Are solar panels worth it?

[Oldpaddy]

Have you had MassSave come in and do a walk through? They'll replace any bulbs left (for free!) and see if there's other ways to save power - insulation and so on.
As far as solar itself goes, it CAN be worth it, or it could cost more than you spend now.
You can have a couple solar companies come in and do an estimate - first is southern exposure, and also how many trees you have blocking the roof. Also keep in mind there's differences from companies that lease the panels to you versus ones that sell them to you outright.
We had them come in. The leasing ones will put any number up, but it may not make much difference.
The ones that we were going to buy had an engineering study done, and for us it wouldn't even come close unless we cut down all our trees and coated both sides of the roof - we're also an east-west orientation.
Instead we went with split unit A|C / heaters, and replaced all the baseboards in the house with new, high efficiency models. We saved almost half on our electric bills almost immediately.

Other than replacing my insulation and windows, there's nothing more anyone can do to bring my electric bill down. And I'm not ready to do that yet. I did my roof last year and the siding, insulation, windows are a few years away. It's all about the benjamins. Especially since the wuhan flu took my job away and I have to babysit my kids until they open the schools/recs back up. I only want solar to get my bill down. If it doesn't help my electricity expense, then it's not worth it.
My roof is set north south with the south side having the most area. It's a straight shot too. No gables or anything. I've been taking down trees left and right on my half acre so that's not an issue.

 

[Steveruch]

you guys pay too much for electric. i keep my 2000 sq ft house at 70F in the summer and my june-july bill clocked in at $146.

Where do you live? The cost per kilowatt can vary greatly from one area to another.

 

[Oldpaddy]

Yeah, over the last 20 years they've decommissioned all the coal and nuclear power plants in my state. And with them the cost has skyrocketed. I miss my grandparents generation. They got **** done and weren't looking for the warm fuzzy bs.

 

[twd000]

2000 + kWh electric usage per month is staggeringly high. I'm in New Hampshire (also high rates ~$0.20/kWh) but my usage is ~1/3 of that, in a 3,000 square foot Colonial with a family of 5.

You gotta figure out where all that juice is going. Not talking about reading by candlelight or taking cold showers. One of your major appliances may be malfunctioning, or your main service panel is not grounded properly.

It's possible your air conditioner is short cycling, or hard-starting, or low on refrigerant
it's possible your water heater is set way too high and you're mixing in cold water to compensate
it's possible your well pump has a leak and it's continuously pumping water
do you have an electric clothes dryer? If the exhaust is clogged with lint, it'll run for hours just trying to get the clothes dry


You could get a whole-house energy monitor and flip the breakers one-by-one to pinpoint the high idle load

 

[Randar]

Yeah, over the last 20 years they've decommissioned all the coal and nuclear power plants in my state. And with them the cost has skyrocketed. I miss my grandparents generation. They got **** done and weren't looking for the warm fuzzy bs.

You mean like offering a tax credit to put generation at the source of the consumption?

 

[Randar]

As far as solar itself goes, it CAN be worth it, or it could cost more than you spend now.

not sure when the last time you did an analysis on this one, but with installed cost per watt under $2 and he's paying 3-4x $per kWh that others who see payback in 5 years... not sure how you come to the ole "could cost him more in the end"... sure, if he pays out of pocket and then sells his house in the next couple years,

 

[Oldpaddy]

2000 + kWh electric usage per month is staggeringly high. I'm in New Hampshire (also high rates ~$0.20/kWh) but my usage is ~1/3 of that, in a 3,000 square foot Colonial with a family of 5.

You gotta figure out where all that juice is going. Not talking about reading by candlelight or taking cold showers. One of your major appliances may be malfunctioning, or your main service panel is not grounded properly.

It's possible your air conditioner is short cycling, or hard-starting, or low on refrigerant
it's possible your water heater is set way too high and you're mixing in cold water to compensate
it's possible your well pump has a leak and it's continuously pumping water
do you have an electric clothes dryer? If the exhaust is clogged with lint, it'll run for hours just trying to get the clothes dry


You could get a whole-house energy monitor and flip the breakers one-by-one to pinpoint the high idle load

Thanks, but this is nothing new. I've been using the same amount of electricity for 15 years+. In that time I've gone through just about every appliance. Electrical work done, ranges, dishwashers, tvs, pcs, water heater, pressure tank, refrigerators, freezers, lights, acs, washers, dryers and more. The usage has never changed much except for a few years in between wives. Then it went down. With wife #2 and kids 2&3 it went right back up. Now I do have other items that chew up electricity, so I'm not surprised by my usage, but I'd say it has a lot to do with the well pump. That's the one constant through out the years. How deep is your well? Mine is 160' down. That's a long distance for water to travel. Obviously this time of year with the ac (which is 4 years old) the bill sky rockets. And no, my dryer isn't clogged. I clean the vent every few months. My pump doesn't cycle on/off unless I have something running. I fixed every leaky faucet and pin hole plumbing leaks a few years ago. In fact I had to replace a 2yr old faucet cartridge the other day. I do stay on top of things and I keep an eye on everything.

 

[Oldpaddy]

I've talked to more solar places today than I can keep track of. Starting Thursday I've got people coming over to give me estimates and options. Having talked to you guys, and others, I'm guessing I'll probably be going solar. I'll have a better idea in a week or so.
Thanks everyone!

 

[ChiknNutz]

2000 + kWh electric usage per month is staggeringly high. I'm in New Hampshire (also high rates ~$0.20/kWh) but my usage is ~1/3 of that, in a 3,000 square foot Colonial with a family of 5...

Is it though, especially if all electric? We (family of 4-5) used to live in WA state and had a 1984, 2000 SF rambler, but had a pool, hot tub, well about 150' deep and detached shop. All electric, propane only used for occasional shop heat. I kept up on things, used new appliances, had a high efficiency heat pump, new vinyl frame windows throughout, etc. My average bill for the prior 12 years was between $175 and $225 per month (rates crept up over that time, but usage was pretty consistent as I kept a detailed spreadsheet of it). Rates there are now just over $0.10/KWH. That equates to just about 2000 KWH/month.

We moved to NC just over a year ago. The house is much bigger and just a few years newer (1988, about 3700 SF), has two heat pumps but no pool, well or hot tub, but I do have a detached shop again. Before buying the place, I asked what their average electric bill was (all electric home, no gas). They said it was just under $200/month. Rates here are almost identical, right at $0.10/KWH. I got on the steady payment plan the POs had of $189/month to be safe since we didn't know if our usage would change. Guess what? After a year, our average usage works out to be $194/month. That also equates to just under 2000 KWH/month.

So with two completely different homes our usage is nearly identical. Is that mere coincidence or does a fair amount simply have to do with lifestyle?

 

[Deadalus]

I'd second the home energy audit. It sounds like the main factor is your AC which is going to be affected by your windows, doors, and insulation levels. What kind of AC? If central air, make sure your filters are changed and then you could maybe use a cleaning on the unit. You'll be saving year round on both heating costs and electric costs if you have a properly insulated house with new windows. You should have a really huge layer of insulation in the attic considering you are in MA. Adding insulation is a dirty job to do but not particularly expensive if you do it yourself. If you are adding rolls, go with the no vapor barrier but see what you have first. It could be really old and useless plus some loose fill types have asbestos. Think about your return on investment, that's were you want to make efficiency upgrades. Energy star appliances will save you money but if you look at the yellow tag it's not a lot compared to heating and cooling savings. I understand your predicament, I have to do my windows and I know I will save a lot but I haven't been able to do it either.

Walls can be difficult to upgrade insulation but another place besides the attic is your basement if you have one. Also, the band joists (on top of the foundation wall) can lose a lot as well. These aren't typically insulated in an old house. Pretty inexpensive to do. A little tedious when the floor joists are perpendicular to the outside wall but easy when they are parallel. Use a panel type insulation to keep a good fit against the lumber rather than batts. Spray in insulation on cracks and seams and anywhere air leaks in. Old houses are very leaky compared to modern homes.

 

[Dland]

I've talked to more solar places today than I can keep track of. Starting Thursday I've got people coming over to give me estimates and options. Having talked to you guys, and others, I'm guessing I'll probably be going solar. I'll have a better idea in a week or so.
Thanks everyone!

If you go for it, and the job goes well, let me know what comany you used, or if you did it yourself, am in same area, with same double dip utility bill. thanks.

 

[kestrelbrewing]

We are in San Diego in about the same size house as you with a sloped roof facing due south. We just installed a 19 panel system. I'm still waiting for the installers to send us the app that shows usage, but our bills have been $16/month since we put the system in. $16 is what the power company charges for maintaining the grid, so our consumption is effectively at zero. The way SDGE does it is they keep track of how much you push back to them and then at the end of the year they settle up.
We don't have AC (don't need it, we are about 1.5 miles from the ocean on top of a hill and get reliable sea breezes in the afternoons). Running the dishwasher, all 5 ceiling fans, the clothes washer, and the clothes dryer, at mid day today, I checked the meter and it showed around -1.5 which would be pushing back to the grid. I've checked on days when we weren't doing anything other than everybody's computers and we've been pushing back as much as 6.5. We deliberately got an oversized system with the idea that until we can save up for a battery system, we can generate credits that will hopefully offset the wife's car charging at night in the event she is ever allowed to go back to the office instead of working from home.
We will eventually get the battery. We had a regional power outage several years back when some numbskull in Arizona flipped the wrong switch during some routine maintenance and knocked out power to about 3 million people. Considering it took the 48 hours to get that sorted out, the fact that our local utility likes to roll the dice with keeping the areas around their equipment free from highly flammable stuff during fire season, and the always fun to think about threat of earthquakes, a little backup seems like a good idea.

Short answer: I highly recommend it.

 

[kestrelbrewing]

Don't know what your state incentives are, but between 30% federal tax credit

Just a heads up: the Federal tax credit went down to 26% this year. It's slated to decrease slowly over time. I can't remember the exact schedule.

 

[Oldpaddy]

I'd second the home energy audit. It sounds like the main factor is your AC which is going to be affected by your windows, doors, and insulation levels. What kind of AC? If central air, make sure your filters are changed and then you could maybe use a cleaning on the unit. You'll be saving year round on both heating costs and electric costs if you have a properly insulated house with new windows. You should have a really huge layer of insulation in the attic considering you are in MA. Adding insulation is a dirty job to do but not particularly expensive if you do it yourself. If you are adding rolls, go with the no vapor barrier but see what you have first. It could be really old and useless plus some loose fill types have asbestos. Think about your return on investment, that's were you want to make efficiency upgrades. Energy star appliances will save you money but if you look at the yellow tag it's not a lot compared to heating and cooling savings. I understand your predicament, I have to do my windows and I know I will save a lot but I haven't been able to do it either.

Walls can be difficult to upgrade insulation but another place besides the attic is your basement if you have one. Also, the band joists (on top of the foundation wall) can lose a lot as well. These aren't typically insulated in an old house. Pretty inexpensive to do. A little tedious when the floor joists are perpendicular to the outside wall but easy when they are parallel. Use a panel type insulation to keep a good fit against the lumber rather than batts. Spray in insulation on cracks and seams and anywhere air leaks in. Old houses are very leaky compared to modern homes.

Thanks, no attic. All my walls and ceilings are insulated with, I think, r-24. The pink stuff and plastic sheeting creating a barrier from the inside. But I do need new windows. I'm long past due for siding and plan to do both at the same time. Which will be started within the next year or two. My ac is a large window unit through the wall. I was running high electric usage going back 20 years to when the windows were a lot newer and the house wasn't nearly as drafty. If I'm having an unusual power drain in my system, then there's not much it could be considering I've replaced just about every electrical component in my house over the last 20 years and I've always had high usage. The only thing that hasn't been replaced is the breaker box and wiring. A few things are old now and will need to be replaced over the next 5 years. Like the water heater, pressure tank and well pump. Those were all replaced within 5 years of each other 15-20 years ago. With the well pump being the oldest.
Despite my bill also being higher in the winter, the drafty house wouldn't affect my electric bill. That only would affect my coal bill. And it wouldn't be my water heater because that's up against the chimney which keeps it warmer in the winter than it is now.
I have a pretty good grasp on my usage in my house. I was just curious what everyone's thoughts were regarding the economic return on such a major investment.

 

[jrgtr42]

not sure when the last time you did an analysis on this one, but with installed cost per watt under $2 and he's paying 3-4x $per kWh that others who see payback in 5 years... not sure how you come to the ole "could cost him more in the end"... sure, if he pays out of pocket and then sells his house in the next couple years,

As long as the installed panels can create about what he needs, he should come out ahead (I don't ssay 'will' because who knows what the future will hold)
IF there's some sort of blockage, and the panels aren['t prooducing as efficiently as they should, he may come out behind. When I looked into it, the panels wouldn't produce enough to offset the cost, especially on a lease. I would be charged a certain amount by the company per panel installed, and as things looked, I'd end up owing more to them than I pay for standard electricity. Now, things might have changed in the 5 years since I ran the numbers, but I tend to doubt it.

 

[Oldpaddy]

We are in San Diego in about the same size house as you with a sloped roof facing due south. We just installed a 19 panel system. I'm still waiting for the installers to send us the app that shows usage, but our bills have been $16/month since we put the system in. $16 is what the power company charges for maintaining the grid, so our consumption is effectively at zero. The way SDGE does it is they keep track of how much you push back to them and then at the end of the year they settle up.
We don't have AC (don't need it, we are about 1.5 miles from the ocean on top of a hill and get reliable sea breezes in the afternoons). Running the dishwasher, all 5 ceiling fans, the clothes washer, and the clothes dryer, at mid day today, I checked the meter and it showed around -1.5 which would be pushing back to the grid. I've checked on days when we weren't doing anything other than everybody's computers and we've been pushing back as much as 6.5. We deliberately got an oversized system with the idea that until we can save up for a battery system, we can generate credits that will hopefully offset the wife's car charging at night in the event she is ever allowed to go back to the office instead of working from home.
We will eventually get the battery. We had a regional power outage several years back when some numbskull in Arizona flipped the wrong switch during some routine maintenance and knocked out power to about 3 million people. Considering it took the 48 hours to get that sorted out, the fact that our local utility likes to roll the dice with keeping the areas around their equipment free from highly flammable stuff during fire season, and the always fun to think about threat of earthquakes, a little backup seems like a good idea.

Short answer: I highly recommend it.

You don't have an issue with humidity? I live close to the water and humidity becomes a problem. Sometimes I have to turn the ac on even when it's not too hot out because the moisture becomes too much and my brick floor starts bleeding. Also, most summers here we have very little wind unless you live on the waters edge. It's funny because from october through june we have strong winds. We get hurricane type gusts during the winter. I remember a tourist opening up his house one spring and he was shocked when he checked his weather station and saw how hard the wind blows here during the winter.

 

[Broothru]

I swapped out all my bulbs to cfl and now led 10+ years ago. And I've been in the dark ever since. I hate these stupid led bulbs. My livingroom and kitchen lights are built in and are made to use large globe bulbs. I think g40s. I paid an arm and a leg for fancy 8w globes years ago. While I saw a savings on electricity, I had to spend around $20 a bulb. I needed 12 bulbs. Everything I own now uses less electricity than 20 years ago. In some cases by a lot. Like tvs and computers.
I only heat with coal and wood. About $1000 a year. 15 years ago my exwife made me install propane heat. One month cost me what I spend in a year on coal. I had them rip the tank out that following spring. I will not go back to propane unless hell freezes over.
My biggest expense is water and the ac during the summer. There's not much fat left to trim.

When I was still working I would be out of town anywhere from 3-5 nights on average, 2-3 times per month. My wife liked an evening fire in the fireplace so I would clean out the fireplace and leave a 'match-ready' setup of logs before heading out on a trip. Of course when I returned the first order of business was to clean, build, replace. I got to enjoy fewer than half the fires I built. Then we got propane inserts for both the family room and my basement man cave. Big bucks for premium fireplace units, but even BIGGER bucks for 3-5 seasonal fills of the 80 gallon propane tank. Yikes. Sure is convenient though.

 

[Oldpaddy]

When I was still working I would be out of town anywhere from 3-5 nights on average, 2-3 times per month. My wife liked an evening fire in the fireplace so I would clean out the fireplace and leave a 'match-ready' setup of logs before heading out on a trip. Of course when I returned the first order of business was to clean, build, replace. I got to enjoy fewer than half the fires I built. Then we got propane inserts for both the family room and my basement man cave. Big bucks for premium fireplace units, but even BIGGER bucks for 3-5 seasonal fills of the 80 gallon propane tank. Yikes. Sure is convenient though.

Haha that's why I have kids. I cut down the trees and split them. The boys stack and fetch the wood for me. I also make them get me buckets of coal now. I just don't see how the cost of propane is worth the convenience unless you're old or crippled. The other thing that drives me nuts about propane is that you need electricity to use it. Not long after my ex made me get propane heat we got hit with a blizzard and we lost power. No big deal, I don't use electric heat. I had no idea that the furnace wouldn't run without electricity. I had jump ship and stay at my neighbors house a couple of miles away. I had never had to jump ship before and it stuck in my craw. Then the propane bill came in and I got really pissed. I live a half mile out on a dirt road in the woods. I don't usually have the luxury of leaning on someone for help when we lose power. I'll never go through that again.

