THE Power Down Thread (merged)

[mcgowanjm]

Financial sense Wrap upRob Kirby thinks it is bad news to save energy.

I'm sure sacrifice is required. The question is whether people would be willing to see it as a net gain in the long-haul. On the radio I was overhearing some campaign ads where they talk about investing in green energy "to create jobs". There always has to be this bait-and-switch game played out where the politicians feel they have to sell green as a job creator rather than as an environmental doom preventer. I don't think the green tech will create the scale of jobs they hype it as, but I don't think it HAS to pass that test considering the long-term threats we face. The American public demands a quick ROI for federal spending just as much as shareholders for a corporation. It's all part of the same mentality.

Resiliance v Growth

Depressions always contain the payback. The payback
always hurts the most at the beginning. With survivors
getting better with each payback payment. Just like
a mortgage.

[PeakOiler]

In about three weeks, I may post the updated chart of my gasoline use and cost. 2009 ytd amounts are currently $988 and 454 gallons gasoline.

I Powered Down and am alive and well.

[PeakOiler]

I received my last electric utility bill of the year recently and the temperature extremes (i.e, record-setting heat this last Summer and record-setting cold this Fall) were responsible for the increase in electricity use:



The AC compressor is almost 9 years old now and should be replaced soon, and better insulation is needed. The July, August, and December bills were the highest of the year.

Total home utility power cost me $1,093.01 this year.

I bought a $30 stack of split oak firewood for $7 after recycling the household aluminum cans. The split oak firewood is gone now. A friend recently told me I could come pick up about a pickup-truck load of oak from a dead tree they recently brought down. They don't have a fireplace or a woodstove.

The gasoline use graph will be updated soon.

[Ludi]

Around here folks will probably give you free firewood if you offer to cut and haul it, because of all the oaks dead from the Wilt.

[PeakOiler]

I bought my last tank of gasoline for 2009 a couple days ago and updated the spreadsheet:



2009 Totals: 485 gal, $1,062.75.

Very true, Ludi. Recycling aluminum cans, however, in order to get a deep discount on retailed split oak firewood is applying one of those "less-labor" methods. My friend's dead oak wood is already cut to the right length, but it's not split yet. I'll be getting the maul out soon...

[Ludi]

It certainly wouldn't make sense to drive down here to cut and haul firewood back up there. I hope you guys don't have the damn wilt up there. It finally hit our place this past year.

[PeakOiler]

It certainly wouldn't make sense to drive down here to cut and haul firewood back up there. I hope you guys don't have the damn wilt up there. It finally hit our place this past year.

I have to drive the truck every once and awhile, and I'll combine the work commute and drive to retrieve the wood from my friend's house. It will be about 20 more miles than usual but would be more efficient than two trips to Austin.

[PeakOiler]

This morning I updated my gasoline comparison costs spreadsheet between my Insight and F-150. If I had driven the F-150 the same number of miles as I drove the Insight since July, 2003, I would have spent $21,439.12 more on gasoline! That's how much I have saved. That's about what the sticker price of the Insight was.

[DomusAlbion]

We use Quicken to track all our spending. I just took a quick peek at our peak auto expenses for this year.

I've burned through $458 of gasoline for my Ford Ranger for the entire year. I can't tell you the exact mileage but it's probably close to 2400 miles. I don't drive much; I go into town maybe once every two weeks.

My wife's Honda Pilot has burned $1039 but much of that was for some locum tenens work in a city 150 mile from our farm, for which she was reimbursed.

We turned off our gas range for the summer, used a two burner hot plate and the barbecue and saved hundreds of dollars on propane.

We have a very good income but we're trying a program I call "Live as If".

Live as if we are poor.
Live as if gas is very expensive, utilities are available but rationed, as if we're far along on the downward curve of oil production.

This way we ease our minds and our habits into a resource restricted future.

[PeakOiler]

Your fuel use is what I hope mine will be as soon as I can retire in less than five years. Unfortunately, I still have a 96 mile/day round trip commute five days a week. I have nearly 200,000 miles on that Insight now. I need to update my TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for the Insight.

I don't think my 1998 F-150 could have put another 200,000 miles on it without engine or transmission repair/replacement. I only fill the truck with gas twice per year. That truck is still in great shape. It has about 130K miles on it. I only use the truck when I need to use a truck, like for hauling firewood and gardening/landscaping/home improvement supplies.

I hope the Insight lasts till I retire (or die, whichever comes first ). I may have to replace the big battery one more time. Warranty covered the first battery replacement @ about 135k miles.

[tsakach]

I have nearly 200,000 miles on that Insight now. I need to update my TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for the Insight. I hope the Insight lasts till I retire.

Nice avatar! My Insight has <90k miles. I have substantially reduced annual mileage since I have access to good public transportation for commuting. However, fuel efficiency has dropped since it is used mostly for short local trips. Fuel expense runs around $25/month.

