DaveNV: Making a Home in the Desert

[controller1]

So after all that, what is their average cost per kWh? It's like trying to compare apples to rutabagas.

Dave

30.24¢/kWh compared to your 10.08¢/kWh

 

[amycurl]

In our 2400 or so square foot house, I don't think we've ever had an electric bill top $200, even in the height of summer. We do have gas heat, hot water, and stove/oven. We put in solar panels about six years ago, and qualified for net metering (i.e. Duke Energy has to pay us the same amount per kilowatt that we put onto the grid that they would charge us for the same kilowatt.) Duke Energy has spent *a lot* of money to try to undo net metering across its footprint, FYI, so they don't have to pay as much as they charge.

We do get this thing each month from Duke Energy that compares our home to similar homes--based on size, age, location--and then compares our monthly usage to other "efficient" houses and then to the "average" house. I can't remember a single month that we haven't been well-under the "efficient" house.

We LOVE our solar panels. My only regret is that we didn't bite the bullet and put more on; we kind of cheaped out and put in the barest minimum that still made sense financially over our time horizon.

 

[klpca]

@presley is paying about 30 cents per kWh. In California, there are separate charges for generation and delivery. He's paying 13 to 20 cents for delivery on a tiered rate plan. (And over 29 cents for 22 kWh; he just hit the trigger for that "penalty" level, it appears.) It looks like generation is all at 13.5. So up to 33.5 cents total for most of the power.

KarenG is paying less than 11 cents, so she gets about twice as much triz for less money.

I live just a little north of presley and klpca but in SCE-land. For our last bill period, which ended 9/2, our solar made 770 kWh and we paid $265 for 1108 kWh from Edison (an average of 24 cents). All the generation was at 10 cents, and the delivery either 10.5 for Tier 1 or 16.5 for Tier 2. But our baseline ration (Tier 1) was 548 kWh at 20.5 cents, then 27 cents for Tier 2, which would be about the next 1900. After that the price is 33 cents. We also got a $61 credit for agreeing to AC cycling, which they did about six times that month for a total of probably 25 hours.

I was trying to puzzle through our bill yesterday. I don't understand the separate charges for generation & delivery. Can you explain it? My rates are .1915 across the board for delivery (regardless of peak or off peak) and the generation portion of the bill is .26265 for peak/semi-peak and .08682 for off-peak. I feel like we are being intentionally duped by making the plans (and there are many!) so complicated.

At any rate (lol - sorry for that pun!) I continue to be jealous of everyone's cheap electricity, especially Dave's. That said, because of solar, our actual bill was $36 last month for three people in a 2400 sq ft house with AC and a pool.

 

[controller1]

In our 2400 or so square foot house, I don't think we've ever had an electric bill top $200, even in the height of summer. We do have gas heat, hot water, and stove/oven. We put in solar panels about six years ago, and qualified for net metering (i.e. Duke Energy has to pay us the same amount per kilowatt that we put onto the grid that they would charge us for the same kilowatt.) Duke Energy has spent *a lot* of money to try to undo net metering across its footprint, FYI, so they don't have to pay as much as they charge.

We do get this thing each month from Duke Energy that compares our home to similar homes--based on size, age, location--and then compares our monthly usage to other "efficient" houses and then to the "average" house. I can't remember a single month that we haven't been well-under the "efficient" house.

We LOVE our solar panels. My only regret is that we didn't bite the bullet and put more on; we kind of cheaped out and put in the barest minimum that still made sense financially over our time horizon.

How much capacity (kW) in solar panels did you install?

 

[amycurl]

I honestly can't remember. My spouse now handles that bill. I think we have about 8 panels total.

 

[controller1]

I was trying to puzzle through our bill yesterday. I don't understand the separate charges for generation & delivery. Can you explain it? My rates are .1915 across the board for delivery (regardless of peak or off peak) and the generation portion of the bill is .26265 for peak/semi-peak and .08682 for off-peak. I feel like we are being intentionally duped by making the plans (and there are many!) so complicated.

At any rate (lol - sorry for that pun!) I continue to be jealous of everyone's cheap electricity, especially Dave's. That said, because of solar, our actual bill was $36 last month for three people in a 2400 sq ft house with AC and a pool.