 

[Dland]

You need a generator. I have wood heat I use primarily, but hot water still runs off oil boiler. It does not take much spark to run it, but it needs some. I think you said you are on well too, I would never be without a generators on a well. Not after going w/o power for two weeks after hurricane Bob.

 

[pdcm]

I had a 12kw 8.1kw system with battery backup (39 26 panels) installed in September 2019 and turned on mid-October 2019. I had the roof replaced a month or so before getting the solar installed, so hopefully I won't have to do anything major with it all for... many years.

Cost wise I can't really say if it was worth it or not since my primary reason for this was to charge/store/run during power outages. Within the last 3 years or so there were numerous small outages, but there were 3 outages that lasted for more than 24 hours each time. Call it a first world problem, but that was my primary reason for doing solar+battery. It should pay off eventually... and if you don't get the batteries, it might pay off sooner?

I'm in the mid-Atlantic area, and with 50% of the panels on the south facing roof areas and the rest on the north side I only get about half-usage out of it during the winter months. December was the worst for solar generation at 208kwh. June was so far the best, at 971kwh. I seem to use considerably less power, typically in the 600-700kwh range during the non-summer months, and up to 1200kwh when the AC is running. Heat/cooking is natural gas. The electric dryer is the biggest power suck, pulling around 6-8k watts when running. My power company does NOT pay me for over-generation, so my minimum power bill even when my usage was -238kwh ends up around $16 because of the line/connection/service fees.

I'm glad I did it, and it's been great so far.

 

[Randar]

I had a 12kw system with battery backup (39 panels) installed in September 2019 and turned on mid-October 2019.

...

I'm in the mid-Atlantic area, and with 50% of the panels on the south facing roof areas and the rest on the north side I only get about half-usage out of it during the winter months. December was the worst for solar generation at 208kwh. June was so far the best, at 971kwh.

WOW! That's all you get out of a 12 kW system in the mid-Atlantic? How many panels do you have north-facing and how much do you actually get out of those panels? That seems to me like wasted money. My 9.6kw system is maybe 10 degrees off due South in the Chicago area and this is my output history:

 

[Oldpaddy]

You need a generator. I have wood heat I use primarily, but hot water still runs off oil boiler. It does not take much spark to run it, but it needs some. I think you said you are on well too, I would never be without a generators on a well. Not after going w/o power for two weeks after hurricane Bob.

I lost power for two weeks a couple of years ago during the winter. I bought a generator last year and installed a suicide outlet. I bought it for the well and fridge. I remember as a kid the power went out here all the time. Even during the summer in nice weather. By the time I moved fully back in '03 the power almost never went out and not for long when it did. Except for the stay blizzard. Times have come full circle and now the power goes out a lot again.

I remember bob. My mother had a place on the vineyard. She rented out the main house and we stayed in the detached garage. My stove was a hotplate and an upside down trashcan lid on a tree stump that I used as a grill. Bathroom was a hemmoroid donut on a 5gal bucket. I would take a shower at the beach and hitchhike to Allys market for provisions. After bob hit she had water front property for a short time.
It's pretty amazing we haven't had a real hurricane in 30 years. I've been telling my wife to be ready, this is definitely going to be the year we get a hurricane. No way we don't. '20 has already been a **** storm. A hurricane will be icing on the cake.

 

[pdcm]

WOW! That's all you get out of a 12 kW system in the mid-Atlantic? How many panels do you have north-facing and how much do you actually get out of those panels? That seems to me like wasted money. My 9.6kw system is maybe 10 degrees off due South in the Chicago area and this is my output history:

Spoiler

View attachment 690615

The split is 21s/18n, 18s/8n but there are also several distinct levels/areas of the roof, and several trees on the south side (great for that sun-shade, not so great for solar generation). The way the roof is structured with multiple levels and the tallest part on the east side, the 4s/4n uppermost panels start out okay, but the remaining larger array (4s+10s 13s & 14n 8n) on the lower portions of the roof don't really kick in until later in the day. It's really not ideal. I don't think I've seen much above 6.2kw peak. Maybe I'm just unlucky.

