Year 7-Celebrating Green Dreams Come True

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The Rock Stars: Hyundai Ioniq 5, Nissan Ariya and 30 solar panels on the roof. Driving free on Nevada sunshine!

We have been on a quest to reduce our carbon footprint and green our life since 2019 when we installed our first set of solar panels and bought a used Nissan LEAF. Wow, have we come a long way since then! We are excited to have exceeded our goals while saving more money than we had expected (and it looks like we may save even more in the future as energy prices increase). Driving EV’s is thrilling, especially knowing that you are driving free on Nevada sunshine and emitting zero carbon! We also feel more comfortable in our home with our new HVAC systems, while saving money and natural gas. Going green has improved our lives on all levels and we have already broken even on our investment. We estimate we will save $84,000-$100,000 over the next 20 years that we intend to keep our home and our cars.

Here’s a table showing our average annual savings and other interesting stats:

Reduction in Our Carbon Footprint

We are thrilled to have made our goal of an over 50% reduction in our carbon footprint! A similar US household emits 50 tons of carbon dioxide per year, so at 19 tons, we emit about 62% less. Changes made: Driving all electric vehicles, installing 30 solar panels, replacing old water heater and HVAC with heat pumps, using zone heating, switching to LED lighting, eating less meat and dairy and more fruits and veggies. We used the Nature Conservancy calculator (https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/) if you want to see what your carbon footprint is.

Annual $ Savings

I realized that I was not capturing the full value of our solar panels in my previous calculations. Now that we are using all the electricity we produce, our utility savings is a mix of the value of the electricity produced at current electrical rates + the value of the gas savings at current gas rates. We now use 63% less natural gas than we did in the past.

Our savings are likely to increase over time as the demand for electricity and natural gas increases, particularly with the growth in data centers to power AI. I recently read an article that projected a quadrupling of our energy demands in northern Nevada! It is expected that residential customers will be shouldering a portion of these costs through increased prices. If this happens, we could see the value of our panels increase significantly.

We save an average of about $3,000 per year by driving our EV’s. We expect that savings to increase over time as the EV’s age. They will require less R&M than their comparable gas vehicles and we anticipate that gas prices will trend up over the 20 years we hope to drive these vehicles, increasing that savings as well. For information on our EV savings and driving experience, see this post: https://rhondaashurst.com/2025/02/06/2023-and-2024-recap-of-driving-our-evs/.

Below is a breakdown of the total added home value and savings from the first table. I reference the savings I calculated when I did my last review in 2022. In that blog, I shared what we did in a lot more detail and offered suggestions if you want ideas for greening your own life (https://rhondaashurst.com/2023/03/05/year-4-its-all-coming-together/).

Between the annual savings of our systems, which all work in synergy with one another, we have saved $29,000 in 7 years! Our home value has increased by an estimated $34,000. For this calculation I took our estimated home value off Zillow and then multiplied by 5.5%. I based that on this article: https://www.energysage.com/news/solar-power-as-a-home-improvement-strategy/. I feel like the 5.5% is warranted given all the systems we have added to our home that increase its value by creating a stream of savings that will last for many years. That brings the total added value and savings to $63,000!

Note: We had a lot of help installing the heat pump systems from friends and family in the business. This saved us a lot of money. We also benefitted from tax rebates. We did choose high end EV’s which were more expensive. You can go all EV with cheaper used models, like we did with the LEAF, which was actually cheaper than the comparable ICE-the Juke.

The Financial Bottom Line

After only 7 years, we are over $8,000 ahead on our green investments. If we keep our house for the 20 years+ that we are planning, I estimate we will save somewhere between $84,000-$100,000! If we continue to save 20 tons of carbon per year, in 20 more years we will save over 400 tons of carbon from entering Earth’s atmosphere. Regardless of how you feel about climate change, this is a smart thing to do from a financial perspective. If we see the increase in energy prices that are currently being predicted, we may end up saving even more.

The Importance of Solar Panels

Adding all of these systems increases electricity use. We now use about 2.75 times more than we used in the past. Prior to 2019, we were using about 6800 kWh per year in our household. Now our household uses about 13,500, almost double. We also put about 5,000 kWh in our EV’s in 2025, for a total increase of 11,700 kWh. What saves money and carbon is using the solar panels to generate most of this increase. Some of the increase is due to caring for my elders, which involves a lot of driving (e.g. we provide my mother’s transportation and run all her errands). We think that our own personal use is about what we produce at this point, which was our goal.

Our gratitude to Travis and the guys at Great Basin Solar (https://www.greatbasinsolar.com/) for the awesome job they did designing and installing our system.

