Choosing between Toyota Prius and Honda insight and why I chose Prius:
It has been a very difficult choice for me, as I was so in love with my ‘09 Civic Hybrid, but now I’m a proud 3rd Generation Prius driver – 2010 Prius II to be precise. My main reason for the switch was the fact that I needed a recognizable hybrid for work purposes, while my Civic Hybrid looked just like any other Civic, with the exception for special aluminum wheels and a “Hybrid” sticker on the trunk. The actual switching process is what I wanted to talk about as there is a lot to say. From choosing the right Prius package to getting the right deal on trade-in and the car itself, I had to jump through hoops to be almost satisfied.
When the Honda Insight just came out back in March 2009, I test-drove it and did an extensive review and comparison of Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid. Back then I was not much impressed by Insight, but later came to appreciate it more. Yet, when it cam time to upgrade from my now “aging” 2009 Civic hybrid, I had to make a difficult choice between Insight and Prius. In part this choice was influenced by Honda sales managers so unwilling to give a deal.
Unfortunately I was looking to buy during and right after the notorious Cash for Clunkers program, which brought in a lot of buyers to the car dealerships, and gave the sales managers false feeling of a recovery in the auto industry. This false feeling lasted about a moths past the and of Cash for Clunkers program, at which point they realized that sales of new cars dropped significantly, since people who wanted to buy a new car, did it and got a rebate, while others were not going to buy anyway.
Too bad for me and later for Honda, while the sales managers were uncooperative in giving me a deal (though I bought a few cars from them over the last few years), my odometer kept rolling and I had over 31000 miles at the time I finally got a Prius.
Trading in 2009 Civic Hybrid:
My first and main concern was to get the right amount of money for my 1 year old Civic. Thanks to Honda’s recent release of their reinvented Insight hybrid, I instantly lost about $3000 of equity in my Civic as the new insight could be bought for about $19200 + fees and registration / taxes / title costs. A comparably equipped Insight (EX model without navigation) was about $21200. Still, my civic, brand new off the dealership floor was $24340 plus fees, and I could not sell it for that money anymore (even if it had zero miles). It is difficult to explain or understand how the new – used car market works, especially when the same car maker releases a new, yet very similar model for $3000-4000 less, creating competition within its own product line. But that was the situation in which I ended up and I had 3 choices:
1) Keep my “old” Civic Hybrid - well, since I needed a recognizable hybrid, this would only be an option if I did not get what I wanted for my trade-in.
2) Get 2010 Honda Insight
3) Get 2010 Toyota Prius
Since 2010 Prius (3rd Gen) was already out and it is in my opinion a much better car than 2009 Prius (Gen 2), choice on the Toyota’s side was obvious. Now the contest was between Insight and Prius. These to cars look very similar, yet they are so different. For the sake of argument, lets skip the Hybrid technologies in each of these cars, as for me, both work well. I will only mention that Integrated Motor Assists in Honda hybrids works very well, despite the Toyota salesmen trying to tell you otherwise. Also both Insight and Prius get VERY similar gas mileage in Green Mode for Insight and ECO mode for Prius.
For me the criteria for choosing a car were more aesthetic. I had some unresolvable issues with Insight body (although it looks so similar to Prius), while Prius I find to be very “sexy” looking.
On the inside, I lake Insight MUCH more. There is so many more options for me to stuff my small things all over the car. And I have a LOT of small things which I always need in the car. In Prius you only have two side pockets in front doors, space under arm rest and under center control panel. Glove compartment (bottom one) barely fits the papers and user manuals and the top one is almost useless. Rear doors in Prius do not have side pockets which is kind of annoying, as I always used those in my Civic.
As for the trunk space – I loved the fact that Toyota included a pull-out trunk cover by default while Honda does not have it and you NEED to buy one, unless you want people breaking into your car to steal your stuff. Also the fold-down armrest of the rear seat is a nice addition to Prius as compared vs. insight.
Breaks: Toyota has 4 disk breaks, while Insight is a split disk / drum breaks. I find it strange for an higher end 2010 car to have “cheap” drum breaks, instead of all-four disk breaks.
Using a hybrid car for recreational / personal needs:
Despite of the above mentioned negatives of the new Prius, it is an excellent vehicle, and perfectly fits my needs for recreation and work. As far as recreation goes, I like outdoor activities and my 2009 Civic hybrid was really annoying when it came to hauling lard objects. It had a very small trunk, even compared to the regular Civic. The rear sits did not fold forward to expand trunk space, due to battery pack placement. I had to get a roof rack for the snowboards and skies if I wanted to go skiing with my friends, as these long object did not even fit in the rear sit. I had to use a bike rack to transport my bicycle, and I was always afraid it would come loose and fly off on the highway.
The bike rack also significantly reduced my gas mileage. I recorded my mpg over a 120 miles trip to and from Cape Cod, and noticed a drop of about 9-10 miles per gallon/. From my average of 45, it went down to 36 mpg, only because of a huge wind resistance added by the rack and the bike. It was also a big hassle to put the bike on and take it off, each time I needed it and I was always afraid someone might steal it. In the end, Prius is roomy enough to fit all my gear and potential passengers. An average snowboarding / skiing trip from Boston to Wachusett mountain ski area with all boards, skies and other equipment consumes about 2.5 gallons of gas. If I was driving my Civic hybrid with a roof rack, I would go through about 3.5 gallons of gas. A Honda Accord / Toyota Camry with a roof rack, would use 4.5 gallons or 4 gallons without roof rack.
