Energy Usage for Near Zero Net Energy Home

At a cost for electricity of $0.17/kWh, the owners of the Near Zero Net Energy (NZNE) house paid a little more than $113 for 662 kWh of electricity over the 10-month period shown. During the two months of spring they are not expected to pay for electricity at all, as the sun will be providing what they need. Service charges, allowing the house to be connected to the grid, are $8.56/month, making the annual cost for service a little more than $103 - almost as much as was paid for the actual kilowatts themselves! The grand total for purchased electricity was approximately $216, or $18/month on average.

Because Massachusetts has "Net Metering", during the spring, summer, and fall the owners receive a credit for their electricity from the electric company, as the photovoltaic solar electric panels send more power back to the grid during the day than they are drawing from the grid at night.

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First Year of Operating Data for RDI's Near Net Zero Energy home in Colrain
All data from Robb Aldrich, P.E. of Steven Winter Associates, working with DOE's Building America Program
Click on either image to enlarge

At a cost for electricity of $0.17/kWh, the owners of the Near Zero Net Energy (NZNE) house paid a little more than $113 for 662 kWh of electricity over the 10-month period shown. During the two months of spring they are not expected to pay for electricity at all, as the sun will be providing what they need. Service charges, allowing the house to be connected to the grid, are $8.56/month, making the annual cost for service a little more than $103 - almost as much as was paid for the actual kilowatts themselves! The grand total for purchased electricity was approximately $216, or $18/month on average. Because Massachusetts has "Net Metering", during the spring, summer, and fall the owners receive a credit for their electricity from the electric company, as the photovoltaic solar electric panels send more power back to the grid during the day than they are drawing from the grid at night.	The cost of liquid propane varied from $2.10 to $3.12/gallon during the last year. In the Spring and Summer of 2007 only 10 gallons of propane were used for heat and hot water. Between October 16, 2007 and April 15, 2008, the number of gallons used was 337 gallons, for a total of 347 gallons. Propane is the auxiliary source of hot water for both radiant heat and domestic hot water in the Near Zero Net Energy house. It kicks in if the solar thermal panels aren't producing as much hot water as is needed for those two uses.