I had SolarCity install 33 panels at my house early last year. So far, I’ve been saving $200 a month on electricity on the average monthly electricity bill since the system was turned on at the end of May.
Thanks to the unusually warm and sunny weather in February, for the first time, my utility company actually owes me $24.24!
In This Post
Usage vs. Production
For the month of February, we used 902 KWHD of electricity. We also produced 1,118 KWHD of electricity. That means that we produced 216 KWHD more than we used! Woohoo!
For our bill, that means that we received credits of $24.24. Unfortunately, the credits were calculated at the Basic Lifeline rate of $0.1087 per KWHD vs. the much higher “Non-Lifeline” rate of $0.1611 per KWHD.
Historical Monthly Averages
We had 3 primary drivers to install solar.
- The Chevrolet Volt electrical/hybrid car that we bought 18 months ago.
- Our pool pump runs about 8-10 hours a day, depending upon the season.
- We like to run the A/C to be comfortable during the summer.
I get hot easy, and I’m a big believer that, if you’re going to spend the money to cool the house to 78*, you might as well cool it to 72* and actually feel comfortable… not just slightly less miserable.
When we bought the Volt, my tally of our electricity bills shows that our electricity bill went up $89.37 a month. I haven’t calculated it out, but I know that we’re saving more money on gas that our electricity bill went up based upon the miles we drive and the 140 mpg we’re averaging over the last 18 months.
Since we installed solar in May 2013, we are saving $190.67 a month on our electricity on average. The average was pulled down due to the shorter days of winter and running the heater… even though it is gas, it still uses electricity to run the blower.
Before the weather really warms up, I’m counting on plenty of Spring sunshine to help generate even more credits to further increase our savings.
And, when the Summer weather does hit, we also installed a whole house fan in September 2013, which should further reduce our electricity usage. A whole house fan’s main purpose is to draw in cooler air from the outside and force the hot air out through the attic. Additionally, it flushes out hot air from the attic to act as an additional buffer between the house living space and the sun beating down on the roof.
Conclusion
We installed solar to reduce the cost of driving our electric Chevrolet Volt, running the pool pump, and keeping the house cool during the Summer. We have significantly reduced our “Non-Lifeline” electricity usage and, for the first time, actually generated more electricity than we used in February 2014.
If you plan on living in your home for awhile, and would like to take steps to reduce your electric bill, I recommend contacting SolarCity (and a few other companies) to see if solar would work for you.