Using Toyota prius for work as a roofing estimator’s vehicle:
Although recreational use of Toyota Prius is fun and bring me much joy from both the usability and comport standpoints, the may purpose of getting a hybrid car (first the Civic hybrid and now Prius) in the first place, was my roofing business. I do a lot of work related driving – about 60-70% of my total mileage, and hybrid car is a perfect choice not only for a green roofing contractor like myself, but for almost any estimator in a construction industry, as well as most “on-the-road” sales people. Nature of our business dictates that our roofing jobs are spread around Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Green flat roofs such as IB PVC roofing and Metal Roofs are premium products with adequate price tag, so we usually don’t work in the same neighborhood, job after job after job. Most homeowners will choose the non environmentally friendly, but cheaper roofs such as asphalt shingles and EPDM rubber roofing (for flat roofs). Therefore, we need operate in a larger geographic area than an average roofing contractor, who is diving his Diesel F-250 around town, and to work. We be greener, we have to compensate for the extra-mile we drive by lowering our fuel consumption.
Being a roofing contractor, specializing in green roofing technologies such as cool flat roofs and lifetime metal roofing materials, as wells as roof-top gardens, we needed a car that would consume little fuel, and of course enhance our image as a green construction company. The car also had to be reliable and versatile / capable to carry all product samples and sales materials as wells as equipment and even a small ladder to get on the roof. While Civic Hybrid was economical and reliable, it lacked the utility of bigger cars and did not appeal to most people as a hybrid – the only way to know it was a hybrid, was to read the small “hybrid” label on the trunk and by looking at futuristic rims. Still, 90 percent of people did not recognize that it was in fact a hybrid car until I mentioned it.
Prius had everything I needed in a hybrid: It is spacious for a compact sedan – there is plenty of legroom both in the front and back seat. The trunk space is big enough to hold all my roofing samples, small tools, an 11 feet telescopic ladder and my folding bike, to go for a bike ride after an estimate.
I can also fit on the rear seat all the tools and materials needed to go on a rubber roof repair call, which we provide to homeowners in MA, CT and RI. When a home-owner has a shady roofing contractor install rubber roof which begins to leak soon, and the contractor is no where to be found, it may be too expensive for these people to have another brand new roof installed. Often such roofs can be repaired, which we do for as little as $350. However, most roofing contractors will drive their truck to work with lots of unnecessary tools in the tool box and ladders on the rack, and waste a lot of fuel. In every case of a rubber roof repair we did, I used a prius to get there and all my tools as supplies fit perfectly in the back seat.
Now you may ask – how I as a roofing contractor can get around doing roof estimates and even roof repair work driving a compact car – don’t I need a ladder to get up on the roof? Answer is YES. I do need a ladder, and no, I do not tie a 28-footer to the roof of my Prius. Before we go on a roofing estimate or a roof service call, I will ask if the homeowner has a ladder tall enough to reach the roof. You may be surprised, but most people do have a long enough ladder, and allow me to use it, so I can easily get by with driving my Prius to look at or repair a leaking roof. Only on a rare occasion do I need to take my Toyota Tundra pick-up truck to bring the necessary ladders or extra equipment / materials to the job-site. I only remember about 7 such occasions in the last year and a half since I started doing this.
Toyota is also an excellent choice to get to the job which is located within a normal driving distance for an average morning commute. I’d pick up my guys and we would go to work in a my car if needed tools, materials and ladders were already on the job-site. This is never the first or the last day of the roof installation, but rather some days in the middle, when I do not need a truck to just get to work. I will use the truck to deliver materials and equipment and drive the car on other days, when I don’t need to haul heavy or bulky things.
3rd Gen Toyota Prius Optional Equipment and Packages:
Prius come in five optional packages, numbered from 1 to 5. Package 1 is virtually non-existent in the US market (or at least in New England). I chose package 2, which is more on the basic side, but has all power options (power doors / windows). Basic package 3 costs exactly $1000 more than package 2, and is in my opinion a complete waste of money. The only difference between packages 2 and 3 is the upgrade to a 6-disc CD changer and 8-speaker audio system. After using Civic’s USB hook-up and an 8 GB USB thumb drive to hold all my music, now I personally hate CDs and do not need a CD changer which is slow and makes annoying sounds. 8 speakers vs. 6 speakers is also not a huge improvement to justify paying extra thousand.
Still, there is a purpose for package 3. The only way you can upgrade to the built in GPS Navigation or the so much advertised, yet completely useless Solar Sun Roof, is to have at least a package 3 Prius. Cost of this upgrade is $3600 and you cannot get one without the other.
Built-in GPS / Navi:
I love my little Garmin GPS and hate every single built-in navigation system I encountered, including the ones in luxury cars like Lexus. When you look for “fast food” on a Garmin, it give you the closest junk food joints, based on distance. If you try to do the same using a built in navigation of either Honda or Toyota, unless you first specify your city and state, you will get some McDonald’s and Wendy’s in Alabama or Nebraska - literally! If you need to type in some weird address which built in Navi does none recognize by the first two street numbers, it won’t let you proceed. I once spent over 30 minutes searching for an address which was pretty much around the corner.
When I test-drove the package 3 prius with Navi, I entered a place nearby, but went in a different direction. The GPS would not shut up and kept telling me to “make a u-ture in point three miles”. Even the toyota salesman could not figure out how to stop the current route.
And the worst of all, the position and angle of a built-in GPS unit make in impossible to see, when sun hits the screen, which happens a lot during the day. Basically, portable navigation is the best. I just hope I can figure out a turn by turn navigation on my iPhone and I won’t need any GPS at all.
The “awesome” Solar Sun Roof:
This in my opinion as a complete scam on the part of Toyota. The Solar PV panels mounted on the roof of a Prius do not charge the battery pack. They waste energy on running the fan to keep car’s interior space the same temperature as outside. Who needs interior fan for their car parked most of the day? You would only need it if you drove kids or pets in your car all day and had a bad habit of leaving them in the car, which is a bad habit anyway. Ok, you can’t always take your pet with you to the store – leave a small crack in the windows open – car will self ventilate. And if you plan to live your pet in the car for more than 5-10 minutes to get something from the store, why do you have your pet with you?
The sun roof is a sun roof – it is cool to have, completely useless 99% of the time, but keeps your resale value up. While I could live with the Solar Roof – the coolest invention since blue jeans, the GPS was an absolute NO for me.
