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Abilene, TX Car Consumer Discussions

Re: here we go again? [andre1969]

by larsb on Tue Sep 23 07:44:51 PDT 2008

andre1969 says, "How big would a turbine like that be? I wonder if they would be feasible in Maryland, where I live." Here is the website for the Abilene company: Residential Wind Turbines Looks like the size of the larger residential turbine is 22 ft in diameter (blade tip to blade tip) and the higher up you can put them, the more air flow you get. As far as if it would work in your area, it depends on the average daily wind speed. The higher wind speed of course means more energy can be generated from the wind. Bonus Page Just For You: Maryland residential wind turbine and wind power information page

Re: here we go again? [larsb]

by andre1969 on Tue Sep 23 07:17:17 PDT 2008

You were quoted an over-priced version. There is a wind power company in Abilene TX which installs home turbines for around $10K to do about 50% of a home's power or about $16K to do nearly 90% of the power, based on average usage. How big would a turbine like that be? I wonder if they would be feasible in Maryland, where I live. And what's the big deal with a 21 year payback period? Is your house going to fall down before 21 years is up? Imagine what electricity might cost in 21 years - maybe triple today's cost or even more? My house is 92 year old, so it just might. :P Actually, the thought of future costs, of both electricity and home heating oil, is what helped me justify the expense of having my heat pump put in. With the furnace, I averaged 450 gallons per year. I'm currently locked in at around $3.70 per gallon, once you factor in all the fees and taxes they tack on. Last winter was mild, luckily, and I only spent about $1200-1300 on oil, but a more typical winter would have cost around $1700 at those prices. And with the way prices have gone up, I'm sure I'd be paying $2000+ this winter. When I first moved into the house, back in late 2003, I had a contract for oil at $1.19 per gallon. Electricity was averaging out to about 7.9 cents per kilowatt hour. Well, the last time I checked oil prices, they quoted me about $4.20 per gallon, a jump of almost 2.5 times! Electricity's creeping up too. So far in 2008, I'm averaging out to about 15.2 cents per kilowatt hour, so it's not quite doubled. I took a wild guess that my break even point would be in about 8-10 years. But if electric and oil prices go back up, it could be sooner.

Re: here we go again? [1stpik]

by larsb on Tue Sep 23 07:03:39 PDT 2008

1stpik says, "Those things cost $30,000." You were quoted an over-priced version. There is a wind power company in Abilene TX which installs home turbines for around $10K to do about 50% of a home's power or about $16K to do nearly 90% of the power, based on average usage. And what's the big deal with a 21 year payback period? Is your house going to fall down before 21 years is up? Imagine what electricity might cost in 21 years - maybe triple today's cost or even more? Every single day that you use something else other than the grid to power your home is like money in the "Bank of Yourself" 15 years from now. Even if you sell the house, the cost is recouped back to you at about $10 per $1 saved on the electric bill. So if you install something that saves $1,000 a year on utility bills, then your house INSTANTLY (historically speaking) will go up $10,000 in value. People are slowly but surely getting the message. Solar and wind will be making big strides in the next 5 years, and we will ALL be better off because of it.

At least TEXAS is forward-thinking about alternative power sources

by larsb on Fri Jul 18 08:05:54 PDT 2008

My home state of Texas, in fact very near my hometown (one of the new transmission lines will go through my hometown county) is adopting a very ambitious Wind Power project. ( Unlike Cali, which seems to trip over itself when trying to do the right thing. ) Will steal a lot of power requirements from coal-fueled power plants: Winds of Change In a move that could be a financial boon for the Big Country, state regulators approved a plan Thursday to build a massive grid to transmit wind power from gusty West Texas and the Panhandle to energy-thirsty metropolitan areas. The Texas Public Utility Commission's action opens the door for construction of a far-reaching web of transmission lines that, when completed at a cost of nearly $5 billion over four or five years, would be able to handle enough wind-generated electricity to power more than 4 million homes. The electricity will go to some of the state's most populous areas, including Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Paying for the PUC plan would add roughly $4 per month to residential customer bills after construction is completed. Passage of the plan is "a real big deal," said Sweetwater Mayor Greg Wortham, who also heads the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium. "It's good for Abilene, good for Sweetwater, good for the region." Good, in fact, for the entire state of Texas, Wortham said. "This will bring billions more dollars of investment to Texas in the form of wind equipment, construction, local revenues and jobs," said Susan Williams Sloan, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based American Wind Energy Association.

AutoTranny Filter size

by j_appleseed on Mon Jun 02 11:51:29 PDT 2008

I have a 2000 GMC Sierra 1500, 4.8L w/ towing package and I changed my transmission fluid and filter yesterday. I bought the new filter at advance auto and there were two sizes, shallow and deep. I bought the shallow filter, but after removing the old one, it looks like a deep filter. I went ahead and installed the shallow filter. Anybody think I need to replace it with the deep filter? I tow a small 17 foot ski boat about twice a month.

Update on 05 Saturn Problems

by chilipepper1 on Tue Apr 29 18:13:59 PDT 2008

I originally posted in March but I have now had MORE problems with my Saturn. This past Friday, just about 6 weeks from when I got both shifter cables replaced I was driving out in the middle of nowhere and I came to a stop after cruising a while & I couldn't shift my car in to 1st or 2nd gear. After GREAT manhandling I was able to get it in to 3rd, then 4th and 5th. I took it in to Saturn in Abilene. They tried to tell me that the slave cylinder was going out AGAIN (I already had it replaced at 19,000 miles). I didn't have the money or time to spend in Abilene (I was only there for a conference/weekend) so I transferred my car to Firestone. They looked it and said there was nothing wrong with the Slave Cylinder or Clutch. They said there was air in the line & bled the clutch. They saved me $900.00. I drove it almost all the way back to Austin when it started grinding while in 3rd gear only. End of story, my Saturn VUE is now at the Saturn of Austin for the 5th time in 54,000 miles with a tentative diagnosis of the sycros is going out in the transmission (which was replaced at 22, 000 already). Any advice anyone?