Db, I was unaware that you lived in southern California, but I sincerely thank you for your openness and your insight into southern California houses. It would seem that if the region were serious about reducing the load on the grid, they’d invest in assisting homeowners with insulating their houses. I’m puzzled as to why I’ve never heard of them doing so. I’ll have to ask my son, who lives just in from Malibu, about the issue. He just bought his first house this year, so he may not know enough about the subject yet. But, then, having grown up in NH under my wing, he may know more about it than I think he does.
I live in southern california, as you probably know
I have 2 homes, and they were both built in the 1950s . . . no insulation in the walls, whatsoever
Very minimal insulation in the attic and under the roof
From what I understand, insulation here is a very recent development
I grew up in SoCal, don’t know how far from where @db4690 lives now, but I can attest to his statements.
My parents house was built around 1960. Sometime in the 80’s they had attic insulation blown in. The exterior walls remain uninsulated.
None of the schools I went to had an indoor eating area. Both my elementary school and junior high had a similar design. The auditorium was at a right angle to the food servery, making an “L” shape which was then turned into a covered patio, open on 2 sides. There was electric radiant heat in the ceilings of the patio to keep us warm.
mountainbike
I believe there are incentives for insulation, better windows, etc.
But like I said, when I did the math, it didn’t really work out in my favor
Sure, it doesn’t get cold here . . .
But it gets hot here, and better insulation and glass would cut down on cooling costs, I would think
Hello, could you please bring this more on-topic, please? Thanks.
The best energy source in the world rises in the east everyday in the northern hemisphere
I hear it also does in the southern hemisphere, but I’ve never driven down there to confirm it.
;-]
The reason I said that(because handedness,mirror images and the the like confuse me) when I drive to va beach, I know I’m driving east,never having lived below the equator I wasnt sure if the cardinal directions were the same or not,because a surveyor friend told Me a vortex or whirlpool spins different below the equator.think it has something to do with the coriolis effect(I didnt think it would make much difference-He said it would)Of course in hindsight looking at a globe it appears.East is East and west is west,except do they consider south up or down in the southern hemisphere?(geological or cartographic illusion-beings that the northpole is considerbly lower in elevation then Anarctica)(BTW when Santaland melts it wont raise the ocean one centimeter,but when Greenland gives up all that frozen dihydrogen oxide,the proposed bering strait bridge will have to be a bit higher)looking forward to driving to Russia, Carolyn, in my Al Gore approved green mobile
PS .The Earth does spin counter clockwise, right? and will our automobiles finally put so much CO2 out that the ancient Bering landbridge will never reappear?(because no more ice ages ,ever)
I know I'm driving east,,never having lived below the equator I wasnt sure if the cardinal directions were the same or not,because a surveyor friend told Me a vortex or whirlpool spins different below the equator.think it has something to do with the coriolis effect(I didnt think it would make much difference-He said it would)
I’ve been to South American several times…it spins the same direction it does here in North America.
Db, the important point for this forum is that initiatives to help homeowners insulate their houses would dramatically cut down on the load on the grid and would go hand-in-hand with the promotion of EVs. Since becoming aware of the concerns about EVs causing a load on the grid, it’s occurred to me that the solution might not be in the EVs themselves.
I’ve been a strong believer in EVs since I first read about Tesla’s first sports car. I remain amazed at the progress they’ve made… and they’ve just begun. It would be a shame to see the evolution of EVs hampered by issues of neglect (in home insulation) that they had no part in.
To my mind, the benefits of EVs go way beyond just not having to rely on gasoline. They could also extend to considerably reduced operating and maintenance costs and aggravation. I’m sure that EVs will bring their own unique needs, but so far they appear to have eliminated a whole ton of engine and powertrain maintenance needs.
Just to tie the solar discussion to the automotive world, I am a Navy retiree so I occasionally visit the base nearby. The motor pool on base uses a fair sized fleet of electric vehicles (no Tesla’s though) and they are parked in a covered parking lot. It gets hot here in the south. The roof of the parking lot is a solar grid used to charge the cars and trucks.
Back in the 1960s through the 1970s, the electric company in my area of east central Indiana really pushed electric heating for residences. The infrastructure had to be beefed up because of the increased demand for air conditioning, so the infrastructure was in place to use for heating in the winter. When I had a house built in 1989, the electric company gave me a,good incentive to install a heat pump over just an air conditioning unit. The heat pump provides the heat down to 37°, then it switches off and a gas furnace takes over. Theoretically, this system saves money. If the price was right, I would consider installing solar panels.
