I created a few new charts this year to evaluate the performance of my solar panels in 2016. Overall they did about as well as expected, though production was a bit lower than last year. I guess I shouldn't have skipped a year of cleaning!
Read MoreYear In Review 2015 - Water Falling
Although the data is relatively sparse (I only get a bill every two months) I'm pleased to see that my water use is down significantly compared to last year. Some of that is because I had a roommate for parts of the year in 2014, and some of it is thanks to a water shutoff valve I installed in the shower. Once area that could still use improvement is the summer when my use bumps up thanks to watering all of the plants outside.
Read MoreYear In Review 2015 - Power of the Sun
Readers of my posts will know that I collect quite a bit of data about my solar panels. Once a year I like to take a look at the bigger picture and see how the system is performing over time. First some quick numbers: Overall system efficiency averaged just over 13.1% in 2015, slightly up from 12.5% in 2014. The panels themselves were also a bit more efficient, up to 14.4% from 13.7%. This is a little surprising since they're expected to drop 0.5% per year.
Read MoreYear In Review 2015 - Now We're Cooking With Gas
Thanks to PSE's handy website I have daily numbers for my natural gas use. Much like last year I had fairly flat use during the warm months, and more irregular use in the colder seasons.
Read MoreYear In Review 2015 - Vehicle Miles Traveled
I'll have to confess: I don't actually have any data on my car use in 2015. I only record the mileage when I have it serviced, and I was remiss in getting an oil change from November 2014 until January 2016. During that 417 day gap I drove a grand total of 1,628 miles, averaging 1,428 miles/year or only 3.9 miles/day.
Read MoreYear In Review 2015 - Steps & Pounds
Following up on my previous transit post I took a look at my walking for 2015. Much like my transit data this is the first year I have data for the full year (via my FitBit). In total I walked over 2,400 miles in 2015, taking over 5.1 million steps and burning 1.1 million calories.
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