In a deregulated state you have two separate charges. You pay one company to generate your electricity which also may have a separate fuel component with it. You pay another company (the distribution company) for the "wires" to deliver the electricity from the generating plant to your residence. In a non-deregulated state you pay only one company and that company is responsible for both generation and distribution of the electricity.

 

[klpca]

In a deregulated state you have two separate charges. You pay one company to generate your electricity which also may have a separate fuel component with it. You pay another company (the distribution company) for the "wires" to deliver the electricity from the generating plant to your residence. In a non-deregulated state you pay only one company and that company is responsible for both generation and distribution of the electricity.

Thank you! I was really puzzled by this.

 

[controller1]

I honestly can't remember. My spouse now handles that bill. I think we have about 8 panels total.

About two years before we moved we installed 5 kW of solar panels because the cost of that amount of installation was the maximum that would qualify for our state's 50% tax credit at the time. The state no longer has that tax credit so we did not install panels on our new house since the most we could get in tax credits would be the Federal credit and with our low cost of electricity it would not pay for itself. Additionally, the state allowed the utilities to switch from net metering to avoided cost which further decreases the ability to get a pay back.

 

[amycurl]

And by "the state allowed," read "your state legislators were swayed by significant PAC money donated to them by the electric company."
I know that we got both the state and federal tax credit, and that the "payback" was about 7 years, so we're almost there. We hope to be in this house for a while longer (we moved in about 16 years ago,) so it should all work out. And, for us, it was both philosophical as well as a economic decision.

 

[isisdave]

I was trying to puzzle through our bill yesterday. I don't understand the separate charges for generation & delivery. Can you explain it? My rates are .1915 across the board for delivery (regardless of peak or off peak) and the generation portion of the bill is .26265 for peak/semi-peak and .08682 for off-peak. I feel like we are being intentionally duped by making the plans (and there are many!) so complicated.

At any rate (lol - sorry for that pun!) I continue to be jealous of everyone's cheap electricity, especially Dave's. That said, because of solar, our actual bill was $36 last month for three people in a 2400 sq ft house with AC and a pool.

First, I think you are on some kind of TOU (time-of-use) rate plan. "Peak" usually means 4-9pm weekdays, but before there was so much solar and wind power, it used to be much earlier in the day. Then, it made sense to sign up for this if no one was home in the daytime. Now, with much later peak hours, it rarely does because people are usually at home during part of them.

And incidentally, those are summer rates. Here is the guide for SDG&E. Interesting: your summer season is June through October; SC Edison's is only June through September.

Finally, replace that pool pump now. Don't wait. A 1 hp pump uses 1 kW, so about 30+ cents per hour if you use it in peak summer hours. At the very least, set its timing to run only for the minimum necessary, and during off-peak hours. We used to run ours 6 hours per day, so 6 * 365 * 20 cents was at least $438 per year. The variable speed pump cost $1200 a few years ago, but almost nothing to run. We run it 10 hours a day at 500 rpm, and one hour at 2000 rpm to make the pool vac go. Order on Amazon and get a pool guy to install it.

 

[klpca]

First, I think you are on some kind of TOU (time-of-use) rate plan. "Peak" usually means 4-9pm weekdays, but before there was so much solar and wind power, it used to be much earlier in the day. Then, it made sense to sign up for this if no one was home in the daytime. Now, with much later peak hours, it rarely does because people are usually at home during part of them.

And incidentally, those are summer rates. Here is the guide for SDG&E. Interesting: your summer season is June through October; SC Edison's is only June through September.

Finally, replace that pool pump now. Don't wait. A 1 hp pump uses 1 kW, so about 30+ cents per hour if you use it in peak summer hours. At the very least, set its timing to run only for the minimum necessary, and during off-peak hours. We used to run ours 6 hours per day, so 6 * 365 * 20 cents was at least $438 per year. The variable speed pump cost $1200 a few years ago, but almost nothing to run. We run it 10 hours a day at 500 rpm, and one hour at 2000 rpm to make the pool vac go. Order on Amazon and get a pool guy to install it.

We're definitely on a TOU plan and ours ends in a G (grandfathered plan maybe?) and it appears that our peak hours are 11-6pm. I have had any time to study it but I plan on spending more time this weekend. And thanks for the tip on the pool pump.

 

[DaveNV]

Things need to get ugly before they get pretty again. I hope.

The hardwood flooring saga continues. This time it wasn't Covid-related delays. It was wildfires. The specific flooring we wanted to buy was locked away in a warehouse in Oregon, in a location that had been evacuated due to the wildfires there. Even though the flooring maker is a national company, this Oregon warehouse was (apparently) the only location that had the specific color we wanted. Luckily, after several weeks of not knowing it would be able to happen, the flooring was able to be retrieved from the Oregon location, and brought to town. It landed in my kitchen this morning.

52 boxes worth. Yay!!

Then, the delivery guys turned around and removed the old flooring - all of it - from one end of the house to the other. I explained what needed to be removed, and then I stood back, letting them do their work. Kudos to them - the two guys had the new flooring landed, everything else removed, and the bare flooring cleaned up, all within about three hours. They did a great job. Installation of the new flooring will start Monday morning. I'm ready!



As luck would have it, we found traces of subterranean termites when they removed the flooring. This topic had been the subject of some concern to us, as nobody wants termites in their home. The exterior evidence of previous termite trails had been treated during the home purchase process, and nothing active was found. This new evidence, under the vinyl flooring and carpeting we had removed today, also appears to be inactive. But there is enough evidence of it that I'm meeting with a termite treatment company tomorrow to look things over, and develop a treatment plan before the new flooring is laid down next week. It may be a lot of fuss over nothing, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. It seems pretty reckless to install hardwood flooring over termites, if they are active. I don't think these are active, but I want to take precautions.

The appliances that were to be delivered this Friday have been delayed again. But at least now I have a pretty firm commitment that they will be here next week. If I can get them installed close to the time they arrive, then we could still start moving in at the end of next week. Cross your fingers.

The story continues.

Dave

 

[Panina]

Things need to get ugly before they get pretty again. I hope.

The hardwood flooring saga continues. This time it wasn't Covid-related delays. It was wildfires. The specific flooring we wanted to buy was locked away in a warehouse in Oregon, in a location that had been evacuated due to the wildfires there. Even though the flooring maker is a national company, this Oregon warehouse was (apparently) the only location that had the specific color we wanted. Luckily, after several weeks of not knowing it would be able to happen, the flooring was able to be retrieved from the Oregon location, and brought to town. It landed in my kitchen this morning.

View attachment 26887

52 boxes worth. Yay!!

Then, the delivery guys turned around and removed the old flooring - all of it - from one end of the house to the other. I explained what needed to be removed, and then I stood back, letting them do their work. Kudos to them - the two guys had the new flooring landed, everything else removed, and the bare flooring cleaned up, all within about three hours. They did a great job. Installation of the new flooring will start Monday morning. I'm ready!

View attachment 26888 View attachment 26891 View attachment 26892 View attachment 26893 View attachment 26895 View attachment 26896

As luck would have it, we found traces of subterranean termites when they removed the flooring. This topic had been the subject of some concern to us, as nobody wants termites in their home. The exterior evidence of previous termite trails had been treated during the home purchase process, and nothing active was found. This new evidence, under the vinyl flooring and carpeting we had removed today, also appears to be inactive. But there is enough evidence of it that I'm meeting with a termite treatment company tomorrow to look things over, and develop a treatment plan before the new flooring is laid down next week. It may be a lot of fuss over nothing, but I'd rather the safe than sorry. It seems pretty reckless to install hardwood flooring over termites, if they are active. I don't think these are active, but I want to take precautions.

The appliances that were to be delivered this Friday have been delayed again. But at least now I have a pretty firm commitment that they will be here next week. If I can get them installed close to the time they arrive, then we could still start moving in at the end of next week. Cross your fingers.

The story continues.

Dave

Can just imagine how great a difference the floor will make. Looking forward to see it complete.

I also would take the same precautions.

 

[Passepartout]

Lookin' Good, Dave. We can hardly wait to see it. It's going to be soooo worth all the choices and trials and tribulations. Color us green with envy.

Jim

 

[DaveNV]

Finally!! The hardwood flooring we chose is being installed today. The install team are experienced and are doing a great job. It’s going to look great!

This is the wood. It’s dimensionally stable engineered hickory. Harder than oak, and wears like iron. There is a reason ax handles are made of hickory.

More to follow, once it’s been laid.

Dave

 

[SandyPGravel]

Pretty!!

 

[mentalbreak]

Looks great. What, if any, termite mitigation was recommended?

 

[Karen G]

That flooring is really beautiful. I'm sure your mission-style furniture is going to look gorgeous on that floor.

 

[AnnaS]

I agree, play it safe.

The floors are going to be awesome!!

 

[DaveNV]

Looks great. What, if any, termite mitigation was recommended?

Thanks!

The termite situation was tracks ("mud tunnels" or the stain where they had been) left behind in several places by subterranean termites. When the painters took down the ugly window treatments and the blinds under them, there was evidence of previous termite activity in the window headers in two rooms. Then, when the old flooring was removed, there was evidence of previous termite activity on the cement slab under the vinyl plank flooring that was floated on top of it. No signs of current activity, but definitely something that residents in this (and probably other) areas need to be on the lookout for. These are not the dry wood termites that swarm. These are subterranean termites, that tunnel up from underground.

I won't go into morbid detail, unless everyone wants to hear the whole story. But if you ever take up flooring or see tracks like this at your house:

It's the narrow, jagged lines coming from under the center of the upper board, and on the far right leading down under the right end of the lower board, before the ceramic tile. (The wider, fuzzy line is where a carpet pad had been glued down at some point.) The narrow lines are the tracks of previous termite tunnels. They had come in at a corner of the front door frame, and meandered around under the flooring. The tracks don't go far, and kind of peter out. Their access in was removed some time ago, and they had no way out, so dried up and died. No current activity. No wood damage to repair, and we have the "all clear" from the termite extermination company.

The mitigation for this is perimeter drilling and treatment with Termidor, a very effective termite killing agent. They will drill down a ways, about every eighteen inches all around the house, and inject the chemical. They will do this all along the outer perimeter, and also drill down in the central courtyard area, which is outside the foundation of the house. The holes are then patched, and life goes on. It's all we can do without drilling through the slab. It's a post-tension slab, with cabling under tension that can't be disturbed. So drilling through the foundation slab can't happen. The termite company normally guarantees a five year "they won't come back" warranty. With the extensive drilling they're doing around my house, they've extended that to a ten year guarantee. If the termites do somehow come back, they'll come and treat again for free. I'm as satisfied with that as I can be.

One additional picture, just in case you think subterranean termites are not as destructive as dry wood termites:

This picture is the underside of the board that was removed in the upper picture. The termites ate through the rubber membrane padding on the bottom of the plank, as they tunneled along trying to find food to eat. The best we can figure is there was some sort of recycled paper or wood material or cellulose or something on that plank, to give them reason to keep chewing along. This was the only board that showed this sort of evidence, and everyone who has seen it was surprised.

This plank was laid in March. So this activity has happened since then. In the few weeks since this activity was discovered, there has been no new activity. The little gremlins are gone now. And my plan is to keep them out. Now that I know what to look for both inside and outside of the house, I'll do all I can to make sure they don't come to lunch at my house, or on my new flooring.

Dave

 

[easyrider]

Desert termites are a bummer. I'm glad you found them out. If you see winged ant like bugs these could be flying desert termites.

Bill

https://cdn-ext.agnet.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Desert-termite-featured.jpg

 

[PrairieGirl]

Welcome to the SW! As a former fellow PNW (OR) girl now living in Canada, I knew NOTHING of termites when we bought our seasonal home in AZ. They are simply a fact of life in this climate and you just "deal" with them. Your pest control company would/should have a clause in their contract that includes an annual termite inspection. In ours, this is a requirement, and they are more than happy to come more frequently if you wish. Best to catch the little buggers early!

We had issues early on, but none for the last few years after treating one interior wall (they did it through a closet that backed to the bathroom). Bathrooms are one of their favourite places because it is water they are always seeking (to mix with you know what to make their tunnels). One year we arrived to find a tunnel running up the side of our toilet!

 

[DaveNV]

Welcome to the SW! As a former fellow PNW (OR) girl now living in Canada, I knew NOTHING of termites when we bought our seasonal home in AZ. They are simply a fact of life in this climate and you just "deal" with them. Your pest control company would/should have a clause in their contract that includes an annual termite inspection. In ours, this is a requirement, and they are more than happy to come more frequently if you wish. Best to catch the little buggers early!