Packages 4 and 5 are more on a luxury side and come with 17″ alloy wheels, GPS/Solar Roof, and only GPS in a package 5, but with the optional technology package, which is really cool but not worth $33000+. For just a bit more, you can get a Lexus 250h hybrid.
Pros, cons and other mixed feelings:
Based on all of the above reasons I went with simple, yet very nice package 2 and am very happy with it. Overall, the prius completely satisfies my needs and wants. I wanted luxury at first, so I test drove the Lexus hybrid, but realized that I did not need / want it, and it also took away the hybrid image, which Prius presents and is recognized for. The only thing that really annoys me about my Prius, is the lack of USB plug, which should be standard in this otherwise technologically advanced car.
Really Toyota – how could you screw it up so much? It is so simple to provide a simple USB plug – the sound system already recognizes mp3 format, and there is an auxiliary line-in connection. Now i have to go through my iPhone to find a song I need and there is a million of wires and cables all over the car so I can listen to Pandora online radio. Honda is SO much better in this regard…
Still, Prius is awesome, and I got a decent trade value from Toyota, while Honda lost a sale. It is especially strange since when I was shopping for my new car, the two Boch dealerships, Toyota and Honda, which are located side by side on Route 1 in Norwood, MA, had a VERY different inventory. There were over 15 Insights on Honda’s lot, and not a single 3rd Gen Prius to test-drive, and over 15 cars with “sold” sticker in the windshield. Still, Honda would not give me a deal on a car which was clearly loosing the “great battle of hybrid”. Insight which is supposed to be the economy hybrid, costs almost as much as comparably equipped Prius, yet lacks the trunk space cover, and does not look nearly as sexy as Prius. It is a shame in my opinion that Honda blew this opportunity to make a great hybrid and market / sell it well.
It was a great Columbus day weekend in Washington DC and solar decathlon was making waves of news… We, actually it did not. Not even bigger green sites and blogs cover this truly green event. Probably there are much more important things happening in our capital – like Obama’s newly “adopted” dogs .
So I’ll let the big guys do their things, while I tell you about the event which so many people waited 2+ years for, and worked so hard to make it happen – ladies and gentlemen – Solar Decathlon 2009!
This was our first Solar Decathlon, but certainly not the last. Since we were sponsors of Team Boston Solar Home, most of my coverage will be focused on it. However, there are many great solar homes this year and judging from the results so far, our creation is not looking to win this year – Team California and Team Germany are now battling for the first place (you can see Team Germany solar home in the picture above – a black house, second from the right).
As I wondered through the Mall, looking at these homes and being hesitant to stand in line to see very similar interior set-ups, my main focus was on the outside. Solar technologies, energy efficiency and exterior design were my main concern, as these are what make a true solar home, while the inside can always be remodeled.
Team Boston Solar Home:
As a future architecture student, and a “construction worker” now, I look at these houses with a lightly different perspective than most people. For me, the ease of construction, most energy efficiency and reasonable cost are the most important things, followed by a nice design. Unfortunately, many of the innovative approach used for this competition, are not usable in a mass market and are left to the most extravagant home buyers with deep pockets. While I have no problem with it in general, the purpose of a Solar Decathlon in my opinion is to move innovative green building technologies into mass housing market, so that such technologies would actually make a major difference in improving the environment and reducing CO2 emissions.
It is expected of all these homes to be super insulated and have solar PV panels on their roof. I was interested in innovative new approaches at achieving maximum effect (energy efficiency or energy generation) using the least expensive methods. In this regard, the Boston Solar home has (had) great potential, if not for the massive glass array on the norther side of the house. All these windows and doors will let all the heat escape in the winter, which makes it that much less efficient. This is a fixable situation however – just remove most windows and put a wall there
Despite potential heat loss, the liquid-filled glass units on the southern side of the house will collect tremendous amounts of solar heat and store it, making it much easier to heat this house. Find out more about these liquid-filled solar thermal windows and wall panels.
In addition to solar thermal wall panels, Boston solar home has about 6.4 KW solar pv system on the roof and a solar thermal hot water, for heating and domestic use. There are many other new and innovative design features used by BAC (Boston Architecture College) and Tufts University students in construction of this home – to many to list here. You may check out the project’s website – www.livecurio.us.
Team Spain solar home:
Other solar homes that attracted my interest where the one build by Team Spain (which for some reason is doing VERY poorly in this competition).
Apparently, these bi-pv cells are very good at capturing indirect sunlight and help the house generate the most electricity it possibly can.
Team Spain used a very interesting )in my opinion) approach at capturing ALL available solar energy with their powerful solar PV array. This roof mounted array ca rotate at the center, following the sun going across the sky, thus always keeping the most efficient angle of the PV panel to the sun. It is basically a gigantic solar tracking systems, which is however complicated and expensive systems to implement, which make this house not as competitive int terms f costs and ease of building.
Additionally, the glass walls of this home have integrated solar PV cells, which captures even more solar energy. It is a good idea, but and overkill in my opinion, and the roof mounted solar system should be more than sufficient and, unless they used “dummy” cells on east, west and north sides of the house, it is a wase of solar capacity as sun will barely or never hit those solar cells.
Cornell University Solar Home:
Another interesting design, which for some reason reminds me of the Water World movie – a solar home built by Cornell University students. It features three round “rooms” connected to each other and a large solar PV system, which for some reason is mounted flat to the ground.
It may not be the best designed house (in terms of competition rankings), and round rooms make it ever more difficult to build, but the steel frame and a VERY cool vintage design make it very attractive. As I’m writing this, Cornell’s solar home is in 6th overall place, with few more contests to go. You can view current team rankings here: http://www.solardecathlon.org/scoring/
As a side note, as of Oct. 13th, Team Boston solar home is in 12th position and Team Spain is in 18th place, while 1st place belongs to Team California.
Let the best solar house win!