[Loki]

Glad to see I'm not the only OCD spreadsheet compiler

I bought a little dual-sport motorcycle (Kawasaki KLR 250) about 3 months ago. Since I got the bike I drive my Ranger (stick 2WD 4 banger) about 1/3 the miles I used to. The KLR only gets ~45 mpg, which is a lot less than it should. I think it's likely a combination of the aftermarket muffler that a previous owner installed, knobby tires, and a front brake that seems to stick a bit. But still twice as much as the Ranger (22 mpg w/ canopy).

Based on my spreadsheet figures, since I got the motorcycle I've reduced my gasoline consumption by the annual equivalent of 49 gallons. And that includes the "take back effect" of having a more fuel efficient vehicle. I have definitely been driving the motorcycle a lot more than I would my Ranger, not really because it's more fuel efficient, but because it's fun as hell. It's given me the excuse to explore a bunch of local back roads, I feel like I have a much better lay of the land since I got the bike.

I'll be interviewing for a job that will require me to commute (I currently live at work). I don't look forward to having to commute, but the job pays 50%+ more per hour, has good bennies, and much better long-term prospects than my current job. The motorcycle should be even handier if I have to commute, reduce my vulnerability to rapid gas price spikes.

[DomusAlbion]

Loki, you're one of my PO heroes. I hope you're not leaving your country, agrarian life for good.

[Shaved Monkey]

In 3 years of permanently moving from a temperate zoned city to rural sub tropics.

Electricity
Down from $1300 a year to $440 a year
Added Solar Hot water and PV

Gas (Propane)
About $130 a year (cooking only no heating required)
used to use natural gas to heat and cook before I moved to the sub tropics
It was about $150 a quarter or $600 a year.( that was cheap as I was well insulated, small well planed house, efficient heater, near the ocean, so temperatures were pretty stable...my dad spends $350 a quarter to heat his house)

Petrol
Used to use $3500 a year when petrol was half the price.
Currently use about $250 to $300 a year.

Water
Free except for pumping.
Used to use town water.
I bought 2 extra tanks (3 all up)

Sewage
I pee in the garden(have been doing it for nearly 20 years) so no new saving

Food
Make my own/Grow my own, barter,shop at local market
Big shopping trip has gone from weekly, to monthly, to every 2 months to once every 4 months.
Excel spread sheet for a shopping list, military precision.
Buy in bulk and reduced spending by about $1 to 2 thousand a year.

Wine
GFC and Wine Glut has reduced bottle prices from $12 to $15 a bottle to $5 a bottle
Australia Post delivers to my remote location for roughly the price of petrol when living in a city .
Savings of about $2000 a year
Will be planting my own vineyard to try and reduce that. over the next few years

Clothes
Subtropics means shorts sandals and t-shirt 99.9% of the year
Savings of about a $1000 a year .

[PeakOiler]

That's a great summary, Shaved Monkey.

I recently finished the totals for my utility's electricity use last year for powering this small 3-2 "country cottage". I spent $1,167.78 last year. Averaged $97.23/month. Not too bad for enduring the record-setting heat and cold last year here in Central Texas! The local utility average cost was $0.1222/Kw-hr in 2011. I use propane only for the BBQ grill, and a small tank will last me more than two years.
The house uses no natural gas, directly. The local utility does, as well as coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric from the dams on the Highland Lakes. When there's enough water in the lakes that is. I suspect the the exceptional drought pretty much put a big dent in hydroelectric power last year...and maybe this year too.

This house does need more insulation. I should also replace the 35 year-old ductwork from the central AC/heater as well.

The solar water heater helps a lot. The wood burning stove helps too. I really would like to install some more solar PV, enough to power the rainwater collection pump for the house.

[SeaGypsy]

I only flew 22,000km last year, as opposed to over 140,000km in 2010.
I junked the idea of owning any kind of ICE vehicle in 2007.
I moved into a small rented apartment in a capital city in Australia, from living and working remote. Was filling the bosses tank every week (at $2.30 liter). Now not driving at all and nobody has taken up my old job after more than a year.
Set up business in refurbs/ recycling. Still burning carbs, but a lot less.
Got no idea what all this adds up to.

[pstarr]

I only flew 22,000km last year, as opposed to over 140,000km in 2010.

what were you doing? Escorting rare art, priceless diamonds, state secrets? Negotiating world peace? Or just taking meetings? I don't see much reason for such excess--haughty height, push-button demands, in-your-face entrance/seating class structure, acquiesced state interrogation, etc. Jeezus Christro! Why not send a note in the mail?

[SeaGypsy]

As far as i am aware none of the flights were made especially for me, indeed would have even flown without me! When you work remote, you get flown every couple of weeks back to the capital city, from which you fly wherever your preferred base is. Mine was the Philippines. Still is, but now I am only doing 2 trips a year.

[PeakOiler]

My gasoline use history, updated for 2011:



Wow! Look what the retail price of gas did in 2011!

I sure am glad I get over 55 mpg!