MamaStories

This is the Riot for the month of January 2012 for the three of us. My summary of the first three years is here. Edson fixed the calculator: all go tither to crunch those numbers!

Gasoline.  Calculated per person. Our bugbear again. DH’s shuttle to work wasn’t running because of the holidays, so he had to drive in. I’ve also been doing a lot of driving around town for events, etc. I’ve been trying not to be too hard on myself, but that hasn’t stopped us from investigating alternatives for at least one of our cars: an electric  or a solar car (the affordable ones are low speed), a hybrid (a bit beyond our price range)… But, in the meantime, for January:

13.51 gallons per person

32.9% of the US National Average

Electricity. This is reckoned per household, not per person. As the sun climbs in the sky, our solar harvest climbs too. According to our solar meter, we produced 1816 kWh since the system was turned on, and 237 kWh in January (compared to 176 kWh in grey December).  (You can follow our solar harvest live here). So in January we consumed:

237 (solar) + 139 (wind) =   379kWh

16.9% of the US National Average

Heating Oil and Warm Water. This too is calculated for the entire household, not per person. We did badly this month. I am the fire keeper in the household and I’ve not been on top of it, at all. We ran out of firewood stacked on the porch at the beginning of the month, and it was so cold and DH was traveling for work, I didn’t manage to replenish it from our ample wood pile in the back. Keeping the fire also requires attention throughout the day, and I don’t like leaving the house when the stove is going. I’ve been on the road a lot with meetings and events for Transition, so I often fell back on the oil to warm the house. At the end of the month we all fell sick and on top of not having the energy to get the wood, we also upped the thermostat (from 59 to 63F) to feel more comfortable.  Excuses, excuses, but there you have the result:

44.85  gallons of oil

72.8% of the US National Average

Ouch!

Trash. After recycling and composting this usually comes down to mainly food wrappers.

6 lbs. pp per month

4.4% of the US National Average

Water. This is calculated per person. We used up very little water this month. We took less showers, I think. I couldn’t account for it otherwise. I’ll take it!

246.76 gallons pp.

8.2% of the US National Average

This is the Riot for the month of December 2011 for the three of us. Half of that month we were away in my hometown in Belgium, which explains the low numbers. Our first year’s averages were calculated here, our second year’s averages can be found here. Edson fixed the calculator: all go tither to crunch those numbers!

Gasoline.  Calculated per person. I’ve not calculated in our flights to Europe, forgot how to do that.

3.22 gallons per person

7.8% of the US National Average

Electricity. This is reckoned per household, not per person. With the grey skies and the low angle of the sun, our solar production is down, but it should, of course, go back up as of now. According to our solar meter, we produced 1403 kWh since the system was turned on, 176 kWh in December.  (You can follow our solar harvest live, here).

So in November we consumed:

176 (solar) + 108 (wind) =  284 kWh

12.7% of the US National Average

Heating Oil and Warm Water. This too is calculated for the entire household, not per person.

{ ALERT } The way I have been calculating our heating oil consumption is by reading off the furnace how many hours it ran, then multiplying it by .85 because that’s the amount of gallons of oil I *thought* it used. Now DH just told me that our furnace is more efficient than that and the correct number is .65. Which is great news, don’t get me wrong, but gee! I’ve used the new number for this month but will adjust the other numbers in my all-year assessment { / ALERT }

I turned on our heat on 13 December, the day before we left for Belgium. The thermostat was set at 45F to prevent pipes freezing in case it should get really cold (which it didn’t, no snow either). ironically, even though we weren’t here to use the furnace for hot water, etc., we consumed more oil than in November because we weren’t here, that is, because we couldn’t use our wood stove to heat the place and forego the furnace.

14.95 gallons of oil

24.3% of the US National Average

Trash. After recycling and composting this usually comes down to mainly food wrappers.

10 lbs. pp per month

7% of the US National Average

Water. This is calculated per person.

204.46 gallons pp.

6.8% of the US National Average

This is the Riot for the month of November 2011 for the three of us. Our first year’s averages were calculated here, our second year’s averages can be found here. Edson fixed the calculator: all go tither to crunch those numbers!

Gasoline.  Calculated per person. We drove to NYC and back for Thanksgiving. I walk Amie to school and back again every day, but activism necessitates more (local) drives than usual.

