Well it has been over a year since I installed solar panels on my roof and a 95% efficient condensing gas boiler.
I am happy to say that so far I have saved $3,320 this year in energy.
The solar panels have dropped in price by about half since then but with the rebates I received I still got them cheaper than I would today.
The super efficient boiler cost me less than $1,000 a year in gas and that is for heating 3 zones, hot water for two families and cooking.
My old oil burner used to cost me about $3,500.00 a year and that was just for heat.
This boiler paid for itself in one winter because I received $1,300.00 back in rebates and more in taxes.
(I always do all the work myself)
According to the solar readout I also prevented more than 9,000 tons of co2 from entering the atmosphere.
Today it is very sunny and I am generating almost 3,000 watts. My tank only uses about 650 watts.
The money I saved in utilities will buy enough boat gas to take some nice long trips.

Maybe alot of short trips the way fuel on the water costs these days. I pay 9.25g for it last year on the water, I am contemplating not using the boat this year at all.

How do you disconnect from the electrical grid if you do the work yourself?

I am good at that kind of work to go green completely but electrical scares the poo out of me, Ive had a few close calls on 12v systems, (my dumbbutt stuck a double boxed end 9/16"-1/2" combo wrench between mr. negative post and mr. positive post. yeah, I think my back hitting the workbench hurt worse.) but 110 and 220v sheesh idunno about that.

WhiteDevil you pay $9.25 for a gallon? Why not use Vodka?
I pay about $4.00 a gallon.
You don't have to dis connect from the grid to install this, it is wired into a two pole circuit breaker. I was an electrician for 40 years which also helps.

Out here its that much on the water, land prices are over 3 bucks a gallon, the harbors and fuel barges here tack 5 bucks onto whatever the land price is.

I need to put a larger fuel cell in there, this 15g isnt cutting it.

If you arent seperated from the grid, do you still get billed? I thought youd have to disconnect to cut off service when another electrical source is used. I dunno, I worked pipes and tin knocking.

I still get billed. This just generates one third of my power. If my roof was 3 times larger, I would generate enough power and I would sell it to the power company.
I was an electrician for 40 years.
Where are you located and why do you want to stay there?

Chicago area, um the wife's career is keeping us here....for now. I am from San Diego and she is from Baton Rouge, frankly Cali can fall off the face of the earth and Id clap. Im not a fan of living in the humidity but I might compromise if its in the myrtle beach to charleston area. Florida can go bye bye, NY not my style.

If I had MY way, id be the only house within 100 miles of anything in remote montana.

And I would be in Tahiti

Never been there, I hear its nice but nothing beats the wide open west of the USA. I live off the land as it is all montana means is like all you can eat meat buffet.

I have been to both places having been stationed in Colorado for almost a year and visiting the surrounding states, but I need an ocean. To me, Tahiti and near by Bora Bora does it for me. And there is also an all you can eat seafood buffet.
I also could not live for long without my boat.
But I do like the midwest, just not the same thing.
But you are correct, it is not the USA.
Taken from my boat.

Ok Paul, you are really starting to tick me off here, rubbing the boat all into it man whats the matter with you, cruel and unusual punishment!!!!!

Midwest is OK, but too many people now, more subdivisions then farm land. Fishing is great, from panfish in the winter to chinooks in the fall. I did get me a nice 8# channel cat 3 days ago in the pouring rain. He couldnt resist the fat bluegill twitching on the hook. Catch and release, any catfish over 5# is mush meat.

People. you want to see people. We got people. WWWWAAAAYYYY too many people.
The railroad I took to work in Manhattan for 40 years carried two and a half million people every day, twice. And thats not the subway, thats the train that takes you to the subway. The subway got more. Oh yeah, we got people, you want some?

We got people too, metra and CTA over 3 million riders a day, the cheif of metra just jumped infront of a metra train last week over a 475K embezzlement so we chicagoans got all the info like that lol.

Chicago Vs. New york....we got better pizza.....touche!

Excuse me! Hello

what? we dont like frisbee pie, and if you eat chicago pizza with a fork you are liable to get shot.

OMG, I am Sicilian and a Pizza expert. And I have been to Chicago as well as Sicily.
My Mother used to make me Sicilian Pizza for breakfast, I feed Pizza to my hermit crabs, my blood is Pizza sauce.

Next time your here, hit me up, we'll go after some salmon. While eating pizza.

My sauce is the garlic sauce since I have advanced stages of GERD. Hermit crabs eat pizza? wonder if fiddlers do, then I can name them accordingly to the guido code of nicknames.( dont worry, we hail from Farantino, we are italians in this house)

My family hails from Sciacca in southern Sicily

If I recall right, our hometown is a south or southeast suburb of Rome.

Its funny, great grandpa enrico was from farantino and great nana sarah was from up by venice. some of us came out olive, some came out casper white.

It's wierd, I have green/blue eyes and light hair, when I had hair anyway.
Italy and especially Sicily was taken over by everyone. If Disneyland was around, even they would have taken it over. I would have been related to Mickey Mouse.

yep, thats the unnerving part, goofy running this place LOL.

yeah with invasion and occupation after invasion and occupation will dilute any blood line.