Today I got what I suspect is the same one that every aged pensioner got (via mygov). Looks a little like I'll spend a bit to save a bit.
Solar panels are looking good. Several nomad friends recommend them They are sending power back to the grid when travelling (even tough it's not a lot of money). Last night on TV some new company was quoting $5,000 for 5KW. It's trying to find a company that's been around longer than 6 months that's the issue.
The other is getting rid of all those stupid, useless, dull, energy wasting, low voltage, fire hazard down lights that the winter breeze also whistles down around.
oldbloke said
09:01 AM Oct 28, 2016
Yeh, ask around there are a lot of dodgy companies out there and plenty seem to go bust after a couple of years. We have slowly replaced our lights with leds. they make a big difference.we only have 10 panels and the bill is ususlly around $100. The trick is to use as much of your power as u can while the sun is shining.
pomme said
10:09 AM Oct 28, 2016
Don't forget to connect the hot water system up to solar as well, they are a big draw on your power bill as well as heating.
Pomme.
Cupie said
11:14 AM Oct 28, 2016
oldbloke wrote:
Yeh, ask around there are a lot of dodgy companies out there and plenty seem to go bust after a couple of years. We have slowly replaced our lights with leds. they make a big difference.we only have 10 panels and the bill is ususlly around $100. The trick is to use as much of your power as u can while the sun is shining.
Not for us ..
We got in early when we could contract for (44+6) 50c per KWh for feed in power while paying around 20c for mains power that we use.
So, for us, pump as much as possible into the grid while the sun is shining & use appliances overnight.
Our Supplier/installer was Origin ... Perhaps not the cheapest, but been around for a bit & excellent to do business with. They use top sub-contractors too. eg. Replaced inverter under warranty after almost 5 years & only hours from reporting to fixed!
-- Edited by Cupie on Friday 28th of October 2016 11:15:06 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Friday 28th of October 2016 11:19:16 AM
LLD said
11:33 AM Oct 28, 2016
Been tempted to get a main-stream retailer (eg Origin) to do the installation except that it was Energy Australia that I really came unstuck with. Energy Australia got themselves into all sorts of problems a few years ago and the Ombudsman threw the book at them. Dodgy salespeople, poor accounting practices, being told of only some terms & conditions, misleading / false terms & conditions up front but the juicy ones were after signing on. Fortunately the option "we are recording this conversation for training and clarity purposes" proved that I was correct and the Salesperson was lying thru his teeth.
woolman said
06:46 PM Oct 28, 2016
We got the 5kva panels from a company in WA that has been around for 15 or so years. For $800 replaced all dangerous lights with led fully sealed lights. I now know awhy we could smell smoke sometimes. The old down lights turned out to be non compliant and had exposed connections on the top of them. Kept burning off the dust.
Neil
Today I got what I suspect is the same one that every aged pensioner got (via mygov). Looks a little like I'll spend a bit to save a bit.
Solar panels are looking good. Several nomad friends recommend them They are sending power back to the grid when travelling (even tough it's not a lot of money). Last night on TV some new company was quoting $5,000 for 5KW. It's trying to find a company that's been around longer than 6 months that's the issue.
The other is getting rid of all those stupid, useless, dull, energy wasting, low voltage, fire hazard down lights that the winter breeze also whistles down around.
Pomme.
Not for us ..
We got in early when we could contract for (44+6) 50c per KWh for feed in power while paying around 20c for mains power that we use.
So, for us, pump as much as possible into the grid while the sun is shining & use appliances overnight.
Our Supplier/installer was Origin ... Perhaps not the cheapest, but been around for a bit & excellent to do business with. They use top sub-contractors too. eg. Replaced inverter under warranty after almost 5 years & only hours from reporting to fixed!
-- Edited by Cupie on Friday 28th of October 2016 11:15:06 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Friday 28th of October 2016 11:19:16 AM