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Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Home Base



My lovely wife and I slept in. Eventually we got our act together and headed into town to take care of business. The house water filter housing cracked so that had to be replaced before even attempting to get the water flowing.

While out and about we had a light lunch at our local coffee shop. We happened to run into friends of ours who just got back from Florida. Their water supply line has been frozen since March. That had me worried as I didn't know the condition of my supply line. After all, last year it took me the better part of a week to thaw it.

When I finally tested it the supply line was clear. Back flowing nontoxic antifreeze down the line in January paid off. My plumbing is divided into different zones so they can be isolated from each other. That way I can flood different sections and check for leaks before moving on. Now all the cold water lines are working. The hot water system will wait until tomorrow. After months of camping just having cold water on tap feels like a luxury.

In energy news a survey appeared in my e-mail in-box from the electric company. The old power company was bought out by Eversource. I'm not sure if they are a worse company than the old one, but so far it looks like they are no better. People tell me their electric bills went up a lot this past winter. Since I turned my main breaker off before heading south I didn't use any power during that time period.

Anyway, the survey asked a lot of questions about what was important to me about energy management. Apparently they have some sort of system set up. After a couple pages I gave up on the survey. Frankly, it's none of their business how I want to use their electricity. I don't want their experts telling me what to do. In short, if their bill gets too high I'll just add more alternative energy power until the bill shrinks or I cut them off completely.

On average I generate about 80% of my power with solar electric. The problem is that there are times when I use much more than that and times when I use less. The grid allows me to bridge the bad weeks, like during a wet and dark November. Right now the electric bill is a tiny part of my budget. If Eversource becomes too troublesome they'll get the boot. It's nice to have options.

-Sixbears



10 comments:

  1. I'm glad to see you made it back.
    Still have ice on the lake at the end of April?!!

    Fook dat man, you live a bit too far North!

    Anyways, looking forward to your musings now that you are home again. That bit about the 'lectric company survey, yeah, fook them too.
    None of their business is right.
    Besides, you don't really NEED them so it's all good anyways.

    Stay warm, it was damn near 80 degrees here in the Portland /Vancouver area. That's just crazy. Back to chilly and rainy tomorrow though, it was a one day freaky thing.

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    1. It's not unheard of for the ice to stay well into May. Usually it's out by April 21, but what's usual these days?

      Yeah, grid power is handy, but not necessary.

      The weather here could suddenly flip into summer mode at any time . . . or not at all.

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  2. Some places have made it illegal to disconnect from the grid. I'm sure they want to make it that way everywhere.

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    Replies
    1. I'm keeping my eyes open all the time for such rule changes in NH. Trying to stay ahead of those jokers.

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  3. Like you said...nice to have options! Welcome home!

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  4. Welcome home again! Looking forward to seeing you and the Mrs. around town again. I've had no issues with Eversource since they bought PSNH. Some rumors I've heard were that the employees for them preferred how PSNH ran things, but that's just rumor.

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  5. Prior planning paid off for you. Surprising how many can't look down the road and figure out what needs to be done now to stave off disaster later.

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    Replies
    1. Quite a few folks go through life with their eyes closed. Everything is a nasty surprise.

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