Home Solar Followup

What an interesting year it has been for me. Back in February, when I was hoping that the solar install would happen our energy provider decided to stop handing out rebates, which was essential for my lease to work. So I played the waiting game, following up every few weeks with my project manager to see what was going on and finally, after a few more anxious months, my panels were installed in July. Strangely though, the delay was actually a very good thing for us. You see, we got a good hail storm about a month and a half before the panels were installed and my insurance, after taking a look at my roof, bought me a new roof. So the same week we were looking at getting the panels done was the week we ended up getting a new roof and the following week the panels were up. Once they were there it took another couple of weeks before everything could be turned on, once again having to wait on our energy company. However, once it was all done and everything was hooked up I got to turn it on and then followed up on it every day for the first week looking at the numbers. Now, I don't think about it as much, its there and doing what it needs to, I've received two bills that were lower than they normally are, which is good.

One thing that made me a bit sad was that when the panels were installed a new meter was installed as well, a digital one, so I can't actually go watch it spin backwards any more. Oh well, it's not the end of the world, but it still would have been fun to watch. As of this morning my system has generated 855.4kWh of energy, this offsets about 253.9lbs of coal or saves about 3/5 of a tree or about a half a barrel of oil. It doesn't sound like much, but every little bit helps, plus my wallet and budget are a bit happier now and will stay happier longer as energy prices continue to go up.

To finalize my thoughts on it this morning I am still glad I went with this option, Sungevity was great to work with and I am very happy with product they have leased to me. I would definitely recommend anyone who can to check them out, they have been growing a lot lately and if they are in your area they might be able to save you some money in the long run as well. Be sure to use my referral number when you get your quote:


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Netflix

After ditching the cable oh so many years ago (has it really been 4 years already?) and going with over the air television for quite a while, I decided, after hearing about their streaming service, to try out Netflix. I have to say, it was great. It was affordable and so long as we watched at least 2 movies a week it paid for itself when compared to Redbox (which is another good option for the occasional movie watcher). However, with recent changes I have rid myself of Netflix's services. The prices have gone up and they separated their DVD and streaming service. I would have kept the streaming except for one thing I heard. They were losing their deal with Starz, which wouldn't have affected most people, but for us it is a real deal killer. You see, the streaming was great for my daughter who loves to have the TV on, not to watch, usually, but to have the noise. With the coming loss of that content our selection would be pitiful and so I had to say fair-well to them. This however gave me a hole in my budget, I already had allocated money for Netflix and so now I could take this money and move it towards buying more DVDs, which I have done. So, with this change and going back to using our local library and Redbox some more, I am probably saving more money than I was spending, just without the convenience. I will still recommend the service as an alternative to cable, but not as a way to get what you weren't getting anyway.

Now for my next task in making life convenient for my family, figuring out how to create a digital media center for all those DVDs so I don't have to get up and put them in the tray and then wait for them to load.