The cost of energy for your home is continually getting more expensive. You can find ways to conserve, but even so, necessities like heating and cooling drive your bills through the roof.
You could reduce those costs significantly with solar power. But it’s a big, often costly decision that shouldn’t be made lightly. Is solar energy right for your home? Here are some of the pros and cons of installing solar-powered options, like our solar-powered air conditioning units, to your Calgary home.
Pro: It Saves Money
The main attraction of solar power is reducing your energy bills. But installing solar panels also increases the value of your home, if and when you decide to sell it. Additionally, you can make money from the energy your panels produce. Alberta law allows you to cycle any energy you produce above and beyond what your household uses back into the general power grid and be paid for it.
Con: It’s Expensive
Before you can save or make money with solar energy, first you have to spend money. There may be programs you can take advantage of to help you defray that cost, as well as tax breaks, but the money you spend on solar is still substantial. It’s estimated that it can take between seven and eight years for your solar panels to pay for themselves.
Pro: It’s Green
Solar energy is completely renewable and can help you drastically reduce your carbon footprint.
Con: It’s Not Always Viable
If you have an older home, your roof might not be well suited to solar panels. Additionally, if you have a skylight or a roof deck, installing solar panels might be difficult, without making a lot of costly adjustments to your roof.
Pro: Alberta is Well-Suited to Solar
One of the biggest objections to solar power is that if you live in an area where it’s frequently cloudy or doesn’t get enough direct sunlight, you won’t be able to produce enough energy to make it worthwhile. However, Alberta, and Calgary in particular, gets more than enough sunlight to meet your needs.
To learn more about solar power air-conditioning, contact us at Arpi’s Industries. We’re Calgary’s trusted source for HVAC solutions.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Calgary, Alberta about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide.
