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I live in a small town in the North Cascades of Washington and my "connection fee" is $40 per month while my electric bill varies from $75 to $175 depending on

I live in a small town in the North Cascades of Washington and my "connection fee" is $40 per month while my electric bill varies from $75 to $175 depending on the season.

toomuchtodo 11y ago
My god! Might as well go solar and natural gas backup gen at those rates.
- maxerickson 11y ago
  I bet natural gas is not available there. (the not at all rugged township I used to live in had it in their planning documents that there would not be natural gas lines run -- they want to discourage development)
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    LP tank onsite. Its what most rural folks use for heat when there's no infrastructure available. http://www.missiongas.com/images/500gallonpropanetank.jpg http://www.missiongas.com/images/500gallonpropanetank.jpg
    - maxerickson 11y ago
      Sure, that's what we used. It ends up being noticeably more costly than natural gas so I think about them as different things (the price is also less stable, this hit Minnesota hard a couple years ago).
      - protomyth 11y ago
        Yeah, and it requires a bit of timing to buy correctly. The chart for ND[1] shows the variance of price in a season. Buying when it is really cold is not a great idea. Also, getting the larger tank allowed keeps you from having to do a refill in the middle of the winter. 1) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W_EPLLPA_PRS_SND_DPG&f=W https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W...
    - kyleblarson 11y ago
      Yeah we have a 500 gallon LP tank and use that for (on demand) hot water, backup generator and cooking, but our primary source of heat is in floor electric radiant (floors are concrete slab). We also use a mini split system to compliment the in floor heat and to provide cooling in the summer. And of course we have a wood stove as well. Unfortunately we are in a narrow valley and don't get enough sun to make solar a viable option.

I live in a small town in the North Cascades of Washington and my "connection fee" is $40 per month while my electric bill varies from $75 to $175 depending on the season.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

My god! Might as well go solar and natural gas backup gen at those rates.

maxerickson 11y ago
I bet natural gas is not available there. (the not at all rugged township I used to live in had it in their planning documents that there would not be natural gas lines run -- they want to discourage development)
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  LP tank onsite. Its what most rural folks use for heat when there's no infrastructure available. http://www.missiongas.com/images/500gallonpropanetank.jpg http://www.missiongas.com/images/500gallonpropanetank.jpg
  - maxerickson 11y ago
    Sure, that's what we used. It ends up being noticeably more costly than natural gas so I think about them as different things (the price is also less stable, this hit Minnesota hard a couple years ago).
    - protomyth 11y ago
      Yeah, and it requires a bit of timing to buy correctly. The chart for ND[1] shows the variance of price in a season. Buying when it is really cold is not a great idea. Also, getting the larger tank allowed keeps you from having to do a refill in the middle of the winter. 1) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W_EPLLPA_PRS_SND_DPG&f=W https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=W...
  - kyleblarson 11y ago
    Yeah we have a 500 gallon LP tank and use that for (on demand) hot water, backup generator and cooking, but our primary source of heat is in floor electric radiant (floors are concrete slab). We also use a mini split system to compliment the in floor heat and to provide cooling in the summer. And of course we have a wood stove as well. Unfortunately we are in a narrow valley and don't get enough sun to make solar a viable option.