For More Information About Our EV’s

See this theme: https://rhondaashurst.com/category/driving-electric-cars/.

A Review of Our Heat Pump Systems

For a comprehensive review of our heat pump systems, see this post: https://rhondaashurst.com/2026/03/28/a-review-of-our-heat-pump-systems/.

To See the History of Going Solar

See this theme for the older posts: https://rhondaashurst.com/category/going-solar/page/2/.

See this theme for the newer posts: https://rhondaashurst.com/category/going-solar/.

Xeriscaping Our Yard

We also xeriscaped our yard from 2013-2023, which reduced our water usage by about 1/3. We live in a dry climate where water is precious, so we decided to change our lawns into a beautiful variety of shrubs, flowers, pavers with pots and DG. We love our new yard and it is a lot easier to take care of!

For more information on this journey, see this theme: https://rhondaashurst.com/category/xeriscaping-our-yard/.

A Review of Our Heat Pump Systems

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We started our heat pump journey with a hot water heater in April 2021, followed by a heat pump HVAC system in June 2022, and a master bedroom mini-split in June 2023. The main goals of these systems are to (1) reduce carbon emissions by using the solar we produce on our roof to efficiently heat and cool our home and produce hot water and (2) keep us comfortable in the areas of the house we use.

We’ve had these systems for a few years now and have learned a lot through experience. We have definitely accomplished our goals, but we use some of the systems differently than we anticipated and there is one system we would not purchase again for our particular home.

Here’s a little summary table of our systems:

The heat pump water heater is definitely our star! It cost the least and saves the most natural gas-235 therms. It works beautifully and even helps cool our garage in the summers (it puts the heat from the air into the water). We would definitely do it again!

The heat pump HVAC was our only disappointment. We had thought it would save electricity over our electric zone heaters, but it didn’t. Essentially we learned that it is not efficient at temperatures below 40 degrees. We originally set the heat pump to run at 35 degrees and above. We discovered we were using a lot of electricity and it was running all the time when it was cold. In milder temperatures, it works well to keep the whole house warm at a steady temperature. However, that uses more electricity than our zone heaters because the HVAC is a bigger unit and uses more power. We don’t use our whole house, staying mostly in the front rooms during the day which are farthest from the HVAC unit. We always felt a little chilly in those areas, so we ended up using our Zone heaters some in addition to the heat pump. This ate up about 1 megawatt of electricity that we are now saving by just using the Zone heaters. Now we use the heat pump HVAC only when temperatures are above 40 degrees to do the morning lift, mostly during shoulder seasons. (We turn down our thermostat to 62 at night and raise it to 68 when we get up.) This saves us about 15 therms of gas, so not enough to justify getting a heat pump again. We use it for A/C in the summer months during the day to cool the house, but at night we switch to the minisplit in our bedroom. In hindsight, we would have just replaced our old A/C unit with a newer one rather than getting the heat pump HVAC. In talking with our neighbors, they use their heat pumps a little differently than we do (see HVAC blog link below). Each situation is different and heat pumps can be the way to go, depending on the household.

The minisplit in our bedroom we use during hot summer nights to keep us cool and drown out the drag racing on the ring road near our home. It makes a lovely white noise and keeps us cool, while saving about 500 kWh of electricity over what we used to use when we had the HVAC cooling the whole house at night. Now that unit doesn’t run at all at night, except if we have company and want to keep them cool.

The Zone heaters are not heat pump technology, but efficient electric space heaters. We use an EdenPURE infrared copper heater in our dining room area during the day. Many days we don’t need it in the later afternoon. It keeps the area I work in at the dining room table and our kitchen warm, but the open design of our home means it also adds heat to the living room where Scott works. There is a Lopi gas stove in the living room, which I use in the mornings for my practice and we use in the evenings until we head to bed to read. It also holds the house at 62 degrees overnight so the main HVAC doesn’t come on at night-it only does the morning lift to 68 degrees. We use a Dyson heater in our bedroom when we are reading at night and it is chilly; Scott uses it in the mornings when he is reading while I’m doing my practice. We already had the Zone heaters, so they didn’t cost us anything and save us about 125 therms of gas. We have learned that zone heating and cooling is the way to go in our house, given how we use it.

Carbon and Cost Savings

Each therm of natural gas produces 12 pounds of CO2. So saving 385 therms saves 4,600 pounds of CO2. We pay about $0.50 per therm on average, so it saves about $193 per year off our NV Energy bill. We have decreased our gas use by 63%.

