Hi Kevin
On (03 Nov 96) Kevin Kell wrote to Alec Cameron...
 AC> Monthly consumption 900kWH. [two retired persons, 3 bedroom modern
 KK> well
 AC> insulated house]
 KK> I'm curious about this figure... are you heating with electricity? or 
ot
 KK> water heater?  Here I'm using 600 kWh/month for 2.5 people and even that
 KK> could be cut back a bit... Fluorescent and/or halogen lighting is in the
 KK> most heavily used areas and electri is not used to heat home or hot 
water.
I used the last account to get those figures. We heat the most occupied rooms
[kitchen/ dining/ family] with heat pump- 240v 15amp. That space has NO
external walls, but is surounded on four sides by rooms. The lounge room has 

gas [flued] heater. We don't use that room much in Winter [no TV!]. The
bedroom and the bath/wc rooms have elec resistance heaters [thermostat] left
on all night. All hot water is off peak electrically heated.
Lighting is NOT a significant energy cost in private homes. We use compact
fluoro in the active rooms but only to avoid the nuisance of lamp replacement
and to minimise voltage drop flicker in this rural region. Compact fluoros 
re
NOT the money saving deal that the marketters claim, except where elec energy
is very expensive.
 KK> At the moment the solar configuration here is a single 5w panel (Can$100
 KK> =US$70) charging a *very large* battery that powers a 12vdc emergency
 KK> lighting system (7 watt fluorescents Can$20) and 12vdc B&W TV (Can$100)
 KK> and car stereo system (we tend to have a lot of power outages in the
 KK> winter).
Your very large battery, might be a handicap, with only 5watts of PV panel.
Lead acid is supposed to carry a penalty of 1% self discharge per day. If it
is a home- lighting battery of say 100 amp hours, then the self discharge at 

amp hour/ day requires some hours of sunlight daily just to feed it. A 
maller
battery, or a larger panel seems desirable. I guess you also use a battery
charger occasionally.     Cheers...ALEC
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