The Solar Decathlon will continue for another week or so, and there is a lot of contests left in which either team can pull forward dramatically. Therefore I will not even try to predict the winner. All houses presented in the Solar Village this year and very well designed and built, and the green building technologies used in them will in (hopefully) near future migrate into traditional construction markets and help home and building owners reduce the over all energy use and make our environment better. These competition is also an inspiration for the new wave of architects who will be literally building our future homes and infrastructure, and as you can see, they all have great ideas. I will continue the coverage of solar decathlon 2009 in future posts, and soon you will be able to review the IB flat roof installation which we did on the Curio Home – look forward to see it soon on our cool roofing blog.
In October 2009, the National Mall in Washington, DC will be turned into a “Solar Village”, where 20 contemporary solar homes from all over US (and one solar home from Germany), will be on display to demonstrated all the latest and greatest in green construction, and renewable energy. This is the Solar Decathlon 2009, a bi-annual event sponsored by US Department of Energy, many colleges and universities as well as private businesses specializing in green buildings.
In 2007 Solar Decathlon, Boston was represented by a Solar Home built by MIT team and many volunteers interested in green technologies. This year it is Boston Architecture College and Tufts University that sponsor the solar home built by Team Boston. Why team Boston? Because many folks that participated in 2007 Solar Decathlon are doing it again.
We and IB Roof Systems (the manufacturer of Cool PVC flat roofing membrane) had our own humble involvement by sponsoring the roof installation on top of this amazing creation of latest architectural designs and green construction technologies. Now, with a new IB 50-mil PVC membrane, this solar home will be completely water-tight and the built in water collection system will provide it with as much H2O as it need. The roof is also very well insulated with over 5 inches if rigid ISO tapered insulation and additional 12 inches of insulation between the rafters. The cool roofing properties of IB Roofs will minimize its cooling needs, and will waterproof the entire building.
About the Team Boston Solar Home:
By definition, a solar decathlon project will use different solar technologies available on the market. Team Boston has created such a design where virtually every solar system will be utilized. There will be a 4.6 KW Solar PV system consisting of 20 SunTech PV panels. There will be a large solar hot water installation using Viessmann Solar Thermal hot water panels and water storage unit. But aside from these common, roof mounted solar systems, there will be a new solar thermal system, that will provide up to 70% of FREE heating to this house. It is a so called “trombe wall”. I’ve discussed it in our previous article about solar thermal mass windows. But this time, the Boston Solar Home will have ne and improves solar thermal windows: these are not the old 2×2′ window blocks. It will be a full size 8×2 wall/window units, covering entire south side of this solar house, to provide it with all the heat it will need in the winter. To avoid overheating in the summer, the roof will overhang the southern side by 3 feet, and an additional retractable awning will roll out to provide the shade for these thermals walls / windows.
The walls of this solar house have 2 inches of ISO insulation on the outside and 6 inches of between studs insulation. In total there will be more than 30-r in the walls. Although this is a stick construction home, it can easily be labeled as super-insulated, and it will have minimal heat loss, while providing more than enough energy to be completely off the greed, and won’t need any outside energy sources for either heating or cooling.
Portable design of this Solar Home:
For the competition purpose, the house has to be transportable, therefore it is designed and built in 3 sections on a portable foundation blocks so that it can be put on that flat-bed trucks and transported to DC, for the competition, and then transported back.
The house is designed to be easily taken apart put back together: All the mechanical components, a bathroom, kitchen, heating and air-conditioning equipment and electrical panel ate located in one part, and special quick connect ports are used when two living sections are connected. Solar PV panels and solar thermal system are installed on removable racking systems that are mounted to the parapet walls on the roof, eliminating any roof penetrations and potential roof leaks. This also allows for easy removal and re-installation of both types of solar systems.
There will be a fold-able / removable deck / patio area with a handicapped access ramp, making this home a perfect choice for comfortable living in the summer and winter, and usable by anyone.
Final thoughts about the solar house:
Since this solar home is still in construction stage and many systems are not installed yet, it is difficult to get a complete picture of how it will perform. Still, this will be a true zero-energy home, and will actually produce a lot of excess electric power to be sent back into the grid. My biggest personal concern about this home is the cost: without having exact information and costs run down, the estimates are around $800,000. This amounts to about $1000 per square foot of living space (a maximum of 800 sq. ft. of living space is one of the guidelines of the Solar Decathlon competition), which is very expensive and is not very practical. However this is just prototype and if it was a mass production home, the actual cost would be a lot less. This cost also includes the transportation to and from competition site in Washington DC, and nominal expenses such as marketing, promotion, creation of the website, etc. So actual construction costs are somewhere about $500,000-600,000.
This is just a firs report on this solar home, and there will be more, as construction goes on. Stay tuned for a complete report on the roof and solar PV system installation as well as overview of the new solar thermal window units.
http://www.mbmcarpentry.com – Green construction and home improvement ins South-Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
MA Metal Roofing – Flat roofs will not always fit the design of a solar home, and that is where the greenest roofing technology – a Metal Roof – is perfect fit for any sloped roof design.
Why we believe that Metal Roof with Solar is the most practical, and sustainable option for residential Solar PV installations?
In the next two weeks we will have a complete guide to designing a beautiful, long-lasting Metal Roofs with integrated Solar PV technology. Watch this video and read on:
The main problem associated with general Solar PV systems that you can now see on many homes around the country, is the fact that an asphalt shingles roof will fail much sooner than the Solar panels, and when that happens, those home owners will be faced not only with re-roofing expense, but also with complete removal of solar array and re-installation. This MUST be performed by both the roofer and the solar integrator, as the roofer alone will 99% of the time screw things up. And bear in mind that roofing warranty will usually not cover demages to the solar equipment, let alone all the possible short-circuit type situations.
The additional cost associated with these procedures should be at-least the same as the cost of the new roof itself. Think about it: Electricians unlike roofers have to be licensed. Apprentice electrician needs at-least 4 years of schooling/work experience. This is like an undergraduate degree. Master electrician needs another 4 years. Therefore, electricians usually charge $75-100 per man-hour. You’ll need at least two electricians for this job, which will take a whole day to remove the panels and another day to put them back, if not more.
