Have you had your energy audit yet?

I just dropped off a quote for a new solar energy system for a couple that uses about 700kWh a month, pretty average. This person had me quote a 3 panel system mounted on the roof, no problem. This system will generate about 72 kWh a month or 1/10 of this persons power, with perfect sunny conditions. But here is the thing the guy was surprised that it was not going to produce more power then that. I told him that this would be considered a starter system, if someone doesn't have a lot of money but wanted to start somewhere so this is what you would do. Because the system is capable of being added on to in the future. This is what I have decided to do at my home. I will be installing just 2 panels and adding on from there.

Before I decided to do this I got an energy audit from Empowerment Energy Analysts first. Well I have received my report and now I am in the process of doing some of the recommendations. This weekend I started building boxes to go over the top of the recessed can lights that are in the house and I sprayed foam on the regular light fixture boxes to block any heat from escaping through the holes. So that is where I started to try and reduce our energy costs. I am looking to reduce our energy cost even further. We currently use about 500 -600 kWh a month. I need it to be around 400 -450 kWh a month which is going to be hard because we have an electric dryer and stove. But I was informed that I need to put up a clothes line in the backyard and in the Summer we won't have to run the dryer as much. So that alone will help us cut down on energy usage.
The problem is that most people are not willing to give up their luxuries or gadgets that use electricity to achieve this .

So lets take the guy that I dropped the quote off to and use his energy usage as the example. To take the same 220watt panels to get the 700kwh that he uses, you would have to install 29 panels on the roof. Now the average cost to install a system of this size is around $45000.00 roughly. Now if he were able to reduce the amount of power that he uses down to 500 kwh a month. He would need 18 panels at 220 watts. The cost to install that would be about $25000.00 roughly. As you can see by dropping just 200 kwh a month the solar system drops in price by almost 1/2. So this is why it so important to get your energy usage under control. You end up saving thousand of dollars by doing so on a renewable system.

So the moral of the story is get an energy audit, get your power usage down to a more manageable amount and then buy renewables from me. Then you will have a win, win situation every time.

Here are three companies that I know that can help you with your energy audits. (You maybe able to get yours for free or at a reduced rate from your utility company)

Empowerment Energy Analysts (231) 218-3521
Paradigm Energy Services (231) 237-9293
Northern Auditor, LLC (231) 492-5136