NOTE: It does take a lot of electricity to power these units and that is worth considering before installing them. Our household electricity usage has almost doubled, going from 6800 kWh annually to 13,500 kWh, a 6,700 kWh increase. Our solar panels generate the electricity we use for our household so it doesn’t cost us extra and reduces our carbon footprint. If we didn’t have the panels, we would be paying about $544 more per year (1 kWh=$0.11: 6700 kWh increase in electricity use X $0.11=$737-$193 gas savings=$544). We would also have increased our carbon footprint by 4,100 pounds (1 kWh=1.3 pounds: 6700X1.3=8,700-4,600 pounds saved in gas= 4,100). It really works best to use these systems in conjunction with solar panels.

Overall, we are very pleased with our systems and both agree we are now more comfortable in our home than we were before making these changes, plus we are saving both carbon and money!

For more detailed information about our heat pump systems–how they work, the installation process, cost breakdowns, how we and our neighbors use them, see these previous posts which have been updated:

Heat Pump Hot Water Heater: https://rhondaashurst.com/2021/04/25/our-new-hybrid-heat-pump-water-heater/

Heat Pump HVAC: https://rhondaashurst.com/2023/03/03/our-new-hybrid-split-heat-pump-system/

Mini-Split: https://rhondaashurst.com/2024/03/11/our-mini-split/

Unconditional Love Has Its Limits

But wait a minute, you might be saying, how can it have limits if it is unconditional? I am learning through some difficult relationship struggles with people I love that there is a lot of confusion about this concept. We can confuse unconditional love with unconditional relationships. I know I have. Unconditional love is a beautiful spiritual aspiration encouraged by many of the world’s faiths; unconditional relationships are dysfunctional and unhealthy.

As a Quaker, I think of unconditional love as seeing the Light in everyone, even when it seems hidden and I am experiencing them as difficult. However, this does not mean that they can treat me badly and I will put up with it to keep the peace. I have done plenty of that in my life. It doesn’t end well. I do treasure peace and I prefer to see the good in people. But when I sweep under the rug violations of my boundaries or disrespectful/aggressive behavior, I sell myself out and condone the other’s harmful words and actions. This ultimately leads to resentment and eventually withdrawal and avoidance.

Healthy relationships have clear boundaries and rules of conduct. People in healthy relationships tell their truth and are not afraid to confront and challenge one another, because the relationship is a safe space in which to be honest. They are open and expressive of their needs and wants in a relationship and respectfully negotiate when there are conflicts. They don’t harm themselves to meet the needs of others, nor do they expect that of others. They do not use guilt or other tools of manipulation, including violence, to get what they want.

Looking at this through the lens of the Quaker testimonies, we approach relationships as equals, striving to be peaceful and keep our hearts open, while still standing in our integrity and telling our truth. As humans, we have limits to our inner Light and a responsibility to protect it from harm and depletion. We are all precious.

For a long time in my life, I placed others and their needs above my own. I thought that was what I was supposed to do, particularly with family. I wondered why I often felt resentful and burned out. I had a great therapist who told me, “To love others well, you must be self-full and love yourself first.” It was her way of reframing my insistence that considering myself first was selfish. Another Friend puts it well, “Put on your own oxygen mask first.”

But what do we do when someone we love doesn’t honor our boundaries, makes excessive demands, or treats us abusively, and our attempts to repair the relationship have failed?  This is a tough one for us Quakers. We want to keep trying to work it out. Sometimes we can’t and we have to end the relationship to take care of ourselves. How do we do that and continue to love them unconditionally, even if just from afar?

I’m finding it is possible to let go, to forgive, to move on, and to still hold them in my heart. I can hope that we both find peace, that good comes from it all in the end. I can look back and see the mistakes I made and strive to be more skillful next time. I don’t have to carry anger or regret, or wish they could see things my way or be different than they are. I can let it all be and hold them and myself in the Light.

Committing to Inner Peace

As 2025 began, like many of us, I pondered my New Year’s intentions. I’d read that polls show people are feeling more stressed, anxious and depressed in recent years. I’d noticed the same trend. I decided what the world needs most right now is more peace, kindness and hope, not more anxiety, anger and despair. So, I resolved to commit to lasting inner peace.

This is not a new journey. For many years I’ve aspired to be as calm inside as I seem to appear to others. Inside I usually feel a low-level hum of anxiety, sometimes becoming louder depending on external circumstances and my thoughts about them. I’ve learned a lot from therapy, meditation, nature, animals, yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi, my Quaker path, books, classes and retreats. Though I have improved over time, inner calm still eluded me.

