On Sat, 18 Jul 2020 11:22:43 -0700 (PDT), "
> wrote:
>On Saturday, July 18, 2020 at 9:57:28 AM UTC-5, Sheldon wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, 17 Jul 2020 wrote:
>> >
>> >Why didn't you install solar panels on your roof? You could have generated
>> >your own electricity and probably sold some back to your local power company.
>>
>> I doubt his roof has enough area at the correct exposure for solar
>> panels to produce much.
>>
>It would depend on the direction his house faces. He's got enough roof
>surface he could have several panels plus his garage roof would accomodate
>more panels.
>
>
>> Where I live a lot of people place the solar
>> panels in their yard on posts that are cemented into the ground so
>> they're up off the ground so they can mow around them and so they can
>> brush the snow off. They don't like to place them on their roof as
>> they will cause the roof to leak.
>>
>Properly installed solar panels do not cause leaks. There are some
>available that actually open like ladies handheld fan but these open
>a full 360° and are mounted on a post. But these are quite expen$ive.
>>
>> I doubt it would work well on that
>> tile roof anyway, they'd have to drill a lot of bolt holes.
>>
>He was needing a new roof anyway. He could have replaced it with longlife
>asphalt shingles and the money he saved on the roofing could have been used
>for solar panels.
>>
>> I thought about installing solar panels here and even had a company do
>> a survey. I have several acres they could use but I didn't want to
>> look at those ugly panels and there would be a lot of mowing and snow
>> removal. Plus more than half the time they'd produce no elctricity,
>> they produce nothing at night or on cloudy days.
>>
>That's why you stay on the electric company's grid to provide you with power
>on days with extended cloudiness, snow, or rain.
>>
>> Once installed I'd
>> be responsible for their maintenence and repairs.
>>
>Just like you are responsible for maintenance on your house and vehicles.
>>
>> The panels are
>> mostly made of plastic, UV light wreaks havoc on those panels so they
>> don't last long.
>>
>That, I don't know. But I don't hear people complaining about replacing
>those panels all the time.
>>
>> Solar panels are okay for a few small light bulbs
>> but would need a lot of panels to run A/C, an electric stove, a
>> clothes dryer, a fridge/freezer, charge an electric car, fergetabout
>> it.
>>
>Not true. Depending on how many panels you have installed they can power
>a large house.
>>
>> Solar power is a long way into the future. Solar is good for
>> powering small electronics, like a calculator, a medical thermometer,
>> a toothbrush, a clock. The main drawback to solar is transmission.
>>
>Again, not true. The one thing that holds people back from installing
>the panels is the initial cost.
Those with the money for the installation are typically too old to get
the payback... for me at my age it would be like kootchie at his age
spending more on a roof than his entire house cost. When they did the
survey they quoted me a price for the panels and installation of
$240,000. If we live to be 100 our electric bills won't equal that.
There are better ways to keep one's electric usage low. I've been
frugal with electric all my life, I don't turn on lights on a sunny
day, I open the shades and I automatically turn off lights when I
leave a room. And recently we changed all our lighting to LED, cut
our electric bill to less than half, especially with all outside
lighting LED on at dusk off at dawn fixtures... those lights last a
long time (15-20 years) could easily outlive us, no bulbs to buy and
no climbing ladders to change bulbs. We have all the creature
comforts, more than most... four TVs, two refrigerator freezers, two
cars, all the food we can eat. We're simply not wasteful. We gave up
eating at restaurants, they are all way over priced and their quality
is the lowest possible. I have no problem doing all our cooking.
Makes us ill speding over $100 on a restaurant dinner for two and
leaving very disappointed and hungry, even the service stinks, what
service, there is none. And restaurants are especially rip offs on
bar drinks. Their salads are wilted greens out of those plastic bags.
It reached the point that we couldn't find anything on their menus
that we wanted to eat that I couldn't prepare at home for half the
price or less and of far better quality. For dinner yesterday I made
center cut pork loin chops on the bone, thick cut 1 1/4", seasoned
with fresh ground white pepper, fresh ginger, soy sauce, toasted
sesame seed oil, pan fried. Then in the same pan stir fried slivered
garlic and a big mess of Swiss chard fresh from our garden. We
couldn't finish those huge pork chops so we have half for tonight with
a bigger batch of Swiss chard. When we decide on beef steak I'll make
a quick trip into town and ask the same butcher at Tops whats good, he
never fails to produce high quality steaks, much better than any
so-called fancy schmancy steak house... it's no big deal to cook
steak... probably one of the simplest foods to prepare. And for 1/3
the price of a fancy schmancy steak house. And I never minded pouring
our own booze. My wife has her Belizean rum and coke and I have my
Crystal Palace and sugar free Sprite with a big lemon wedge. The same
butcher prepares our pork chops, also extremely easy to cook. Lately
I prefer pan frying rather than on the outside grill. We're not in
the least concerned about grill marks. I prefer to pan fry meat and
then to immediately stir fry the veggies in the same pan, much more
flavor. The veggie garden is now producing full tilt, yellow and
green summer squash, Kirby Cukes up the kazoo, mixed salad greens, and
tons of Swiss chard... soon tomatoes and peppers... already melons and
pumpkins are set, we have people to gift with ovearge. We grow
pumpkins for decor.