My Greenish Power Project and Updating a Few Grid Cords

[sloeffle]

Now he here is the kicker. If you invest that cash at say 5-7% per year it’s hard to say that going green saves money.

You and I must be investing in totally different things. Returns from the largest ETFs in 2025

• Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): ~$143 billion in inflows (approx. 17.8% return).
• iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): ~$78 billion in inflows (approx. 17.8% return).
• Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): ~$39 billion in inflows (approx. 17.1% return).
• VXUS (international fund) returned almost 35% in 2025.

Yes, the markets can and will go down, but history tells us that they are mostly going up.

Don't want to railroad this thread so I'll leave this post brief.

 

[EbS-P]

You and I must be investing in totally different things. Returns from the largest ETFs in 2025

• Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): ~$143 billion in inflows (approx. 17.8% return).
• iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): ~$78 billion in inflows (approx. 17.8% return).
• Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): ~$39 billion in inflows (approx. 17.1% return).
• VXUS (international fund) returned almost 35% in 2025.

Yes, the markets can and will go down, but history tells us that they are mostly going up.

Don't want to railroad this thread so I'll leave this post brief.

And if you can 15% energy improvements are hard to make a long term financial argument for. But if you have a fixed income I didn’t do the math if I spend/cash out the gain each year.

I hope my portfolio did that good. I didn’t look.

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

You and I must be investing in totally different things. Returns from the largest ETFs in 2025

• Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): ~$143 billion in inflows (approx. 17.8% return).
• iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): ~$78 billion in inflows (approx. 17.8% return).
• Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): ~$39 billion in inflows (approx. 17.1% return).
• VXUS (international fund) returned almost 35% in 2025.

Yes, the markets can and will go down, but history tells us that they are mostly going up.

Don't want to railroad this thread so I'll leave this post brief.

Since I have money in that Vanguard ETF, I will let you slide.

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

I watched that. Remember that is gas and electricity bill combined. PG&E did change their solar rate structure. I sell at 0.04 and buy at 0.12. Net metering was/is a subsidy. They can’t last forever. Someone has to pay for it. I’m not saying it’s wrong. Solar costs have come down and now they aren’t as needed. California whole sale electric prices when the sun is shining are almost zero!

Correct on the G&E. I grew up under CG&E Cincinnati Gas & Electric so I get the combined. I paid combined for NG&E last year 4500 (+/-). The video opened my eyes though

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Yeah, if I lived in Mass I would be mad at the utilities AND their regulators too. You shouldn't be mad at green energy, you should be mad at how your utilities and regulators are handling green energy.

I still remember 10 years ago when Mass pols got caught taking payoffs from the wind producers to allow them to contract super high rates for wind power. Disgusting, and killed the whole offshore project back then. I would have zero confidence they are not all STILL corrupt. The New England states pay waaay more than similar states elsewhere, and there is a long list of reasons given for why, but they all sound fishy to me. And nobody offers a solution. Meanwhile, the rest of the country pays half as much on average.

And I have family that work at Eversource.

PS: It sounds like you need to sell the existing genny, and buy an inverter genny, just to get the noise factor down. How you wire it is a secondary issue. This assumes that a local shop can't swap/improve the muffler or something on the existing genny. During a blackout I run my stuff off my EV with a silent 2kW inverter. But my neighbors genny is LOUD. Fortunately, he's on the end opposite my bedrooms.

Good point. I am truly not against green energy, but it appears when they talk about green energy they're talking about the greenbacks flowing back and forth between the govt and the green energy companies. I'm trying to find the green in me that makes sense for me financially upfront and ROI.
I know lots of cable, Eversource and National Grid employees. I bought my home from a guy that worked for the cable company in the late 80's though the name of the cable company eludes me. It has been bought and sold so many times I'm not really sure who owns what now. Same is true with Eversource and National Grid and Verizon too for that matter. My neighbor retired from Verizon about 15 years ago.

I'm looking at a 4k/3k inverter at Lowes right now. It has everything I'm looking for. I just have to go their physically and order it as I have a store credit of several hundred bucks that I want to use to offset the cost.

 

[woodgeek]

And if you can 15% energy improvements are hard to make a long term financial argument for. But if you have a fixed income I didn’t do the math if I spend/cash out the gain each year.

I hope my portfolio did that good. I didn’t look.

I agree. But in my experience AIRSEALING projects can easily pay >25% for decades. If OP has an older house that has not been pro airsealed he should look into to, esp with baseboard heat.

I would normally say call your utility for that, but I have little confidence that they will do the job correctly in MA.

 

[EbS-P]

I agree. But in my experience AIRSEALING projects can easily pay >25% for decades. If OP has an older house that has not been pro airsealed he should look into to, esp with baseboard heat.

I would normally say call your utility for that, but I have little confidence that they will do the job correctly in MA.

I would agree. Air sealing and insulation have great ROI and with a bit of learning the average DIYer can do a good job with simple tools.