Size of House:
- Single Story
- 3 Bedroom
- 2 Bathroom
- 1 Study/Home Office
- Double Car Garage
Other information of the house:
- 2 x Split Systems
- 1 x Gas Ducted Heating
- 1 x Gas Hot Water System
- 1 x Dishwasher
- 1 x Top Load Washer
- 1 x Clothes Dryer
- LED Lighting
- Smart Lighting Controllers
- 1 x Permanent Spa, only running and used in Summer.
Solar:
- 6.6kWh Solar System
Things that run 24/7.
General
- 2 x Fridge & Freezer
IT Related:
- 3 x Security System Units
- 3 x Desktop Computers
- 1 x Ubiquiti Router
- 2 x Ubiquiti AirMax Links
- 2 x 28 Port Cisco Switch
- 1 x 5 Port Netgear Switch
- 5 x Access Points
This results in roughly a minimum of 1kwh for running the house. During the day, it does increase to about 1.5kwh with lights and other technology running (TVs, Computer Monitors etc). This means I need to generate 1.5kwh from my Solar System to cover running costs.
Power Usage
Summer:
- ?
Winter
- ?
Solar Generation
Summer:
- ?
Winter
- ?
Why did I get solar?
I always wanted Solar when I bought my own home. My wife was not 100% convinced at first until we got out 1st month’s power bill after moving into our house which was $400. It was summer and the Spa wasn’t 100% configured, but it was still a lot. The investment of the Solar after Victorian Solar Rebate was $3,400 for the 6.6kwh System.
With the Solar system in, our electrical bill pretty much halved during summer. However, you do need to change your electricity use habits because the solar feed-in is rubbish. It is currently 5c a kwh (as of Nov 2023). By having solar and having the flexibility to work from home, I was able to run our major appliances during the day when we were generating solar. That includes running the Dishwasher and Washing Machine during the day.
I have a PowerPal as well which helps monitor power usage LIVE and also remote monitoring for the Solar System. So I can see what I generating and buying in which helps time when I decide to run the major appliances.