As I began my quest, I realized I was so accustomed to feeling anxious and tense that peace felt strange and unfamiliar. I felt a bit lost. So, I found things to get anxious about and attack with my usual OCD focus. Then I got sick, just a cold, but enough to get my attention. I spent my recovery time journaling and looking at my anxiety pattern. I realized that I was addicted to the cortisol/adrenaline rush of my anxiety and the energy it gave me. But that energy was frenetic and scattered, often I attended to meaningless details and got nowhere. I wasn’t bringing my best self into the situation. I resolved to watch more closely how I get derailed and then get back on track again.

This is what I am learning:

Make a commitment—This is the first step towards lasting inner peace. It requires a dedicated focus. It turns out all the techniques I have learned and practiced are helpful, but they are not enough without committing wholeheartedly to peace.

Use meditation to return to peace—Whenever I lose touch with the core of peace within me, I use what I call my peace-love meditation. I breathe in peace and breathe out love. I do this multiple times a day and night. I’m sleeping better and our smart bed tells me my heart and breath rates are improving. Peace is increasingly my new state of being, rather than anxiety.

Ask for divine help and guidance—It is always there; all we need to do is ask and be humble and willing to receive. It also helps to ask for support from other people in your life. When something is beyond you, let go and turn it over to Spirit, hold it in the Light.

Spend time doing things that help you feel calm and peaceful—What helps me is time with others who are peaceful, nature, animals, plants, positive books & programs, mindful movement & working out, meditation, Quaker Worship and writings, and retreats-both within the day and for several days at a time. What we nurture grows in us.

Limit exposure to news, social media and political parties—We can have an addiction to trauma, drama, and stress and these entities use this to keep us clicking, buying/donating and voting. They feed on our fears and are linked to an increase in anxiety, depression and hopelessness. I’ve found it helpful to get my information from reputable sources of facts and data. What I really need to know comes to me.

Accept reality as it is—Buddha taught that not accepting reality causes suffering. It also destroys peace and limits our ability to affect positive change. I wrote about this concept previously in this blog: https://www.renofriends.org/acceptance/.

Stand for not against—Whatever we focus on we make stronger. What we fight, we make stronger. What we stand peacefully in support of, we make stronger. It’s our choice. Be compassionate, while standing in your truth.

See the Light in everyone—It helps me to remember that there is Light in everyone, and we are all connected and interdependent. We are not as different as we might seem. People are mostly good; some have lost connection with their Light for various reasons.

Be and act in the moment—A powerful message given in Worship recently: “Do not dwell on fears of the future, do what you can, where you can, when you can.” Our fears and anxieties are often about future problems, not what is happening in the moment. We can only act in this moment, and we can only do what is ours to do.

Simplify–If you are feeling overwhelmed by what you are trying to do, as Peace Pilgrim wisely says, “You are doing more than is right for you to do.”  Do what you are strongly led to do and what brings a sense of fullness in peace (peacefulness). Don’t be afraid to say no to that which is beyond your Light. Trust others will take up what you cannot. If you are burdened by material possessions, let go of what you no longer need. Let go of thoughts and habits that no longer serve your highest good.

Live your values and truth—When we live a life that is not aligned with our values and truth, it is not possible to rest in inner peace. It takes courage and effort to change habits and patterns that are out of sync with our highest selves, but it’s worth it. It really does set us free and bring us peace.

Feel feelings but don’t let them lead you—Feelings are powerful motivators and often alert us to what needs our attention. What I’m noticing is I can feel intense emotions, while remaining aware of a peaceful, loving core or Light at the center of my being. It’s like the eye of a hurricane. This part of me has a wider-lens perspective on what is happening and knows it will pass, like any storm. Once I acknowledge my feelings, they flow through me. After some seasoning and detachment, helpful words and actions become clearer. Prayers for guidance are also helpful.

Lately, I’ve noticed I can remain peacefully centered in situations which usually cause anxiety or irritation. I have more constructive conversations with those who hold differing viewpoints. I’m a better listener and more present to others. It is clearer to me what I need to do moment by moment. I’ve become more at ease with just Being. I feel more balanced. I’m not tied up in knots inside myself and this is becoming my new normal. I know I will be tested, and I will slip back into my old ways at times. I’m praying for help to get back to my peaceful center when I lose my way. I am committed to doing my part.

This message came when I asked Spirit for help with this blog: Remember this too shall pass, as all things do. Transformation requires disruption. Work peacefully and lovingly with the disruptions to create the transformation you envision. Take it one step at a time, moment-by-moment. Stay within your Light. Be true to your leadings.  Help is here—ask and you shall receive. Remain centered in peace, patient with the process, and trust all is well.

