The war against renewable energy

[Pakenhamsaint]

Saw a BYD bus near Dandenong this morning.
There is a big bus depot in the area so they might have been evaluation.

It stood out because it was so narrow it looked odd compared to other busses. Looked a bit like this one.

They have a lot of normal sized busses as well so i don't know why this one.
Maybe cheaper , because its a China domestic bus.
Maybe decided it makes sense to downsize a bit because the current huge busses never seem anywhere near full.

At least it didn't look like this one.

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Electric buses are already well here:

Electric buses are coming

On Saturday I had my first brief ride in an electric bus. The electric bus seemed much quieter than it’s diesel cousins. And no engine vibration while idling. And no fumes of course.Great to see more electric buses coming into service - hopefully with ongoing investment in route reform and more...

danielbowen.com

BYD supply chassis and Volgren make the bodies off thier Optimus body line.

Ventura have 27 of them, Kinetic have 35 and CDC have 8 based off the Volvo chassis.

 

[Captivating]

Yes the wholesale spot price is variable…. I’m sure they weren't complaining using up some credit boiling a coffee later in the day.


View attachment 2147955

Good for people at home and also monitoring prices between midday and 1pm.

What about boiling a kettle at 6:00am to make my first cup of tea, or my second at 10:00am. And then, having a relaxing tea at 9:00pm?

 

[nut]

Good for people at home and also monitoring prices between midday and 1pm.

What about boiling a kettle at 6:00am to make my first cup of tea, or my second at 10:00am. And then, having a relaxing tea at 9:00pm?

You clearly don’t understand how Amber works and if joined you would add to the hundreds that complain that it’s a scam.

When all it is, is access to the wholesale spot price.

Just to add im no longer with Amber at the moment because they had issues curtailing my solar system so I could avoid negative feed in prices.
It’s a great time to be with Amber with no solar or battery.

I’ll rejoin in December when peoples air cons turn on.

 

[Captivating]

You clearly don’t understand how Amber works and if joined you would add to the hundreds that complain that it’s a scam.

When all it is, is access to the wholesale spot price.

Just to add im no longer with Amber at the moment because they had issues curtailing my solar system so I could avoid negative feed in prices.
It’s a great time to be with Amber with no solar or battery.

I’ll rejoin in December when peoples air cons turn on.

I know what it is and if I ran a business that operated 9 - 5, it would be very attractive.

But as a residential consumer, unless you consume most of your electricity during the day, you might not be better off. Indeed, if you consume more power at peak times, you'll probably be worse off.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Electric buses are already well here:

Electric buses are coming

On Saturday I had my first brief ride in an electric bus. The electric bus seemed much quieter than it’s diesel cousins. And no engine vibration while idling. And no fumes of course.Great to see more electric buses coming into service - hopefully with ongoing investment in route reform and more...

danielbowen.com

BYD supply chassis and Volgren make the bodies off thier Optimus body line.

Ventura have 27 of them, Kinetic have 35 and CDC have 8 based off the Volvo chassis.

I could be misguided , but from personal experience i'm not a massive fan of Volgren busses, they are really noisy and the suspension seems to be pretty ordinary.
I appreciate that an electric drivetrain will reduce some of the noise, but that noise was a result of general lack of refinement IMO. I'm sure i've been on much smoother busses overseas.

 

[nut]

I know what it is and if I ran a business that operated 9 - 5, it would be very attractive.

But as a residential consumer, unless you consume most of your electricity during the day, you might not be better off. Indeed, if you consume more power at peak times, you'll probably be worse off.

right now Amber is better for customers with no solar … when summer hits it won’t be.
The secret ATM is keep swapping retailers and getting sign on bonuses. Retailers are profiting off people who don’t change.


Time of use rates from most retailers are normally also more expensive than Amber.

Even my flat rate with Engie is more expensive than Amber most nights… it’s just I don’t use anything from the grid.

In my situation Im only after the best feed in tariff.
After my battery is fully charged by 9:30am I’m exporting 5kw per hour until 5:30pm, whist running the pool pump,pool solar pump, Dishwasher, dryer, oven, etc,,,, so $4 a day minus $1.71 day rate.

 

[Captivating]

right now Amber is better for customers with no solar … when summer hits it won’t be.
The secret ATM is keep swapping retailers and getting sign on bonuses. Retailers are profiting off people who don’t change.


