On Thu, 3 Nov 2005, Byron A Jeff wrote:

> Off peak times, which includes all winter, are priced as above. However in peak
> times, which is 2-7 PM during the summer months of June/September, the price
> soars to $0.20/kwh! That's a problem that I have 8 months to figure out. Even during
> the summer it's worthwhile because the off peak price outside of the 2-7PM window
> is nearly $0.03/kwh cheaper than the standard rate.

Ouch. Ok.

> the normal central air to cool the house during off peak, possibly even loading up
> a bit in the late morning/early afternoon hours, and using the alternative cooling
> during the peak hours with off grid power.

You could look into a brick pile heat storage device. Essentially you 
fill a basement room with perforated brick and arrange for it to be 
chilled by the a/c when off peak. At peak you run air through the brick 
pile which is now very cold and the a/c is shut off. This is not 
necessarily very hygienic however. Another trick would be to put the a/c 
condenser in/spray with water from your (shaded) pool.

> I've also thought about using some artificial shading with greenhouse sunshade to
> keep the sun from beating on the house during the middle of the day. Along with the
> increased insulation and weatherstripping that I'm already putting in, I can get
> away without running the central air for 5 hours/day in the summer.

There are alot of resources on heat regulation using landscaping. 
Sunshading should work also I read that moving a tree or two can help.

Peter
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist