unaware of that needs attention by a professional.

Insurance Coverage For Contractors

2010-01-22T08:01:08-08:00

As a homeowner, you should hire a licensed professional to perform work on your home. He should be licensed in the state where you live. I have a license that my state sent me when I applied and registered. I renew yearly for my state license. I can copy it and show it to homeowners but a piece of paper may not mean much to some homeowners. It would be better to go directly to a source to obtain that information. Many states have websites that you can go to for information to find out if a contractor is licensed.

That professional should also have insurance in the state where you live. Now, that once again, can be printed on a piece of paper and handed to a homeowner. But it is better to obtain it directly from the source. When a customer requests to see my insurance, I must call my insurance carrier and request it. My insurance carrier will directly mail it to my customer or whoever is requesting it. It is too easy to falsify papers. It should not come directly from me, the professional. It should come directly from the insurance company. Does your contractor have insurance?

Electrical Contractor: Professional vs. Handyman

2010-01-13T11:04:47-08:00

When you have a problem, do you call a professional or a handyman? A handyman may not always be cheaper. I had a lady call me (an electrician) to hook up a new TV. She needed a receptacle for a TV that she wanted placed high on a wall in a bedroom and also install cable to it. She told me last time she had a cable guy just come and drill a hole through the wall. I told her I am a licensed professional and can’t just drill a hole through the wall and stick wires in. I am a professional. I am licensed, insured and I am responsible for my work.

It doesn’t have anything to do with the size of a business. It has to do with how you think of professional vs a non-professional. A non-professional can do things that are not up to code. They might tap one wire to another without using junction boxes. They can do all kinds of illegal things which I can not and will not.
I will not because I am licensed and I want to keep my license.
I am insured and I want to keep my insurance.
I have a reputation and want to keep that in good standing: also having the integrity of people telling you that you have done a fine job or they have never had problems with your work.

Is there a reason that you shouldn’t hire a handyman over a professional? A handyman doesn’t know the ins and outs of everyday problems that exist with electrical equipment that would lead him to immediately locate the problem. A licensed, electrical contractor who has dealt with a lot of problems in the past can find and identify the problem immediately. No time wasted. Money saved.

There is code to consider. As an electrician, I must follow code so it may not hurt anyone that is in that house. An unlicensed handyman doesn’t know what the codes are: so, he is not aware that he can hurt homeowners. He doesn’t care if that receptacle that he put in is GFI rated or not, or if it needs to be outside. A licensed professional will perform and guarantee his work:
I want to keep my license
I want to keep my reputation in good standing
I want to keep from hurting someone by performing each job to code standards.
A licensed professional is insured. He is a person that you can go back to if you have a problem. He can warranty the items that he repairs as well as repair them much better than a handyman. A patch is not as good as a fix. Who will you call when you have a problem?

Solar Powered System Installers Must Be State Licensed

2009-12-30T14:16:31-08:00

Thinking of going green? Ready to install an alternative energy system? There are many roads toward achieving energy efficiency. The main course would be to change your energy source. Instead of purchasing your electricity from your local power company, you need to have your own power source. You can have solar power, wind power, or thermal power. Evaluate your needs to see which would be best for you and your family.

When you are ready, you need to hire a professional installer. Some states require that the electrical contractor maintain a local license. But I recommend you hire a contractor that is state licensed in his field. If you hire someone who is not state licensed, he may not perform your job up to par.

Are there different requirements between local and state licensing? There are a few differences. They both should follow the National Electric Code, or NEC. But your local has the right to override any NEC code for your area. Your local contractor can only be hired for jobs under $10,000.00. A state contractor has no limits on their jobs. Of course, each state may be a little different. Some states grandfather in the local contractors without taking the state test. If I am required to take a test to become state licensed, all contractors should be required to take the test to become state licensed.

The basis for all electrical work should be the NEC. A handyman does not follow the NEC and may cause homeowners problems later on. A state licensed contractor is familiar with code which covers alternative energy resources. After all, you want your system to be designed energy efficient, not one that will burn just as much energy as your local power company used. Choose a state licensed professional. When are you going green?