Well, there is not much new to post this month.  It is currently 17F and sunny outside.  The interior of the house is 71F and the heat has not been on since approximately 10AM.  We are making hot water, albeit less efficiently than usual because the panels are 90% covered with snow.

Out last electric bill was $305 for 2198 kWh.  I have a sneaking suspicion that we are using a great deal of electricity drying laundry.  In fact, it would not surprise me if that is the number one consumer in the house.  With 5 people and 5 dogs in the house, my wife complains the laundry is never-ending.  I wish I could find a way to make use of the heat from the dryer without putting too much humidity or lint into the house.  So far, no luck on that.

Our last propane bill was $180 for 49 gallons (two months of usage).  Propane has increased by approximately $0.80/gal since we moved in.  I was really expecting to see our propane use plummet since we installed the solar hot water.  While it didn’t “plummet,” usage was 30% lower than in October and November.  I have a sneaking suspicion the pilot light for the fireplace is using more propane than we ever expected.  We’ve decided to turn the pilot light off and only light it when we want a fire.  (Aside, the fireplace was supposed to be pilot-less, but I never pressed Penn Lyon about it.  In hindsight I probably should have.)  Hopefully the next propane fill-up will really start to show the value of the solar hot water (and the value of turning off pilot lights).

Talk to you soon,

Ed