Time of use rates from most retailers are normally also more expensive than Amber.

Even my flat rate with Engie is more expensive than Amber most nights… it’s just I don’t use anything from the grid.

In my situation Im only after the best feed in tariff.
After my battery is fully charged by 9:30am I’m exporting 5kw per hour until 5:30pm, whist running the pool pump,pool solar pump, Dishwasher, dryer, oven, etc,,,, so $4 a day minus $1.71 day rate.

8 hours of 5kWh of FIT nets you $4. That's a 10c FIT.

 

[nut]

8 hours of 5kWh of FIT nets you $4. That's a 10c FIT.

Yes I’m now with Engie and I get 10c …. NSW essential energy grid.
I’ll be back with Amber in a few weeks time.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

I could be misguided , but from personal experience i'm not a massive fan of Volgren busses, they are really noisy and the suspension seems to be pretty ordinary.
I appreciate that and electric drivetrain will reduce some of the noise, but that noise was a result of general lack of refinement IMO. I'm sure i've been on much smoother busses overseas.

Volgren buses tend to be a be of the rattle side. NSW have a lot of electric buses from Custom Denning as an integral bus and Gremilang bodied buses on a BYD chassis. No idea if they're better.

Victorian operators prefer to go to Volgren because they're local.

 

[Captivating]

Yes I’m now with Engie and I get 10c …. NSW essential energy grid.
I’ll be back with Amber in a few weeks time.

Engie in my hood offers 12c for the first 8 kWh, then 3.3 thereafter. But, I have to pay more than 20c more for grid power. So using more than 5kWH off the grid makes Engie more expensive.

Amber ain't much better either. The peak rates are crippling.

Also, do you get 10c uncapped. Because, my research of NSW essential energy plan tells me the FIT is either fixed at 5.5c or 12c for the first 8kwH and then 5.5 thereafter but only if your inverter is 10KwH or less.

 

[nut]

Engie in my hood offers 12c for the first 8 kWh, then 3.3 thereafter. But, I have to pay more than 20c more for grid power. So using more than 5kWH off the grid makes Engie more expensive.

Amber ain't much better either. The peak rates are crippling.

Also, do you get 10c uncapped. Because, my research of NSW essential energy plan tells me the FIT is either fixed at 5.5c or 12c for the first 8kwH and then 5.5 thereafter but only if your inverter is 10KwH or less.

Yep im uncapped ..

 

[nut]

Engie in my hood offers 12c for the first 8 kWh, then 3.3 thereafter. But, I have to pay more than 20c more for grid power. So using more than 5kWH off the grid makes Engie more expensive.

Amber ain't much better either. The peak rates are crippling.

Also, do you get 10c uncapped. Because, my research of NSW essential energy plan tells me the FIT is either fixed at 5.5c or 12c for the first 8kwH and then 5.5 thereafter but only if your inverter is 10KwH or less.

Amber doesn’t have rates.
It’s the variable wholesale spot price

 

[Captivating]

Amber doesn’t have rates.
It’s the variable wholesale spot price

The wholesale spot price is a rate.

 

[nut]

The wholesale spot price is a rate.

It’s not a set rate … it can change every 5 minutes.
The peak prices aren’t crippling 95% of the time. On the other 5% just minimise your usage, but takeaway and light a candle.

 

[Captivating]

It’s not a set rate … it can change every 5 minutes.
The peak prices aren’t crippling 95% of the time. On the other 5% just minimise your usage, but takeaway and light a candle.

And therein lies the problem for most. The need to monitor the price.

Factor in a labor cost or opportunity cost. Look at your phone and see how much time you spend / spent on the Amber app / solar app. Now cost that at, conservatively, $30 an hour.

 

[nut]

And therein lies the problem for most. The need to monitor the price.

Factor in a labor cost or opportunity cost. Look at your phone and see how much time you spend / spent on the Amber app / solar app. Now cost that at, conservatively, $30 an hour.

Or set up Home Assistant and use automation.

 

[Captivating]

Or set up Home Assistant and use automation.

So overcapitalise to save a few bucks?

Need to buy a Smart dishwasher, smart washing machine, smart thermostat.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

In a Carbon neutral world, burning gas for heat/electricity is not a thing.
However the Victorian government are pre-empting it.
Pushing people into gas-free homes and encouraging conversion to electricity.
The good is, that one day in the future , we'll be ready.
The bad is, that we currently don't have enough renewable electricity and its prolonging the use of coal. ( Victoria are partially motivated by the shortage of gas they helped facilitate ).

