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Oil man George W. Bush's ranch can run totally off the grid with solar panels. http://www.off-grid.net/2007/02/18/meanwhile-back-at-the-ranch/ http://www.off-g

Oil man George W. Bush's ranch can run totally off the grid with solar panels. http://www.off-grid.net/2007/02/18/meanwhile-back-at-the-ranch/ http://www.off-grid.net/2007/02/18/meanwhile-back-at-the-ran... Inconvenient truth spokesman Al Gore's home uses twenty times as much energy as the average. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/28/politics/main2522844.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/28/politics/main25228...

jacquesm 17y ago
I built a house and the off-the-grid installation that went with it, it's another 20 to 30 years to payback time for the new occupants at the current prices. Solar panels are expensive, and so are small scale windmills. I take it that George Bush and Al Gores houses will not be that far apart in total energy consumption. Al Gore should be ashamed of himself and his energy footprint, but that goes for every joker that went to the climate summit by plane. If there was one place where they could have shown that they were serious about the subject matter and invest a bit in video conferencing that was it.
- look_lookatme 17y ago
  "I take it that George Bush and Al Gores houses will not be that far apart in total energy consumption." Just to clarify, do you mean grid energy consumption? Unless I read incorrectly, George Bush's Crawford ranch house is twice as small as Al Gore's house. Does that not matter much in terms of total consumption? I believe Bush owns a huge home in Dallas, and it seems obvious that the ranch was a PR vehicle, so I doubt his combined personal energy footprint is worth talking about, but based on the article above his Crawford ranch is impressive.
  - jacquesm 17y ago
    Grid energy consumption is not what it is about in off the grid houses, that's a big fat '0'. The amount of money spent on the installation and insulation of the property is the big factor, and I suspect that if grid power was available where that farm is located that it is nowhere near cost effective. The house I built was to learn, not to save, just to give you an idea of how inefficient going off the grid if grid power is available is. If grid power is not available, in other words if you do not have any other options then it is a totally different matter. The total cost of a 10 KWh/day installation in the Northern latitudes of Canada was 5 years ago about $CAN 60,000, probably in Texas where you have much more sunshine the cost will be significantly lower, but you still have to factor in stuff like the cost of charging / discharging batteries, which alone already costs more than using the grid... It's not that easy!
gjm11 17y ago
This has nothing whatever to do with (1) the comment it's notionally a reply to or (2) the OP.

jacquesm 17y ago

I built a house and the off-the-grid installation that went with it, it's another 20 to 30 years to payback time for the new occupants at the current prices. Solar panels are expensive, and so are small scale windmills. I take it that George Bush and Al Gores houses will not be that far apart in total energy consumption. Al Gore should be ashamed of himself and his energy footprint, but that goes for every joker that went to the climate summit by plane. If there was one place where they could have shown that they were serious about the subject matter and invest a bit in video conferencing that was it.

look_lookatme 17y ago
"I take it that George Bush and Al Gores houses will not be that far apart in total energy consumption." Just to clarify, do you mean grid energy consumption? Unless I read incorrectly, George Bush's Crawford ranch house is twice as small as Al Gore's house. Does that not matter much in terms of total consumption? I believe Bush owns a huge home in Dallas, and it seems obvious that the ranch was a PR vehicle, so I doubt his combined personal energy footprint is worth talking about, but based on the article above his Crawford ranch is impressive.
- jacquesm 17y ago
  Grid energy consumption is not what it is about in off the grid houses, that's a big fat '0'. The amount of money spent on the installation and insulation of the property is the big factor, and I suspect that if grid power was available where that farm is located that it is nowhere near cost effective. The house I built was to learn, not to save, just to give you an idea of how inefficient going off the grid if grid power is available is. If grid power is not available, in other words if you do not have any other options then it is a totally different matter. The total cost of a 10 KWh/day installation in the Northern latitudes of Canada was 5 years ago about $CAN 60,000, probably in Texas where you have much more sunshine the cost will be significantly lower, but you still have to factor in stuff like the cost of charging / discharging batteries, which alone already costs more than using the grid... It's not that easy!

gjm11 17y ago

This has nothing whatever to do with (1) the comment it's notionally a reply to or (2) the OP.