At one time, I considered buying a used Citicar–a rechargeable battery car made in the late 1970s into the early 1980s. I had planned to meter the electricity going into the Citicar to see how much I would save over around town travel with a conventional car. However the Citicar I found needed too much work… A year ago, I bought a rechargeable battery lawnmower. It hasn’t made an appreciable diffeeence in the electric bill, but the amount I have saved so far this summer in gasoline has given me one week’s worth of beer money.
In response to jtsanders latest post, that’s all good reasons why I wouldn’t enter into a contract like that. Since I straight-out bought my panels, they are part of the house. I would think they make the house more valuable, or at least easier to sell. All other factors being equal, this house makes 7000 kw (or kwh, or however you say it) of its own power per year.
Nevertheless, it really only makes sense in any way if you are planning to stay in your house for 10+ years. If you are in a career field which requires frequent job and / or location changes, it probably doesn’t make sense. Like if you went from a 10 mile commute to an 80 mile commute it would probably be more cost effective to move closer to work than to endure a commute that long to enjoy the benefits of the solar panels.
Tying it in to transportation, if you had a great many of houses with solar panels, that would take a great deal of pressure off the power grid, which would free up power which could be used to charge all of these electric cars. Of course, if they are being charged at night. . . oh never mind I think I just painted myself into a corner here.
For me, saving 7000 kWh/yr is $910/yr. For an $18,000 solar installation, that’s a 20 yr payback. Color me “unimpressed.”
Norway with all its hydro is already having to cut back on electric car subsidies (which are huge) because of the projected strain on the grid.
A lot depends on the price of electricity in your area. Here in the northeast, it can be pricey. It hit around $0.158/kWh just for the electricity plus all of the other costs/fees last year. A coworker near the border between MA/NH had a system installed two years ago. With all of the credits/incentives off the initial costs and the production credits he has been getting, it looks like about a 10 yr payback. Yes, less daylight in winter but bear in mind the efficiency actually goes up as temp decreases; about +20% at the coldest time of year around here. And snow is not a problem, it develops a water layer during the sunlight exposure and slides right off. Dangerously so at times…
@kmccune east is east the world around, no mirror effect north and south hemisphere, storms rotate in opposite directions in the northern and southern hemispheres. I have always had a problem with so many things attributed to the Coriolis effect. It was found in WW2 missals consistently hit off target, and it was calculable and attributed to coriolus.
I think the cause is the earth rotates on a tilted axis.
As far as water going down a drain clockwise in the northern hemisphere and ccw in the southern, google it.
An interesting note The light of a partial moon appears on opposite sides between the 2 hemispheres, still trying to get my mind around that one.
Bd,I have a funny question that doesnt make sense,I’ve been watching and Sunlight can enter the back windows(north side of house)for a while in the summer and winter,of course in the morning I get eastern sun,in the winter and summer,how do I get western sun in the evening(a little not much)in the summer? winter messes up the parking spot for my Wifes vehicle,not much sun on the NW side in winter
@ED,nothing wrong with that ,a lot of us do the same thing,these nice people generally dont hammer us too hard,if we messup,after all this Forum is a learning place(some real pros and commonsense people here)
@Barkydog@kmccune east is east the world around, no mirror effect north and south hemisphere, storms rotate in opposite directions in the northern and southern hemispheres. I have always had a problem with so many things attributed to the Coriolis effect. It was found in WW2 missals consistently hit off target, and it was calculable and attributed to coriolus.
I think the cause is the earth rotates on a tilted axis.
The Coriolis effect has nothing to do with the tilt of the earth’s axis and everything to do with the earth’s rotation during the missile’s time of flight. When firing a long distance missile to a distant target, you are in fact shooting at a moving target and you have to aim at the spot where the target is going to be when the missile arrives, not at the spot where the target is now.
Anyone who’s shot skeet or trap with a shotgun is familiar with having to shoot in front of the flying clay bird in order to hit it.
Here’s a nice demonstration of the Coriolis effect.
@B.L.E. That is an example that is not the coriolus effect, simple principes in geometry the ball acually travels in a straight line. Now imhop the storms rotate opposite in different hemispheres is due to a greater gravity ie speed influencing things north or south of the equator based on the higher speed of the earth at the equator vs at the poles, and your merry go round is not an influence of coriolus effect, but an example of simple geometry which I speak. Now does a car (just for cq) go down a sinkhole in different directions in the north an south hemispehere? (Joke)
Nope, that’s exactly a demonstration of the Coriolis effect, where something moving in a straight line is thrown off target by the rotation. This is the same as you describe, which is caused by the difference in speed between two latitudes. It might have been clearer if one guy was on the ‘pole’, kind of like this.