The math is simple: 2 guys * $75/h * 8 hrs. * 2 days = $2400 plus any possible parts and supplies that may be required. So let’s say it costs you $2500 extra. In some parts of the country that is how much an average 1200 sq. ft. cape house roof will cost today with the material.
Metal Roofs vs. Asphalt shingles
Unlike very “popular” asphalt shingles, metal roofs are pretty much permanent. They are for the most part, produced from recycled metals, and when installed by a trained professional, should not leak for decades. Read more about residential and commercial metal roofing .
Metal roofs combined with Renewable Energy technologies can create a perfect combination of light, long-lasting and affordable solution for Solar Electric and Solar Hot Water, as demonstrated in the image to the below:
There are other numerous benefits to having metal roof combined with Solar PV and other renewable energy technologies. When looking at metal roof vs. asphalt shingles, also consider that metal roof will save our land fills from getting more shingles dumped there in 10 years or so. Combined with beautiful looks, you get a permanent roofing solution, various solar technologies, and when paired up with geo-thermal system, you can easily design a 100% energy-free home, with a great curb-appeal.
Check back in a couple of weeks for a complete Solar Metal Roofing Guide.
A comparison of two great looking hybrids from Honda – new Insight and Civic hybrid with focus on price, driver’s comfort and general usability.
Well, it has been a couple of months now, since Honda made their new, and VERY affordable 2010 Insight hybrid available in the US market, and I already had a pleasure of test-driving it at my BOCH Honda dealership in Norwood, MA, and there is a lot of things I want to say about both of these cars, as a proud Civic hybrid owner. But first lets look at these gorgeous machines:
2010 Honda Insight, displayed at a car show.
Honda Civic hybrid on drive track:
The first thing that came to my mind, when I got an email from my dealer saying that Insights are now available and are in stock – what a fool I am, buying Civic hybrid LX for $24,000, six months before Insight is released (I did know about insight coming out in spring of ‘09, when I was buying my civic).
Secondly, I decided to go in and trade my civic for an insight and get a grand or two back (Wrong!!! I will explain this in details later). So I call my salesman to confirm availability and schedule a time to test-drive it. I watched all the videos about Insight on YouTube.com before I came in, had a generally good impression of the car, and a real hype to get it.
Here are my first impressions of Insight:
First of all, although it looks VERY similar to current (2009) and next model of Toyota Prius, while costs 4 grand less, it is considerably smaller than both Prius and Civic, and inside it feels more like Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris. My dealer had two models in stock, base model – LX – for $19800 (rounded up, including destination charge) and a more advanced one, but without Navigation. The second one – Insight EX was a Honda Demo car, and could not be sold for a month or two, and did not have a sticker on it, so I’m not exactly sure what the price was, but it was in about $21,300.
Test drive:
Being a hybrid owner, my main concern was the mileage, so I did not take it into sharp curves. It was also raining, and was not the best condition to get accurate results. In a 3 mile stretch of city roads and traffic lights, I got about 42 mpg, so just about what the sticker on the car says. I was driving in a “green mode” however, but because of lights, up-hill driving, and short distance, I could not really get a good mpg sample of this car. I do know that some testers get around 60 mpg on longer tests in “green zone”, and bear in mind that EPA rating of 40/43 city/hwy mileage was taken in normal mode, not green, so if you are hard-core hyper-mileage driver, you can expect some impressive results.
I will go back for a more extensive test-drive of the Insight, compare it to my experience of driving the Civic and post my findings later.
Why I got disappointed by the Insight – impressions of the car, as compared to my civic (base model), keeping in mind the price and what you get with the car.
First of all, let me come back to the cost of Insight, trade-in values of my Civic, and my disappointment. Like I said, I got my Civic for just under $24k and I also got a good deal (back in Oct. 2008) on the car and the trade. Because the Insight LX is priced at $19350 + destination charge, that completely screwed up the civic hybrid market, and to be able to actually sell “almost the same” car (from my lay-person’s perspective), Honda is having crazy rebates on civics plus a dealer cash-back (something you are not told by your salesman) so you can actually now get a brand-spanking-new Civic Hybrid for just around $20-21k. Because of these deals, dealers will only give you “high-teens” for an almost new ‘09 Civic. So if I was to sell or trad my civic, which to me is worth about 23 grand (what I paid for it, less wear/tear and miles that I put on it in 7 months), I would take a loss of about $5000. That’s why I, like many other Civic owners are stuck.
To get back to the comparison of this two cars, I firstly have to say, that you get a lot more of a car for almost the same money, if you go and buy a Civic hybrid today, vs the Insight, and here is why:
Base model of the insight is VERY basic. There is no cruise control, no radio controls on the steering wheel, no alloy rims – you get cast wheels with hub-caps. Insight is much smaller than civic, and civic is SMALL, compared to my previous car – ‘08 Accord. There is no USB plug for your music thumb-drive, only an auxiliary plug (USB is only available in the most expensive model of insight – EX with Navi, which costs $23,100).
Insight LX does not have a compartment between front seats, but only fold-down arm rests, just like Fit.
LX does not haveSteering-wheel mounted Paddle shifters to take control of CVT tranny, which makes your car feel more like a sports car, rather than a slow-rider.
Basically, the LX, which is positioned as Affordable Hybrid, lacks many conveniences that I’m so used to from driving a Civic LX, and for the added cost of EX, is it really worth it?
The good things about the Insight (LX):
Although I’m disappointed (both in Insight LX features and in what I paid for my Civic), Insight is a trully great machine. First of all, in Eco mode you can get about 60 mpg. Second, It is still a very affordable hybrid, and because gas prices WILL go back to their crazy levels of 2008, and probably higher, when economy recovers, people buying them now, will really appreciate it. Also consider that when gas prices do go up, demand for hybrids will sky-rocket again and dealers will charge premium over MSRP, just like they did in early ‘08 and when 2nd gen Prius came out.
If you don’t really need all the comfy things that LX is lacking, than Insight is really for you. It finally has a fully-usable trunk, unlike my Civic’s trunk which is TINY, and the rear seats do not fold in. Insight is very futuristic, and the Eco display teaches you how to drive conservatively, reducing your gas consumption and actually scoring your driving.
Conclusion:
Now that Honda positions its Civic Hybrid as a luxury hybrid, but still offers super deals (not officially), if I was buying a hybrid now, I would think long and hard whether to get a Civic or Insight. On one hand, Insight has a potential to get phenominal mileage (in Eco “green” mode) and is relitively inexpensive. On the other hand, mpg of my civic can be in 50+ range when I go from Boston to NYC, and in the summer I can easily get 45 mpg in mixed city/hwy driving, so as a hybrid, Insight is not much better.
As far as luxuries and convenience, Civic LX beats Insight LX hands down, and you need to go to EX to get even close in comfort. My estimate is that now you can get Civic EX with leather and navi for around $23-24k (with very long negotiations, eager-to-sell dealer and a lots of “walking outs”), so I would probably go for Civic. Later, when all these deals disappear, the choice will be clear – the Insight, and probably EX without navi (get a garmin for $200 – it works much better than Honda’s built-in GPS).
Although winter is finally over, it is still somewhat cold outside and we have to turn on the heat. Recently I’ve found a very interesting product which can be used by anyone to heat their home or apartment for free. Even if you rent, you can do it without getting the land lord involved. The only things you’ll need are the south-facing windows and a thermal mass solar window.
As you can see from the image above this windows measure 72 degrees F, while outside temperature that day was 22 degrees, with a 27 F high. (Historic weather data).
The 50 degree difference in temperature is the free heat that enter your home and stays. Here is how the Solar Thermal Mass windows work: In a nut shell, it as a 2 inches thick air and water-tight container filled with special liquid that collects and stores solar thermal energy. Special chemicals added tho the liquid prevent stain deposits on the inner walls if the unit. In the picture above, these units are used a building blocks, and cover almost a half of the south-facing wall.
In the winter, when the sun is low, these solar thermal mass windows collect solar heat since the sun hits them directly. In the summer, sun is much higher and with appropriate shading, these thermal mass windows keep home well insulated without collecting any heat. Additionally, a special low emittence and high solar gain, argon filled window unit is installed just outside the thermal windows, so they are not directly exposed to the outside temperature.
How to heat your existing how for free
The picture above was taken in a new construction house, but for most people the interesting question is how to use these thermal mass windows in the existing home or apartment?
My plan was simple: I have 6 large windows that face south and an unheated balcony which cannot be used in the winter because it is too cold there. In the heated living space, we have new double pane Low-E windows installed which are much more efficient than the original single-pane wood windows from the 50’s. I am going to build an enclosure in which I can stack 4-6 thermal mass solar window units, and have them up in the window during the winter months, and take them out in the summer.
This won’t be as efficient as the one in the new construction home above but it will certainly help reduce my heating bill and carbon footprint.
As for the balcony, I first need to replace all the single-pane glazing and then I can stack the thermal mass windows all along the bottom if the windows. I’ll build special shelves to make the process of putting them up for the winter and removing them in the summer, easy.
As a rule of thumb, average house in US will need about 5 kW solar system, to become self-sufficient, and independent of grid electricity. As another rule of thumb, average Solar PV system installed in the US is about 2.5 – 3 kW, and still have to buy about half of their electricity from local utility company.
Before you start shopping for Solar PV system, you will need to do some homework, and it is also in your best interest to do the preparations which will reduce your energy use, and as a result you will need a smaller Photovoltaic System.
On average, every dollar you spend on reducing resources consumption, will provide 2 dollar in savings. Things you can and should do to reduce your energy consumption (even if you do not plan to have a solar system installed):
Get small florescent light bulbs – you should have done it long time ago as these have been available for years. Benefits include reduction in electricity use by 3 time. Service life of SFB is… well, i have a bunch of them that are 3 years old, and I have not had to replaced a single one of them yet. I bought mine for $0.50 each, 4 years ago, from Ann & Hope in Cumberland, RI, and some from Building #19. You should have some similar discount retailer near you.
Replace your inefficient appliances with new Energy Star certified ones Do your research on energy savings. I calculated that if I replace my old fridge with a $200 new Energy Star fridge, I will recoup it’s cost in 1 year, as it contributes probably half of my $40 monthly electric bill. You can go to a Sears Appliances Outlet and buy brand new stuff for almost 50% off in store prices.
Insulate your home! Over 80 percent of homes built before 1960’s, do not have any insulation. If you increase your insulation from a 3-r for a standard stick-construction walls with no insulation, to lets say 13-r by having a blown-in insulation installed, you will reduce your heating and cooling bill by 25 to 30 percent. Do the same to your windows. If you still have old, drafty single-pane windows, replace them with at least an Energy Star certified double-pane with Low-E film. Best option is to have a Triple Glazed, 2x Low-E, 2x Argon or Krypton gas premium window, that can go to almost 10-r value. Insulate your doors with weather-stripping. A lot of cold air enters the house through the doors, especially, if there is no second door. If you make your home super-insulated, your heating/cooling bill can be reduced to almost 10% of its original amount. That is a 10 times reduction, for which you pay only once, and it will save you money for years to come!
Install Low-Flow shower heads and 1 gallon per flush toilet. Whether you are a landlord or a homeowner, your water bill has probably sky-rocketed in the last couple of years. Mine definitely have gone up 30% in last 3 years.
Have a Cool Roof installed
While most heat loss in the winter, occurs through the windows, in the summer, most of the heat gain occurs through your roof. Most homes in the US have an asphalt shingles roof, which is not only bad for the environment, but also contributes 90% of solar heat gain. Even light-colored asphalt shingle attract solar radiation, transfer it into the attic and also act as thermal mass, by storing most of the heat gained during the day, and keeping you attic steaming hot at night, making the AC work around the clock.
Whether you do or do not plan to have a Solar PV system installed (be it on the roof of your house or ground-mounted array), your firs concern must be to reduce your energy use. This is especially true if you actually plan to have a solar electric system installed. A cool roof can reduce you Cooling cost by 25% or more and can help you trim your solar PV system requirements by as much as 1 kW. At $10 to 12 per watt of solar PV system, you are looking to save $10,000 to 12,000 before any incentives or tax credits.
Choices of Cool Roofing for Residential and Commercial use
A good example of a cool roof would be a Metal Roof coated with Kynar 500 Cool-Roof certified reflective coating. You have a variety of architectural styles and choices of metal available to you. From Standing Seam metal roofing to Aluminum shingles, to Steel Slate or Tile impression to Heavy Cedar shake, Spanish Tile, etc. As for material, your two basic choices are Steel and Aluminum, with Zinc and Copper being on the exotic side, as well as the more expensive options. If you look to integrate Uni-Solar Thin Film laminates to Standing Seam metal roofing, you want to go with a steel panel, as aluminum’s expansion/contraction ration is more than that of Uni-Solar’s PV modules.
If you own a home or building with a a low pitch or a flat roof, the most economical and greenest choice for you is to use a IB CPA/PVC single-ply roofing membrane, which has a Cool roof acrylic coating, featuring over 90% solar reflectance. IB roof is also a long lasting roofing membrane that features hot-air welded seams. The welded seams create a permanent bond between two sheets on membrane, effectively eliminating a possibility of a roof leak.
Planning a Solar PV system
Solar electricity is probably the most expensive form of electricity, yet it is very popular due to some constrains associated with other forms of renewable energy. Wind power for example requires adequate amount of land and the turbine must be located above the trees and surrounding structures. This limits the use of wind turbines mostly to rural areas. Small hydro-electric systems requires as water stream or a river nearby your house or building, which also limits it’s use to certain situation. Solar on the other hand can be installed almost everywhere, as long as there is unshaded southern exposure and adequate installation area. Solar PV can be installed on the ground, on the roof of a house, barn/garage, sky-scraper or a warehouse. It can be installed in urban environment – grid-tied, as well as on a remote unpopulated island – off-grid.
With Solar you also have a variety of architectural styles, panel types and mounting methods available. Most popular (yet, least efficient) is to mount mono or poly-silicon solar panels right to the asphalt shingles roof, using mounting rails and brackets.
It’s been a while since last post but here we will have a ton of solar PV design information and photos. First and foremost, this will be a generic solar system design that assumes installation of Solar PV panels on an average home in New England. This guide is aimed for the home owner (or business owner) looking to have a solar systems installed on a roof of their house (office building/store/etc).
Just to let you know, it is highly recommended that you get a professional solar integrator to do it for you. There is just too many things you need to consider when designing a solar array installation, and unless you are experienced in the field of electricity and roofing, leave it to the pros. This guide will help you understand what goes on from step one (contacting a solar integrator) to final step – having a complete Solar PV array on your roof (or on the ground) and supplying you with “free” electricity. For a detailed overview of solar system costs and pay-off period, refer to Solar PV system design guide
Solar PV System – Basic design.
This is an essential step that determines the feasibility of having a solar system installed. For example, the solar system has to be positioned so that it faces south, and have as little shading as possible. If neither of these is true in your case, than solar system is not for you.
So, the site survey will be the first step, and a solar integrator you choose to work with will perform it. Site survey takes about 3 hours on site, and you can add driving time to it. Therefore it is safe to assume that site survey will cost you anywhere from $125-200 depending on a solar company you are working with.
If you are not serious about getting a solar PV system installed, and just want to know how much it’s going to cost you, this guide is for you. Don’t waste the solar integrator’s time with something you can do yourself.
Basic solar PV system info:
Average household in the US consumes 500-750 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of electricity per month. To find ot how much you electricity you use, gather your last 12 electric bills and add up all the kWh you used. Devide this number by 12 and you’ll have you monthly average electricity use. Notice that in the summer you use more electricity than in the winter (unless you have electric heat, which is the MOST expensive source of heat, and we recommend you change it before installing a Solar PV system).
We will assume that your monthly average electricity usage is 500 kWh. We take the lower end of the spectrum as most homeowners begin to use LESS electricity once the solar system is installed. The install energy-efficient appliances and lighting, turn off lights when they don’t use them and so on. Basically all the things they’ve never done before. This also allows them to have a smaller capacity solar array installed as the demand goes down.
How many KW will you need?
So, if you use 500 kWh per month, than your annual electricity usage is about 6000 kWh. As a rule of thumb, 1 kW solar array will produce 1000-1200 kWh of electricity per year, when it is installed in an unshaded area. This number accounts for all the rainy/cloudy days and grid power fluctuations which may know out your inverter for a period of 5 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the quality of your electric lines and local transformer station.
Average residential solar installation is about 2.5-3 kW, and if your goal is to be 100% net-zero (to suplly 100 % of your electricity) you are looking at a system size of 5-6 kW.
Site Survey
Step 1 – Identify southern exposure and possible shading.This is an essential step that determines the feasibility of having a solar system installed. For example, the solar system has to be positioned so that it faces south, and have as little shading as possible. If neither of these is true in your case, than solar system is not for you.
So, the site survey will be the first step, and a solar integrator you choose to work with will perform it. Site survey takes about 3 hours on site, and you can add driving time to it. Therefore it is safe to assume that site survey will cost you anywhere from $125-200 depending on a solar company you are working with.
If you are not serious about getting a solar PV system installed, and just want to know how much it’s going to cost you, this guide is for you. Don’t waste the solar integrator’s time with something you can do yourself.
If you do not know where the south is, use a basic compas to identify if your roof has a southern exposure. On a sunny day look at your roof to see if nearby trees and/or buildings throw off a shade on your roof. Do this in the mornig, noon and around 3 or 4 pm. If there is no shade, you are in good shape. If there is a shade from a tree, you’ll have to cut it. If it is you neighbor’s home, talk to them about removing the top floor of their house, mentioning that a shade will reduce your electricity production. This is a joke of courese. If there is a shade from a nearby buildng, depending on how much of a shade it is and how many hours per day it is present, will determine if a solar electric system is feasible for you.
Finally I got a chance to learn Solar Systems installation and design with lots of hands-on and theory!
This is the first of the series of reports to be posted this fall. Reports will include new technologies and methods of solar installation, as well as other renewable energy topics.
For the first time in 2 years there is a Solar Training program running at the Community College of RI (CCRI). Their previous instructor moved to Maine, and there were no people willing and able to teach the class. There is now over 400 people on the waiting list, so I guess I’m on of the 15 lucky ones.
After reading through 100s of Renewable Energy websites and grasping all the theoretical aspects of Solar Photovoltaic systems, I had to finally get my hands wet. Unfortunately, except for one solar distributor out of MA, offering overpriced 1 and 2 day “Solar Training” programs, I could not find any college or tech school offering any courses in Renewables and Solar.
It all started over a year ago. Back in the summer of 2007 a course brochure from CCRI listed a Solar Training Program being offered in the Spring of ‘08, but no detailed info was provided. Only a contact phone number, of a person running a “Lifelong learning program”, an equivalent of a continued ed. program offered by most colleges for “working professionals”.
After making over 20 calls to CCRI and speaking to more than 30 people, most of whom never heard about this class, I finally got my name on a waiting list, that was aimed at electricians who want to install Solar PV systems. Myself being a roofer, I was not their target audience in the first place.
As spring of ‘08 rolled on, there was still no instructor. By late may, after a few voice mails I finally received a call that the Instructor was finally found and the class was scheduled to run in the fall ‘08. On one rainy June day, when I could not “roof”, I got in my car and drove to CCRI’s Lincoln Campus, only to find out that person in charge of the program was at the Warwick campus, so I had to drive through half the state to talk to them and secure myself a seat in the class.
As i got to Warwick campus, the person I was looking for, left for the day (at 1 pm) so I had to run between 5 differnt offices to find someone else who new anything about the class. After talking to a few people I had them put my name on another list of people who interested in the class. However, nothing was certain at that moment as the registration for fall simester had not yet begun.
Finally in July I got a letter with a Course Brochure and registration form, which I filled out and mailed back the same day. A week later my Credit Card was charged for this course, and now I am on my way to becoming a “Solar Installer and Designer”. Unfortunatelly I cannot actually install any Solar Systems, since I’m not a Licensed electrician. But i can certainly design one and have the electrician do his part.
Things learned in todays class:
Besides the regular Solar System Design diagram that includes Solar Panels, wiring, the Inverter, disconnects, meters, breakers panels, etc., I actually learned that in New England an average angle at which a fixed solar system should be installed is 42 degrees. Optimal for the summer is 25 degrees and for winter it is 55 degrees.
Also, whenever designing a roof-mounted solar array, a structural survey must be done to account for wind and snow loads.
Fortunately for us, we install roof-integrated thin film solar systems, so all these aspects do not really concern us, as there is no additional weight added to the roof, and since PV panels are part of the roofing systems, wind uplift is taken care of during roof installation.
Other valuable lessons:
Whenever a solar system is installed, a “power survay” should be done to reduce any power loads an install energy-efficient appliances and equipment to reduce electrical power consumption. Double benefit right there.
Things to discuss in next posts: Insulation and Energy Efficiency of your home.
I know it’s May 1st, and you are thinking about beach, sun-tan and barbecues, but now is the prefect time to start thinking about the next winter season, which is not that far away, and by the time it come, it is in your best interest to be ready. Especially if your home is not yet fuel efficient.
Why $5 heating oil? Well, look at the diesel price today. Here in Massachusetts (which has some of the lowest fuels prices across the United States, and is second only to NJ, which has no gas-tax and thus has nation’s lowest gas price) the price of diesel in most places is above $4.45 per gallon and given that gas jumped 35 cents in last two weeks it is safe to assume the $4-plus gas and above $5 diesel/heating oil by the fall / winter time.
Thank you Mr. Bush. Oh, and it is such a pity that Exxon-Mobil missed their earning expectation and made only $10.89 BILLION in net profits, instead of $11.65 billion projected by analysts.
Any way, enough sarcasm, we need to make our home use less energy. First thing you can and should do, is replace those old, drafty windows.
Despite the fact that this is Green & Solar site, I’m going to recommend Vinyl windows. That is right, not the wood-green-built but vinyl. Why? It is simple. Remember the Practical Approach thing? The the carbon-footprint of vinyl windows is less than that of wooden windows if you include the heat loss accumulating over time, and the vinyl window are cheaper and more fuel efficient – therefore they are Practical!
Here I’ll discuss a specific type of vinyl windows – Alside UltraMaxx line, that comes with triple glazing, double low-e and two argon packets. Combined together, UltraMaxx gives you 6.67-r value. Bear in mind that standard and well-built double-glaze, low-e argon window has an R-value of less than 4.
Why Alside UltraMaxx? Well, this is not a commercial paid for by Alside. I just love those windows, and had personally installed many of them. They are very-well built, and have the most durable and sturdy frame of all othee Alside lines.
You may ask why not Anderson or Harvey or Pella windows? Well, non of those actually make a tripple glaze windows, so my choice is Alside.
2009 Civic hybrid, I had to make a difficult choice between Insight and Prius. In part this choice was influenced by Honda sales managers so unwilling to give a deal.
Here I’ll discuss a specific type of vinyl windows – Alside UltraMaxx line, that comes with triple glazing, double low-e and two argon packets. Combined together, UltraMaxx gives you 6.67-r value. Bear in mind that standard and well-built double-glaze, low-e argon window has an R-value of less than 4.