I may not be a super early adopter on all energy savings technologies and many have worked out positively over the years but some haven't.
Here is my list the energy savings approaches that have been less than a success
Compact Fluorescents - I have had mixed success with CFs. I switched over a lot of fixtures to CFs over the years and have had mixed luck. Light quality has always been hit or miss, frequently missing. Yes the bulbs put out light but are unpleasant to live with. Temperature tolerance has always been an issue. Unless they are in warm place they aren't worth installing as the lifespan seems to be short and there is a noticeable delay in putting light out. The net result is I have box of unused or lightly used CFs that will probably get thrown out. Early LEDs have had issues with color temp but an order of magnitude better than CFs had.
Cheap Cellular Blinds - My first batch of cellular blinds worked well from a heating and cooling perspective but the construction quality was poor. They were expensive up front and probably had a 20 year payback if ever but the comfort factor was a major plus. The downside is the standard design has cheap hardware and lifting cords. Inevitably the strings would break in a few years and I had choice of paying a steep fee to send it to someone to fix it or try to DIY. In the two DIY attempts I discovered that the internal hardware was just plain cheap. I finally bit the bullet and went with a newer design with heavier duty hardware and knock on wood every one of them is still operating perfectly. I also went with side tracks on the later units and that really increased their comfort level, draft free on the coldest night.
Low flow toilet - My original toilet came with the house and definitely was a water hog. Since I have a deep well and deep static water level I figured it was a major hidden energy hog. I have a septic system and so I was not really worried about treating the flow. When the internals of the old toilet failed I went with the current water savings design. As some of the early low flows had a bad rep I bought a Kohler assuming they had worked the kinks out of the design. I very quickly discovered that they hadn't. The new designs keep a very low water level and in normal operation mine needs to be double flushed often negating the water savings. It also needs cleaning far more often. I still have the old toilet and am considering replacing the failed internal components and swapping it back in. I have a spare surface water system in place from prior to my deep well going in and am considering splitting my water supply into potable and utility water to run the toilet and hoses. A toilet doesn't need high pressure so it may be a low pressure on demand with a head tank system set up with a positive displacement pump to up the pump efficiency.
My first PV system - My original 660 watt PV system was installed early on in the solar curve. The 30% federal tax incentive didn't exist although I did get a 10% credit. No state credits and expensive components ($6.60 a watt panels). It just keeps running but expect the payback would have been better in a bank. The inverter is getting on in years and its an orphan. Odds are when it dies I will take this array out of service as 1 KW inverters are pretty rare. There were a lot of intangible benefits as I learned a lot on designing and operating systems and helped a few folks with their designs. My two later arrays have benefitted from lower cost components, rebates and incentives and are a far better payback.
So what have been your fails?
Here is my list the energy savings approaches that have been less than a success
Compact Fluorescents - I have had mixed success with CFs. I switched over a lot of fixtures to CFs over the years and have had mixed luck. Light quality has always been hit or miss, frequently missing. Yes the bulbs put out light but are unpleasant to live with. Temperature tolerance has always been an issue. Unless they are in warm place they aren't worth installing as the lifespan seems to be short and there is a noticeable delay in putting light out. The net result is I have box of unused or lightly used CFs that will probably get thrown out. Early LEDs have had issues with color temp but an order of magnitude better than CFs had.
Cheap Cellular Blinds - My first batch of cellular blinds worked well from a heating and cooling perspective but the construction quality was poor. They were expensive up front and probably had a 20 year payback if ever but the comfort factor was a major plus. The downside is the standard design has cheap hardware and lifting cords. Inevitably the strings would break in a few years and I had choice of paying a steep fee to send it to someone to fix it or try to DIY. In the two DIY attempts I discovered that the internal hardware was just plain cheap. I finally bit the bullet and went with a newer design with heavier duty hardware and knock on wood every one of them is still operating perfectly. I also went with side tracks on the later units and that really increased their comfort level, draft free on the coldest night.
Low flow toilet - My original toilet came with the house and definitely was a water hog. Since I have a deep well and deep static water level I figured it was a major hidden energy hog. I have a septic system and so I was not really worried about treating the flow. When the internals of the old toilet failed I went with the current water savings design. As some of the early low flows had a bad rep I bought a Kohler assuming they had worked the kinks out of the design. I very quickly discovered that they hadn't. The new designs keep a very low water level and in normal operation mine needs to be double flushed often negating the water savings. It also needs cleaning far more often. I still have the old toilet and am considering replacing the failed internal components and swapping it back in. I have a spare surface water system in place from prior to my deep well going in and am considering splitting my water supply into potable and utility water to run the toilet and hoses. A toilet doesn't need high pressure so it may be a low pressure on demand with a head tank system set up with a positive displacement pump to up the pump efficiency.
My first PV system - My original 660 watt PV system was installed early on in the solar curve. The 30% federal tax incentive didn't exist although I did get a 10% credit. No state credits and expensive components ($6.60 a watt panels). It just keeps running but expect the payback would have been better in a bank. The inverter is getting on in years and its an orphan. Odds are when it dies I will take this array out of service as 1 KW inverters are pretty rare. There were a lot of intangible benefits as I learned a lot on designing and operating systems and helped a few folks with their designs. My two later arrays have benefitted from lower cost components, rebates and incentives and are a far better payback.
So what have been your fails?