2023 and 2024 Recap of Driving Our EV’s

We have now been driving an EV since 2019 when we got our little Nissan LEAF, so we have 6 years of EV experience! Hard to believe… I looked back and realized I haven’t done an annual recap since 2022, so it’s time! In this post, I’ll look at miles traveled, gas $ saved and pounds of carbon saved. In 2023, Scott drove the LEAF for 1/2 the year and the Ariya for the other half. I’ve been driving the Ioniq since 2022. So 2024, is the first year that we drove both the bigger EV SUV’s for a whole year. I won’t repeat everything I wrote last June when I reviewed our cars and what it’s been like to be an all EV family for 2 years (now over 2.5). Here’s the link to that post: https://rhondaashurst.com/2024/06/25/looking-back-on-going-all-ev-two-years-later/. I will give some updates on things that have changed since the June post.

Here’s the data:

Note: Comparison ICE’s are the Nissan Murano against the Ariya, Hyundai Tucson against the Ioniq, and Nissan Juke against the Nissan LEAF

Annually, we average about 16,000 miles between our two EV’s, saving about $3,000 in gas, and keeping about 13,000 pounds of carbon from entering our atmosphere. Right now we are still on free maintenance, so there is no additional savings from that, as the comparable ICE (internal combustion engine) cars would also still have free maintenance. In the future, we expect to save additional money every year on repairs and maintenance of the EV’s over their comparable ICE’s.

Driving EV’s that are powered by the solar on our roof is the way we save the most money and carbon. We use about 4 megawatts per year of electricity at home to charge our EV’s. Essentially, we drive free on the Nevada sunshine! Plus they are way fun to drive! We love not going to gas stations. People ask how long it takes us to charge our cars and we say about 1 minute: 30 seconds to plug in and 30 seconds to unplug. The charging happens while the cars are just sitting in our garage. Of course, it’s different when we are on the road, which I’ll talk more about below. We take about 3-4 road trips a year that require us to charge on the road, so that is a minor part of our charging experience.

One change has happened to our home charging routine–my Ioniq has decided it doesn’t like our Level 2 charger that is part of our solar inverter. It keeps shutting down the charging session, thinking it is overheating. We have tried it on our neighbor’s Level 2 charger which is on a 220-volt outlet and it works fine, so we know it is an issue with our particular charger. What we decided to do was use the 110 charger that came with the car and set it up on its own outlet. It turns out this works much better for us, because I no longer have to drag the charging cable from the solar inverter around both cars to the back of my car to charge. All I do is grab my charger conveniently located right next to my charging port (thank you Scott) and plug it in. Scott no longer has to unplug my car and drag the cable out of the way in order to get his car out of the garage. Then he would plug my car back in and do it all again when he came home. A pain in the butt! It does take longer to charge my car, so I tend to plug in at around 30-40% for a couple of nights and charge it back up to 80%. I probably do this about once a week, so no big deal. Since the car is just sitting in the garage anyway, it might as well be plugged in. At least it works consistently now and is much more convenient. I do have to pre-plan for a long road trip as it takes a few nights to bring it up to 90-100%. Scott now gets the Level 2 charger to himself and uses it about once every 9-10 days to bring the Ariya up from 20% to 80%. He drives his car less than I do, since I make a few trips across town every week to care for my mother. Another advantage of this new charging system is that we can both charge simultaneously if we need to.

Pro-tip: If you don’t drive a lot of miles (under 40) for a commute every day, a Level 1 (110-volt) charger will work fine for at-home charging. You don’t have to have a Level 2 unless you need that for your commute.

This year I also kept track of all the electricity that went into our cars and we used about 5 megawatts, 4 at home and 1 on the road. Dividing this by our total miles driven, I calculated we average about 3 miles per kWh. This is less than our little LEAF which got 3.7 miles/kWh. It makes sense that these larger and heavier vehicles would get less miles/kWh.

Road Tripping

I have written a few posts on road tripping in our EV’s in the past:

https://rhondaashurst.com/2024/01/23/road-tripping-in-the-ariya/

https://rhondaashurst.com/2023/01/24/road-trip-to-la-selva/

https://rhondaashurst.com/2023/05/09/taking-the-ioniq-into-the-boonies/

Those posts share more about how doing a road trip in an EV works and tips on figuring out how much of a charge you need to get where you are going (pro tip: your EV will tell you it can go farther than it really can on a road trip). In general, we use the Electrify America network and have not had problems with finding available and working chargers. Our travels are all in California so far, which has an extensive charging network along major highways. On average we spend about 30 minutes on a Level 3 charger after driving 100-150 miles. We tend to plan our charging stops around our needs and not the car’s.

During that time, we eat lunch, take walks and use the bathroom. We’ve noticed that we feel a lot better when we reach our destination because we take longer breaks and walk more.

In this post, I’d like to share our experience of paying for Electrify America charging now that our free charging has come to an end. I’ll also compare that against what we would pay for gas if we were driving the Tucson instead of the Ioniq. Here is the data:

As you can see, we save a significant amount of money driving the EV’s, but this is mostly due to the fact that we charge at home before we leave and at my aunt and uncle’s when we arrive. We don’t pay for that electricity, so that makes a big difference.

Just for kicks I calculated what it would cost on the Electrify America network if we had to pay for all the electricity we use on a road trip. It takes about 200 kWh to do the trip in the summer and 224 kWh in the winter. This is because of using heat and lower battery performance in the winter. Electrify America currently charges $.56/kWh in California. So it would cost $112 in the summer and $125 in the winter. Looking at the table, you would about break even in summer and in winter you would pay more than you would for gas. This was not always the case, when the rate was $.43/kWh, but as it has increased, the costs of driving an EV on the road are now comparable to driving an ICE if you have to pay for all your charging.

NOTE: I did deduct the money we paid to Electrify America from the gas savings in the first table.

Overall, we are loving our EV’s and don’t miss driving gas cars at all! They are much quieter, more fun, and it gives us peace of mind that we aren’t emitting any more carbon into the atmosphere. They are also significantly cheaper to drive when you generate your own electricity. But even if you don’t, the 4000 kWh we put in our cars at home would have cost around $500 at 12 cents per kWh from NV Energy. That’s still a savings of $2500 a year driving EV’s.

We are looking forward to being able to charge on the Tesla network, hopefully in the next few months, so stay tuned for an update on that adventure!

Looking Back on Going All EV Two Years Later

2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 2023 Nissan Ariya-both fueled by Nevada sunshine off our solar panels

We were on a road trip recently and realized that we were near our car’s anniversaries, which led us to reflect on what we think of them after 2 years with the Ioniq and 1 year with the Ariya (preceded by 4 years with the Nissan Leaf). We still love our cars and are thrilled to be driving all-electric vehicles, which are charged off the solar panels on our roof (unless we are charging on the road). Neither of us miss going to gas stations! Both cars are comfortable, fun to drive, have solid safety features, handle well in the snow, offer tons of cargo space, and look really cool! They offer all the features that we like in our cars, though we have found that each car has its advantages in certain areas.

You can look at the past posts in the Driving EV’s theme to see more about the features of our cars and why we chose them, plus what it’s like to go on road trips. Bottom line on road trips is that they work just as well for us as a gas car and we haven’t had any significant problems with charging them. We occasionally have to wait a few minutes for a charger and have had a few minor problems with charging, but never have we been seriously inconvenienced. I should mention that we tend to travel at off times, so we are charging usually in mid-morning/mid-afternoon on weekdays. We have learned that our range for how long we can sit in a car is shorter than the cars’ range before needing a charge! One positive is that it does take a little longer to charge an EV than to get gas, so we walk more, which has actually made road trips healthier for us.

The vast majority of our driving is done around the Reno area and we charge on a Level 2 charger in our garage. Our cable is long enough to reach both cars and we’ve not had any problems with coordinating our charges. Most of our driving is done solo or just the two of us, but occasionally we take others with us. We find that our passengers are comfortable in the back and we’ve spent some time there too. Generally, people prefer the Ioniq’s more spacious back seats that also recline slightly. But the HVAC system is better in the back of the Ariya. I am my mom’s primary driver and she really likes the adjustable passenger seat in the Ioniq. (The Ariya also has that feature.)

Scott still prefers his Ariya and I prefer my Ioniq, so we know we made the right choices! However, we’ve both decided that the Ioniq is the better road car. The driver assist system is superior for mountain driving in the Ioniq and it can take a faster charge while on the road. It also has the more comfortable and cushy ride. But the Ariya is no slouch and is a better choice if we are planning any off roading or need higher clearance. We tend to take the Ariya on shorter, local road trips within a 150-mile radius, and the Ioniq on our longer highway trips over mountain passes.

