alt Hacker News"Americans basically live like energy is unlimited, free and has no side effects ..."
Agreed - and guilty as charged which is why we're switching entirely to solar.
(I will also note that my household "cheats" by living in California where we need relatively little heat and do not even own an air conditioner so our path is, perhaps, a bit easier)
My main point is that whether you're a frugal EU council house or a profligate Texas McMansion, we - all of us - will continue to invent new demands for energy and continue to trend towards more energy used per person per unit time.
Therefore, if you're looking ahead to deployment of solar resources you should be realistic about that trendline.
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It's good that your daily "30A dryer" usage will soon be solar powered. I have a solar-powered clothes dryer too — it's called a clothesline.
> we - all of us - will continue to invent new demands for energy and continue to trend towards more energy used per person per unit time.
I'm personally in the process of designing my house and I'm going for maximal energy efficiency: 38cm thick brick walls + 20cm thick rock wool insulation, basic rectangular shape, 80% of the windows to the south, triple pane, heat recovery unit coupled with a air/earth heat exchanger to avoid needing a resistance to pre warm the air in winter, heat pump water heater, catalytic wood stove
Although I would agree that overall people don't give a shit and I probably am in the minority