Costs

The time has arrived to set up a budget. I will have costs for:-

(1) Consultancy

(2) Tools

(3) Equipment

(4) Materials

(5) 

I have to start somewhere, so say $100 a month, which does not sound like a lot - $1,200 per year, but $10 is too little and $500 is too much, so $100 is a starting point.

In terms of effecting an off-the-grid solution, my meter readings provide a base for reckoning. I have used 9,494 KWh over a period of 12 months. If a car battery can hold

False Economy

This argument is true regardless of voltage and current (hence wattage).

Over the Christmas period I examined modern Christmas lights than ran on mains power. One simple string of LED lights that plugged into a wall outlet and was draped around a window, was rated at 40 watts A 40-watt string left on for 24 hours per day would consume 960 watts per day, and a kilowatt hour in Bonavista costs about one dollar (12.203¢ per hour plus account service charge), so over a month we would pay about $3.60 to run the lights 24 hours per day.

Now the store can save you money by suggesting that instead of a $40 string of LED lights you buy the string and a timer, the timer ranging from $30 (and upwards: "wireless remote with digital display!").

If I've done my sums right, buying a timer and turning the lights on only for the 16 hours of darkness means that the time would pay for itself in just over twelve years time.

In the case of a 12vDC system with a reservoir of car batteries my cost is still a dollar rating, but while the mains power is effectively limitless (I pay in dollars per hour), my reservoir is exhaustible. Once I have drained the car batteries I am without power, absolutely, until the wind pushes power back into my system.

Of course I could invest more dollars into car batteries ($120 and up) but that affects my overall cost. A timer makes sense in my 12vDC system in order to conserve power for other uses.

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