This last month we cut back our electricity bill by $50. p/month by
simply turning things off that didn't need to be on, and turning off all
the transformers (we convert 220 power to 110, and the waste turns to
heat, which is simply wasted electricity).
So our current electrical bill is now $250 p/month US.
This is partially due to the really bad electricity here (goes off an on
over 6 times a day usually), the cost of fuel (we run diesel generators
to power the place) and the bad conversion ration of USD to PNG Kina.
So as you can imagine, being a techno-geek of sorts, I've been
researching alternative methods.
If we moved our house over to a 12 volt DC system (for example and
Outback inverter system), and we could find room to store about 20 car
batteries... we'd need a way to charge them.
-Solar - We already have 2 solar panels on our roof to heat the water.
We could buy and install more and hope they don't get stolen or broken.
But they are very expensive.
-Water - we live next to a raging river, but if we installed a portable
hydroelectric turbine, it would be vandalized an stolen within 5 months
because rivers are public places and people walk across it all of the
time. Odds are they'll fall on the submerged unit and damage it, or
find it and destroy it out of boredom.
-Wind - it's not very windy here, so I'd have to build a tower to go WAY
up into the sky.
So as you can see, I've thought about a few different solutions.
If anyone out there has an affordable, tamper-proof idea as to how to
save money on power... I'm all ears.