Edit: now that you've brought this up, I'm wondering if there's something not configured properly, as that 6.2kW peak seems wrong.

Edit2: everything I said was wrong, apparently I'm a *******. I was looking at one of the original designs, not the final, which shows as an 8.19kW array.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

You don't have an issue with humidity? I live close to the water and humidity becomes a problem. Sometimes I have to turn the ac on even when it's not too hot out because the moisture becomes too much and my brick floor starts bleeding. Also, most summers here we have very little wind unless you live on the waters edge. It's funny because from october through june we have strong winds. We get hurricane type gusts during the winter. I remember a tourist opening up his house one spring and he was shocked when he checked his weather station and saw how hard the wind blows here during the winter.

That's amazing.
I'm in WNY with a stone foundation and installed concrete floors over the dirt to make the basement usable and if the dehumidifier hose clogs it feels like you can swim in the air down there.
but never standing moisture anywhere.
when I bought the house it was humid inside because of the dirt floor basement but the house was original 1880 so no insulation and rotted windows so it was able to escape.
I ended up gutting though before living there.

 

[Oldpaddy]

That's amazing.
I'm in WNY with a stone foundation and installed concrete floors over the dirt to make the basement usable and if the dehumidifier hose clogs it feels like you can swim in the air down there.
but never standing moisture anywhere.
when I bought the house it was humid inside because of the dirt floor basement but the house was original 1880 so no insulation and rotted windows so it was able to escape.
I ended up gutting though before living there.

I didn't mean standing water, but the floor gets very damp and slimy. You can feel it on your feet. The brick turns darker too. It's like being in a wet basement. If you put a rug down, which my wife prefers, it's inevitable I'll get mold at some point during the fall or spring.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I didn't mean standing water, but the floor gets very damp and slimy. You can feel it on your feet. The brick turns darker too. It's like being in a wet basement. If you put a rug down, which my wife prefers, it's inevitable I'll get mold at some point during the fall or spring.

I get that when it rains a lot. like 3 days straight.
I have stone and drain tile under cement and sump in the basement but after 3 days of rain in warm weather the floor is....clammy and sump is running regular.
doesn't happen often though because my basement rarely gets higher than low 70's.

your air conditioner must generate a tremendous amount of water outside the window.

 

[Oldpaddy]

I get that when it rains a lot. like 3 days straight.
I have stone and drain tile under cement and sump in the basement but after 3 days of rain in warm weather the floor is....clammy and sump is running regular.
doesn't happen often though because my basement rarely gets higher than low 70's.

your air conditioner must generate a tremendous amount of water outside the window.

I actually cut a hole out of the wall and installed an ac about 10 years ago. This is the second one. And yes, it's a constant stream of water. When I redo my siding I'm going to have to come up with a better idea because for year it was dripping on the siding. I eventually propped up a piece of plywood to divert it off the siding lol. I've done a lot of work on this house over the years and I have a lot more to do. It's a never ending battle.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I replaced a 17 year old 28kbtu wall unit this year and the new unit actually came with the advisory that "under normal operation and conditions no condensate should drip out the drain hole".

And that turned out to be true. Even on the hottest most humid days so far I have not seen a single drop - whereas the old unit had a steady thin trickle on real humid days.

Somehow this design is able to pull all the condensate up off the bottom and fling it through the condenser. It's also rated ~20% higher SEER than the old unit, and the condensate handling may be why...

Cheers!

 

[Oldpaddy]

fwiw, I replaced a 17 year old 28kbtu wall unit this year and the new unit actually came with the advisory that "under normal operation and conditions no condensate should drip out the drain hole".

And that turned out to be true. Even on the hottest most humid days so far I have not seen a single drop - whereas the old unit had a steady thin trickle on real humid days.

Somehow this design is able to pull all the condensate up off the bottom and fling it through the condenser. It's also rated ~20% higher SEER than the old unit, and the condensate handling may be why...

Cheers!

Interesting. I've never heard of an ac that doesn't drip water. Even my car, which has one condenser, has two drain holes for the ac.

 

[day_trippr]

It may not be possible to route condensate from a car evaporator up to in front of the radiator, never mind if it is a good idea to then spray it over the condenser.

We have a small 8kbtu window unit that dribbles like a 10 month old baby cutting its first teeth

Cheers!