13 gallons per person

31.6% of the US National Average

Electricity. This is reckoned per household, not per person. After two months of not having to pay NSTAR (them paying us, instead) we got a bill again for  69 kWh (all wind). According to our solar meter, we produced 1403 kWh since the system was turned on, 274 kWh in November.  (You can follow our solar harvest live, here).

So in November we consumed:

274 (solar) + 69 (wind) =  343 kWh

17.1% of the US National Average

That’s quite amazing, one of our lowest numbers yet! And as you can see, we also made our first megaWatt last month and are well on our way to the next one! Those megaWatts are important because here in Mass. we can sell them as SRECS, which are the main component of the system payback.

Heating Oil and Warm Water. This too is calculated for the entire household, not per person. November has been crazy warm too, just like October. We had a few evenings of wood stove heat, but never needed the oil furnace backup for our “Annex” or for at night. All the oil consumption was for warm water (shower, dishes, laundry).

11.05 8.45 gallons of oil

17.9% 13.7% of the US National Average

{UPDATE} 3 Jan 2012: The way I have been calculating our heating oil consumption is by reading off the furnace how many hours it ran, then multiplying it by .85 because that’s the amount of gallons of oil I *thought* it used. Now DH just told me that our furnace is more efficient than that and the correct number is .65. Hence the correction.

Trash. After recycling and composting this usually comes down to mainly food wrappers.

10 lbs. pp per month

7% of the US National Average

Water. This is calculated per person.

376 gallons pp.

12.5% of the US National Average

This is the Riot for the (crazy) month of October 2011 for the 3 of us. Our first year’s averages were calculated here, our second year’s averages can be found here. Edson fixed the calculator!

Gasoline.  Calculated per person.

17.16 gallons per person

41.8% of the US National Average

Electricity. This is reckoned per household, not per person. Strangely enough, we’ve not received our NSTAR electricity bill! We usually get it on the 26th and that’s how I monitor our usage. Weird development and no one’s answering the phones over there. One thing we know, because we are grid-tied, our solar production for the one and a half (bright and sunny) days that we were without power, was wasted (got diverted into the ground).

We produced 359 kWh with our solar array, but I’ll have to fill in later what we actually consumed.

{Update} Our bill arrived – it was the storm cleanup that had held it up. Like last month’s, it was  again just for “distribution charges”, meaning we produced more electricity than we consumed and so didn’t have to rely on electricity generated by NSTAR (coal or wind). In fact, some of what we produced we did not consume as NSTAR paid for it. Unfortunately, they do not state how many kWh that is – just the credit in dollar amounts. I should deduct that from what we produced. Will investigate.

Heating Oil and Warm Water. This too is calculated for the entire household, not per person. October was warm enough not to have the heat on, and when we did  have it, it was from wood. We’re now simply turning off the furnace and water tank until an hour before we need hot water for a shower. It’s not cold enough yet for us to need the furnace as backup for night time heat.

7.65 5.85 gallons of oil

12.4% 9.5% of the US National Average

{UPDATE} 3 Jan 2012: The way I have been calculating our heating oil consumption is by reading off the furnace how many hours it ran, then multiplying it by .85 because that’s the amount of gallons of oil I *thought* it used. Now DH just told me that our furnace is more efficient than that and the correct number is .65. Hence the correction.

Trash. After recycling and composting this usually comes down to mainly food wrappers.

10 lbs. pp per month

7% of the US National Average

Water. This is calculated per person.

431 gallons pp.

14.4% of the US National Average

This is the Riot for the month of September 2011. Our numbers were pretty stable here on the ole homestead. Mostly just the 3 of us. Our first year’s averages were calculated here, our second year’s averages can be found here. Edson fixed the calculator!

Gasoline.  Calculated per person. A trip to DC in it for DH, for work, and he carpooled, but I’ve no way to calculate that. I on the other hand am now walking Amie to school – and it’s just been wonderful! – so though I drive more for the activism, all in all I drive less.

22.65 gallons per person

55% of the US National Average

Electricity. First full month since the installation of our solar and our bill said 0 KWH!

Yes, we produced more electricity this month than we consumed!

The electricity company even gave us credit for what we produced over and above what we consumed. Turns out we do still have to pay something, though: not production charges (obviously!) but still delivery charges, because our system is grid-tied.

Solar doesn’t get as high a “percentage discount” (as a green technology) as wind does. De to the calculator being down, I was calculating it like wind, but now I have no excuse. So the percentage will jump a bit.  This is reckoned per household, not per person.