Service Experiences

We have been pleased with the service through our local Hyundai and Nissan dealers for both cars. We have knowledgeable service techs who have been able to keep our cars running smoothly. We are still on free service for one more year with both cars (3 years with Hyundai and 2 with Nissan). The Ioniq came with the longer service period and longer warranty (5 vs. 3 years). So far the Ioniq has been serviced 7 times in 2 years–4 for recalls/repairs and 3 for regular 5,000-mile services. I expected that there would be recalls and repairs given that this is Hyundai’s first Ioniq EV to come out. Most of the work involves updates to the car’s software systems. I have had problems with a noisy rear hatch, which has been remedied with a cushioning system. I’ve also had problems with the ICCU that controls the 12-volt battery charging system. Recently, my 12-volt battery died and the car had to be towed to the dealer for a recall repair and a new battery. They had it back to me by the next day and offered me a loaner car, but I didn’t need it. I must say it was fascinating to watch the car being towed using a very clever dolly system, which simply lifted it up and carried it off out of my mother’s garage (good place for it to happen!). I also had problems with the car turning off the Level 2 charger due to an overly sensitive heat sensor, fortunately we found a fix for that and it never recurred. Regular services are easy on EV’s and I usually have the car back in a few hours.

Scott has only had to take the Ariya in for one recall for an over-active sensor that could have caused the car to stop suddenly. It was a software update and fortunately it was done before any sudden stops! He recently had his first regular service at 7500 miles and all they did was check the car and rotate the tires.

Would We Do It Again?

Rhonda–Absolutely! I love my Ioniq 5! Still my favorite car I’ve ever driven and I hope she’ll be with me for a long time. I’m also the primary driver for my mother, so I’m glad that my multiple trips across Reno are emissions free and powered by Nevada sunshine.

Scott–If I was making the purchase decision now, I’d buy a Prius Prime Plug-In. I like the looks of this car and it is the greenest car produced in 2024, because of its smaller battery (less heavy metal mining). Given that I’m just driving it around town, I’d probably never use gas. I really like the Ariya and I have no issues with range anxiety, but my main goal was to reduce my carbon footprint, so the Prius Prime would be a better choice today. Plus, it is less expensive with an MSRP of $39,000 for a Premium trim level. This combo would make sense for us as a retired couple-no need to have 2 larger AWD EV’s. However, if I was single and this was my only car, I’d stick with the Ariya for its AWD and cargo space.

R&S–We have loved going all EV and utilizing the benefits of the solar we produce to power our transportation needs. It feels great knowing we no longer emit carbon when we’re driving!

Acceptance

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. AA Serenity Prayer

Last year Spirit worked with me on cultivating joy; this year I am led to work on cultivating peace. When I am not at peace, I can’t access my joy. You may recall from my blog on The Book of Joy (https://www.renofriends.org/cultivating-joy/), that one of the pillars is Acceptance. In this blog, I will explore Acceptance through the lens of the AA Serenity Prayer.

The Wisdom to Know the Difference

In my experience, this is actually the first step to serenity. I used to charge into a situation and start doing something, believing that taking action was the most important thing to do. Quakerism has helped me learn to step back, observe, season, sit in silence and seek guidance. Discernment takes time and when I’m overwhelmed and just want a problem solved, I can rush the process and make a bigger mess. If I don’t take time, I can easily take on something that isn’t mine to do or step on someone’s toes who was doing just fine before I came along!

Patience is a word that comes to mind here. It’s important that we be patient and take our time when choosing our words and actions. We can forget how powerful they are. I still have a lot to learn. Being aware of this, I try to ask for time to consider the best course of action from a variety of perspectives, including the “God’s eyes” perspective Desmond Tutu recommends.

I’ve also learned that emotional detachment is essential for me to be able to see a situation from a variety of perspectives. If I am too attached to my way of viewing things and the solution I favor, I can miss important aspects that others see more clearly. When we collaborate from a place of equality, we are more likely to contribute to transformative change.

I am learning that sometimes the most powerful choice is to be still and not act, but allow things to unfold, trusting that if there is something I am led to contribute, it will become clear. Sometimes the most helpful action is non-action and holding someone in the Light, trusting they will be guided and find their way.

The Courage to Change the Things I Can

The next step for me is to assess my Light. Do I have the time, energy and resources to take on what I’ve identified I might help with? As I get older, this becomes more of an issue for me. I must prioritize what I can engage with and what I must leave for others to shine their Light on.

I do recall when I was younger that I lacked courage because I lacked confidence and was afraid of making a mistake. I think these things can hold many of us back from engaging in transformative work. Another aspect of this that I have struggled with is feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of a situation and then becoming paralyzed. With this block, it helps to take one small step at a time.

The Dalai Lama says that he believes much of our stress is caused by having too high expectations. When my expectations are too high, it can lead to exhaustion and despair. Lately, I’ve been working on adjusting my expectations and I find that does help. I can celebrate the small successes and keep on going without burning out.

