PG&E BILL

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Permalink Reply by Andria on April 20, 2010 at 7:35pm

I'm sure many people are not comfortable answering this question on a public forum, but I'm also sure many of us are curious about the same thing! So I've created a short anonymous survey here - please take a moment to fill this out so we can get an aggregate answer for Jinal and anyone else who's interested. Thanks! Andria

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Permalink Reply by Jim Reed on May 10, 2010 at 2:45pm

I just completed this survey and would love to see the results when you have them.

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Permalink Reply by Scott San Filippo on September 27, 2010 at 5:21pm

Sorry I am just joining this discussion - I just filled out the survey... One note: It's important to separate the electric part of the bill vs. gas....

I am also looking into neighborhood solar options though at this time I will not be able to do solar for our house until late next year at the earliest...

Thx andria for the survey and posting the results!

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Daniel on May 12, 2010 at 6:37pm

Hello Jinal,
I am happy to share my pg&e bills with you for the past 2 years, since I have been contemplating solar additions and I had to get all the yearly costs. I will put a copy in your mailbox and we can talk any afternoon or evening.
Best wishes on the new one, Yvonne Daniel

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Permalink Reply by Andria on May 20, 2010 at 5:14pm

Hi folks - thanks to those of you who took the survey. If you haven't yet, please do - I will monitor it periodically and update this information as we get more data. In the meantime, here's the recap of results so far.

* No one who responded has solar panels nor central air.
* 20% had double-pane windows but their bills (surprisingly) were not significantly different from the rest of us.

Here's a chart showing how we're all faring on the PG&E bill front:

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Permalink Reply by Sylvia Tedesco on August 22, 2010 at 5:23pm

Thank you for setting up this survey, Andrea. You might ask if people have installed a foam roof and if it makes any difference.

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Daniel on August 23, 2010 at 11:05am

Jinal and Neighbors,

I recently installed both solar electric (house) and solar thermal (pool) and after 40+ years of PG&E bills averaging $300+ per month, my last bill (July) was $76.14. From here on out, I will no longer receive electric bills until end of year, so I won't have data to add to the survey until this time next year, but if this is any indication of efficiency and lowering of monthly costs, I am delighted. Yvonne Daniel

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Permalink Reply by Andria on August 23, 2010 at 2:03pm

WOW Yvonne - that's fantastic info re: the solar savings. I had no idea it could be that great a difference; I know it still takes some time to make up for the installation costs, but this certainly is an incentive to take a harder look at getting it done. Andria

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Permalink Reply by Jinal Jhaveri on October 12, 2010 at 1:57pm

Thanks Yvonne.

This is great info. Can you share how much was the ballpark expense to install Solar Electric for your house?

--Jinal

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Daniel on October 13, 2010 at 11:31am

Hi Jinal, Chris Cahill, and Greenridge friends,
The ballpark cost for solar thermal and electric for the 5-bedroom Greenridge model was $26-28,000.00, but there were quotes up to $70,000.00. I think the pool by itself (thermal) was originally estimated at $6,000. Hope that helps.
Regarding the recommendation, Chris, this is always hard because although I had great confidence in my guys originally, I am still trying to get things finalized --after 4-5 months, depending on how we count. My particular circumstances play into the deal, but I have been disappointed with this part and until it is absolutely finished, I can't give a name. I must say that with 3 separate teams working on lots of projects on my home, the best was Eichler Solutions for windows and glass- Sergeiy was outstanding and far superior to everyone else (among diverse types of work teams).
Best wishes and again, I hope this helps others, Yvonne (Daniel)

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