Where does the time go?

Ok so I am going to get a solar hot water heater for about 1/2 price or even FREE!.

1/2 price: An active 2-3 panel system costs between $7,000 and $8,000. So with the $3000 and the federal tax credit of $2000 (max tax credit allowed but you have to spend $6700 to get the max Federal tax credit) for a total of $5000 off the price.

FREE solar hot water heater: If you do a passive solar water heater http://tctsolar.com/ such as a PN-50 then the cost is $2000 plus shipping and now the equation changes. You get $3000 and the tax credit for spending $3000 ($2000 plus S1000 shipping and installation) plus $900 tax credit. That make the passive solar water heater completely FREE!

Here in Colorado Amendment 37 was amended about 6 months ago and all the rural electric cooperative (REC) are no longer exempt from providing renewable energy in their generation mix. So therefore all the REC now have to have part of their energy mix renewable energy.

So my REC is United power with about 60,000 metered customers.

They have come up with a program in completion with the Governors Energy council to provide $3000 for a solar hot water system for those who only use ELECTRIC hot water heaters.

I have one of those so I qualify.

But not only do I qualify for the solar hot water rebate but I also qualify for a replacement hot water heater as well. That hot water heater is a Marathon hot water tank (see features below) that has a LIFETIME warranty on it and is NOT a metal tank but a plastic tank with about 3" of foam. Basically the best storage tanks if you are going to not have a thankless hot water heater.




So the first think I did was to request a replacement hot water tank. That came a few weeks ago and I am going to plumb that in first, then plumb in the solar and finally the solar panels.

I have 90 days in which to do this and already 30 days have flew by.

My current kWh averages about 500 kWh per month without AC being on in the summer months. Once my solar hot water heater kicks in I should drop the kWh to an average of about 400 kWh per month or less. I figure because my DHW heater is on a timer I use about 100 kWh a month to heat my water from the power grid.

Times are a changing.