We had issues early on, but none for the last few years after treating one interior wall (they did it through a closet that backed to the bathroom). Bathrooms are one of their favourite places because it is water they are always seeking (to mix with you know what to make their tunnels). One year we arrived to find a tunnel running up the side of our toilet!

Oh yes, as I told another Tugger, I have learned more in the last few weeks about termites and the "mud tunnels" of their waste left behind than I ever wanted to know. But I also now have a clear plan of action and prevention in place. As a homeowner, I will do my own regular and frequent inspection of the house perimeter, and a pest company will come inspect and spray monthly for any other sort of insect trying to "bug " us.

The thing that surprises me so much is all the people (even my real estate agent) who tell me "We don't have termites here." Say what? Maybe not dry wood termites, but apparently subterranean termites are very common around here. I've been working directly with the Owner of the largest local pest control company, and he laughed when I said that. He said, "What do you think has kept me in business for the last 20 years? They're everywhere around here." Live and learn, I suppose.

But forewarned is forearmed. Now that I know what to look for, I'm on my guard.

Dave

 

[VacationForever]

Oh yes, as I told another Tugger, I have learned more in the last few weeks about termites and the "mud tunnels" of their waste left behind than I ever wanted to know. But I also now have a clear plan of action and prevention in place. As a homeowner, I will do my own regular and frequent inspection of the house perimeter, and a pest company will come inspect and spray monthly for any other sort of insect trying to "bug " us.

The thing that surprises me so much is all the people (even my real estate agent) who tell me "We don't have termites here." Say what? Maybe not dry wood termites, but apparently subterranean termites are very common around here. I've been working directly with the Owner of the largest local pest control company, and he laughed when I said that. He said, "What do you think has kept me in business for the last 20 years? They're everywhere around here." Live and learn, I suppose.

But forewarned is forearmed. Now that I know what to look for, I'm on my guard.

Dave

Thank you for sharing this. We are "thinking" of selling our all steel condo (no wood at all anywhere) to buy a single family home within the same larger community. I think we will need to have pest control set up if we were to make the move. With my first home in California, pest control set up what looked like plastic buckets in the ground and each month they would look at the plastic buckets to see if there were signs of termite activity.

We have not listed our home for sale but an agent has a couple who is looking for a condo and they have seen our home and they are considering to make an offer on our home. It depends on the $ as to whether we will accept the offer. After that we will be homeless! Our plan is to just live out of timeshare and hotels for months while we look for a home to buy. It is pretty scary to be "homeless" as we had always bought another home before selling ours. Now that we are retired and with the uncertain future due to high unemployment rate we do not want to be caught with owning 2 homes and unable to find a buyer to pay a good price for our home.

 

[DaveNV]

Thank you for sharing this. We are "thinking" of selling our all steel condo (no wood at all anywhere) to buy a single family home within the same larger community. I think we will need to to have pest control set up if we were to make the move. With my first home in California, pest control set up what looked like plastic buckets in the ground and each month they would look at the plastic buckets to see if there were signs of termite activity.

I'm told termites like the paper on sheetrock and insulation, too. I guess it's the cellulose they want. So all steel doesn't necessarily mean no termites. Good luck!

We have not listed our home for sale but an agent has a couple who is looking for a condo and they have seen our home and they are considering to make an offer on our home. It depends on the $ as to whether we will accept the offer. After that we will be homeless! Our plan is to just live out of timeshare and hotels for months while we look for a home to buy. It is pretty scary to be "homeless" as we had always bought another home before selling ours. Now that we are retired and with the uncertain future due to high unemployment rate we do not want to be caught with owning 2 homes and unable to find a buyer to pay a good price for our home.

Absolutely smart, and right on all counts. The reason I sold my Washington home was because the time was right, and I was ready to move. Getting settled in Nevada is the right place for us, for now. Although in recent days the lure of vacationing (at least) in Mexico in a drive-to location is really starting to get our attention. And that discussion always turns to "Would we want to live there?"

So we'll see whether DaveNV will become DaveMX at some point.

Dave