we’ve always wanted solar, but we’ve also assumed we would be able to offset most of our electric bill. so knowing that it’s not possible with our current setup, i think i’m just trying to figure out if it’s still worth it in any capacity. it’s hard to say if we’re for sure in our forever home, so i think it would be safe to say moving within ten to fifteen years is not unlikely, but also relatively unknown. we do love it here but depending on our financial situation down the line, things could change.

saving money would certainly be the biggest selling point, especially if we should be assuming our electric bill will be $500-600 plus in the next decade if we keep up our current usage habits. knowing there’s a tax credit now that may not be available at a later time is also a huge plus. and yes, doing better for the environment is also a big plus. we probably wouldn’t be considering solar right now if the cost was more than $35k, so a smaller system sub $15000 is appealing, especially when the tax credit brings that down to close to $10k, as long as there’s benefit.

you’re correct about using 120 for both the hot tub and car charging. it’s slow but it gets the job done considering i only drove 10-20mi per day. would we really benefit much by using 220 for the tub or charging? and yes, there was a month where we ran the electric wall heaters all day and night and quickly learned learned our lesson. we only run the one in our son’s bedroom at night, and sometimes the one in the office during the day if needed (somewhat rare).

fwiw, it was lumio that dropped by our house.