If you convert your gas heating to reverse cycle electric, your heating at night is probably coming from a coal power station.
It has a carbon factor ( CO2/kwh ) 5 times that of gas heating. There are plenty of cold nights in winter when the wind isn't blowing.
The high price of gas is a whole other matter though.

 

[nut]

So overcapitalise to save a few bucks?

Need to buy a Smart dishwasher, smart washing machine, smart thermostat.

A few bucks? I thought it was crippling?

If people are stupid enough to join Amber and run unnecessary appliances that have timers during massive spike periods then they deserve massive bills.

For those that understand how it works will benefit from it.

 

[peetoo]

In a Carbon neutral world, burning gas for heat/electricity is not a thing.
However the Victorian government are pre-empting it.
Pushing people into gas-free homes and encouraging conversion to electricity.
The good is, that one day in the future , we'll be ready.
The bad is, that we currently don't have enough renewable electricity and its prolonging the use of coal. ( Victoria are partially motivated by the shortage of gas they helped facilitate ).

If you convert your gas heating to reverse cycle electric, your heating at night is probably coming from a coal power station.
It has a carbon factor ( CO2/kwh ) 5 times that of gas heating. There are plenty of cold nights in winter when the wind isn't blowing.
The high price of gas is a whole other matter though.

Would it be better to just maintain temp all day long. Inside atmosphere is a sort of battery, if the house is an efficient build

 

[nut]

In a Carbon neutral world, burning gas for heat/electricity is not a thing.
However the Victorian government are pre-empting it.
Pushing people into gas-free homes and encouraging conversion to electricity.
The good is, that one day in the future , we'll be ready.
The bad is, that we currently don't have enough renewable electricity and its prolonging the use of coal. ( Victoria are partially motivated by the shortage of gas they helped facilitate ).

If you convert your gas heating to reverse cycle electric, your heating at night is probably coming from a coal power station.
It has a carbon factor ( CO2/kwh ) 5 times that of gas heating. There are plenty of cold nights in winter when the wind isn't blowing.
The high price of gas is a whole other matter though.

Gas was costing me 5x the cost of RCAC for heating. The cost of Gas led me down the path of getting a home battery.
Now obviously I’m drawing minimally from the grid even in winter.
Next plan is to get heat pump Hotwater and induction cooktop.. and turn off the gas completely .. except for BBQ.

 

[Captivating]

Gas was costing me 5x the cost of RCAC for heating. The cost of Gas led me down the path of getting a home battery.
Now obviously I’m drawing minimally from the grid even in winter.
Next plan is to get heat pump Hotwater and induction cooktop.. and turn off the gas completely .. except for BBQ.

Was your change over like-for-like. Was the heating whole of house ducted replaced with ducted RCAC?

 

[nut]

Was your change over like-for-like. Was the heating whole of house ducted replaced with ducted RCAC?

I have Ducted gas.

I have 1 Mitsubishi 7.1kw wall mounted RCAC that uses about 1kw an hour to heat half the house to 19c .. also have a wall mounted heater that takes the chill of the back bedrooms at night set at 17c.
I set the aircon on a timer to raise the temp in the morning using a BroadLink mini wifi hub to 22c. I also raise the temp during the day using solar for thermal storage.
Gas was costing me $11 a day to heat the house 5 years ago..
With the battery I basically have free heating and cooling.

I would never have ducted heating. I could add another RCAC but I don’t need it.

 

[Captivating]

Not unsurprising, EV sales have stagnated as people prefer hybrids - mostly self charging hybrids and not plug in ones

 

[nut]

Not unsurprising, EV sales have stagnated as people prefer hybrids - mostly self charging hybrids and not plug in ones

Absolute Murdoch news Rubbish.
EV sales are growing world wide despite tariffs set by the US, Canada and Europe.


Meanwhile, total EV sales grew by 21% in Q2 2024 vs. Q2 2023, while ICE sales fell by 9% in the same period.

Electric Vehicle Sales Review Q2-2024

Strategy& and PwC Autofacts® have analyzed electric vehicle sales worldwide in the second quarter of 2024.

www.strategyand.pwc.com