458 KWH (our solar) and 0 KWH (NSTAR)

25.3% of the US National Average

Heating Oil and Warm Water. This too is calculated for the entire household, not per person. During these warm months it’s basically for hot water, which is stupid.

8.5 6.5 gallons of oil

13.8% 10.5% of the US National Average

{UPDATE} 3 Jan 2012: The way I have been calculating our heating oil consumption is by reading off the furnace how many hours it ran, then multiplying it by .85 because that’s the amount of gallons of oil I *thought* it used. Now DH just told me that our furnace is more efficient than that and the correct number is .65. Hence the correction

Trash. After recycling and composting this usually comes down to mainly food wrappers.

10 lbs. pp per month

7% of the US National Average

Water. This is calculated per person.

511 gallons pp.

17% of the US National Average

We’re back. On Sunday, Irene knocked down a couple of trees on our block, which mostly missed people, houses and cars, but got hung up on the electricity cables. Power was restored yesterday, after four days. More on that, later. First:

This is the Riot for the month of August 2011. August saw ebbs and flows of people at our house. Averaging them out, we were 4.9 people (roughly, 3.9 adults, 1 child). Throw me a bone and call it 5. Our first year’s averages were calculated here, our second year’s averages can be found here.

Sharon is getting the Riot up and running agai on Facebook. Edson fixed the calculator! My Wayland friend Andrea has started her own Riot and began, bravely, with electricity.

Gasoline.  Calculated per person.

11.09 gallons per person

26% of the US National Average

Electricity. We got our first bill after the installation of our solar, which was tuned on  on 9 August. It has been a sunny month, and the array is performing wonderfully – except when the grid is down and the whole thing shuts down, no matter how sunny the days after a hurricane.

Solar doesn’t get as high a “percentage discount” (as a green technology) as wind does, but there not being a new Riot percentage calculator yet, and to make it easier on my calculations, I’m counting solar and wind as the same, percentage-wise.

The calculator reckons per household (5 people), not per person.

312 KWH (our solar) and 154 KWH (NSTAR wind) =466 KWH total

13% of the US National Average

Heating Oil and Warm Water. This too is calculated for the entire household, not per person. It’s up from the last Riot because there were more of us using the hot water for showers, which is basically all our heating oil is used for these days.

9.35 7.15 gallons of oil

17% 11.6% of the US National Average

{UPDATE} 3 Jan 2012: The way I have been calculating our heating oil consumption is by reading off the furnace how many hours it ran, then multiplying it by .85 because that’s the amount of gallons of oil I *thought* it used. Now DH just told me that our furnace is more efficient than that and the correct number is .65. Hence the correction

Trash. After recycling and composting this usually comes down to mainly food wrappers.

10 lbs. pp per month

7% of the US National Average

Water. This is calculated per person.

504 gallons pp.

16% of the US National Average

This is the Riot for the months of June and July 2011 – months 32 and 33. We are at present 4 to the family, so the per person counts are for 4. Our first year’s averages were calculated here, our second year’s averages can be found here.

Looks like Sharon is trying to get the Riot (and the calculator!) up and running again!

Gasoline.  DH carpooled to two conferences in Montreal and Quebec City. Calculating that in, we consumed:

14.4 gallons per person pp. per month

35% of the US National Average

Electricity. The calculator reckons per household, not per person.

369 KWH for June, 433 KWH for July = 401 KWH on average (all wind)

13% of the US National Average

Soon it will all be solar! Soon… (red tape).

Heating Oil and Warm Water. This too is calculated for the entire household, not per person. It’s up from the last Riot because there are more of us using the hot water for showers, which is basically all our heating oil is used for these days.

10 7.45 gallons of oil

17% 12.1% of the US National Average

{UPDATE} 3 Jan 2012: The way I have been calculating our heating oil consumption is by reading off the furnace how many hours it ran, then multiplying it by .85 because that’s the amount of gallons of oil I *thought* it used. Now DH just told me that our furnace is more efficient than that and the correct number is .65. Hence the correction

Trash. After recycling and composting this usually comes down to mainly food wrappers.

10 lbs. pp per month

7% of the US National Average

Water. This is up, don’t know why. The weather has supplied us with a good and regular amount of rain, so I’ve not had to water the garden with tap water. Still… {CORRECTION} I forgot to average this number over two months. So we did well!

875 437.5  gallons pp.

34 15% of the US National Average