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vtsteam:
I like your philosophy Joules. I actually subscribe to it myself, though obviously with much less success! I want to look at our actual usage bills to get a more accurate picture. I was going from memory above.

Joules:
Steve, going back to your houseboat. Around year 2000 our lives here took a massive wobble, life events, careers ending. We had to prepare for loosing the house, I had been visiting canal boats for sale in a worst case scenario, even bought a frame generator for doing a fit out. At its darkest we got a chink of light, wife got work I risked the remaining money I had on getting the workshop built and fitted out, the rest was a steady climb, with rock falls from there.

vtsteam:
Joules, I'm glad you weathered that and came back to where you are now. it certainly does make one appreciative of being as close to independent as possible. And to simplification in living. Not that there aren't pleasures in doing those things beyond just feeling more secure. Of course life on a boat can be interesting in itself. But maybe not because it seems the only alternative. One doesn't want to be forced onto the water, when land is the preference!

I got ahold of our power usage statement and I don't mind sharing it here, if it's of interest. Our usage is better than I wrote earlier, by about half, so I don't feel quite as bad. Still it could be improved. Actual cost/kWh is now $0.20, with 22% additional in various fees added on.

I'm really surprised at what the peak months and minimum months are. Wow, April is our worst month??? October the best??? And the range is very pronounced 260 kWh to 660 kWh. There's probably a lot to learn here!

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Joules:
Thanks Steve, wish I could say our bills are 10% of yours because our property was 10% the size :drool:

Interesting to note you are 9 degrees lower latitude than us, but approximately 200 miles inland to our 60 miles. So very different climates before we consider anything else. Can't see I can offer much advice without being incredibly nosey on your setup. Solar hot water sounds a good start for you, wife would have liked us to fit that a few years back. My friend who lives about 20 miles north fitted a vacuum tube system and been pleased with the results he gets.

Have you finished your winter prep by October ?

I use a few Sonoff power monitoring plugs that log power consumption. Very handy for figuring out who is taking power when.

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/sonoff-wifi-smart-plug?variant=54923434066299

They are also useful for working out which power bank can power what and for how long. Even recording how much power you put back into a power bank to work out efficiency.

vtsteam:
After thinking it over I think I get the unusually high peaks in the early spring and late summer months this year. I realized the gray bars are the prior year levels, and the orange this year's.

In fact we did borrow a compact window air conditioner last year for a couple months from my wife's parents -- we don 't normally. That would explain July August.

And, gulp, this year I did spend a lot of time out in the shop from january through spring with an electric heater working on the Stirling engine. and I might have also forgotten to turn it off overnight a few times. :wack: .

It's good to see graphically the effects of one's actions.

I'm going to concentrate on the shop, I guess as a priority. It's kind of essential to be able to use it in winter here, or cabin fever will get me. It could be a lot better.

Oh, what about October? Well my daughter went away to college in September. That must certainly be the explanation......

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