The Dalai Lama also encourages us not to be attached to the outcome of our efforts as this also causes stress and frustration. Lao Tzu agrees with him recommending that we give ourselves fully to an action that flows through us and then let go and let the Tao do its work. I remind myself that I cannot see the bigger picture or understand the Mystery and I may never know the ultimate effect of my efforts.

Another skill I have found invaluable is the ability to set clear boundaries with compassion. It is hard to disappoint others and tell them “no” when they ask for our help. I recall reading a chapter in a book by life coach, Cheryl Richardson, entitled “Let me Disappoint You.” She gave wonderful advice on how to sensitively let down others by attending to their feelings, clearly stating our own limits and what we can do, and then offering some options for other resources.

Accepting What I Cannot Change

This final step is the most challenging for me personally. I was raised to be a perfectionist, trained to look at what was awry and get busy fixing it. Accepting something that I thought needed to be changed seemed wrong and lazy. I’ve learned that sometimes things are fine just the way they are and it’s only my judgment that needs changing. Everyone has their own journey, and the world has its own journey, affected by our collective consciousness. We are responsible for our journey and our contributions to others and to the collective, but we are not responsible for others or for the state of the world.

Along the way, I realized that I must first accept a situation, become “fierce with reality”, before I can do transformative work. We must break through our denial and our attachments to what we wish was happening. To develop a clear picture, it helps to listen deeply to others and pay attention to what is going on beneath the surface with a compassionate and open heart and mind.

There are many situations in our lives and in the world that we cannot personally change, or that we can only contribute a small piece to improving. Then we must step back and let it be, trusting that there’s a greater Mystery at work that we don’t understand. We can cultivate serenity, kindness, joy and hope in our own hearts and radiate that out to others and the world around us. This is more helpful than fretting about what we cannot change or getting lost in fear, stress and despair. We can embody the change we would like to see in the world and let our lives speak. Never underestimate how powerful that can be!

Queries:

Which aspect(s) of the Serenity Prayer are the most challenging for you?

What have you learned along the way that has helped you be more accepting of reality and those around you? What do you still need to work on?

How do you decide what to change and then what do you do? Is your process working or do you need to make changes?

Our Mini-Split

Last summer we bought a DIY Perfect Aire 12,000 BTU mini-split which Scott installed in June in our bedroom. We used to be able to keep our windows open at night and not use A/C in the summer, but then the traffic and drag racing on McCarran (the ring road near our house) got so loud we had to close our windows and use the main A/C unit to stay cool. This resulted in our using about 750 kWh more electricity in the summer months, plus we could still hear some of the really loud cars through the closed window! We decided to try a mini-split heat pump system for just our bedroom and see if it would keep us cool and provide some soft, white noise.

Success! We are happy to report that we stayed nice and cool during the heat of the summer and couldn’t hear the McCarran Motor Speedway! We also saved 500 kWh of electricity due to the efficiency of this little mini-split and not having to use our main A/C unit at night. And it’s cute!

Mini-splits are heat pumps and here’s how they work:

Installation

Scott found the Perfect Aire very easy to install and just needed a little help from an electrician friend to hook it up to our electrical panel. Here’ s some photos of the installation process:

Installing the bracket that holds the unit in place.
Fishing the line sets through the walls. The condenser is around the corner on the side of the house. The bottom line set was pulled through the crawl space under the house.
Connecting the line sets.
The finished look with the line set cover installed.
The condenser unit on the side of the house.
Video of the mini-split in action. You may have to turn up the sound to hear it, it’s so quiet! It does provide the soft, white noise we were wanting.
Heat pump alley–mini-split condenser in the foreground and the Trane heat pump in the background behind the wheelbarrow. We’re happy we can place all our condensers out of site on the side of the house.

We use the Trane to air condition the house during the day (77 degrees) and the mini-split to cool our bedroom at night. To accomplish this, we turn the Trane’s thermostat up to 82 degrees at night and crack our bedroom door so we can keep the cool in our bedroom. Then we set the mini-split to 77 degrees. The Trane never comes on at night anymore, which is what saves the 500 kWh of electricity. There’s no need to cool the whole house when we are only in one room. We are finding that using zone cooling and heating is saving both electricity and gas.

Cost

Because it was a Do-It-Yourself installation with help from an electrician friend of Scott’s, it was not that expensive. We were happy to get a 30% federal tax credit for installing this energy efficient unit!

Xeriscaping Our Yard-The Journey from 2013-2023

When I moved in with Scott in 2013, we decided we wanted to make our home as environmentally friendly as possible, which included reducing our water usage. Reno is in the high desert and has hot summers with highs often in the 90 to 100-degree range, making water a precious resource. Scott had lived in the house for 14 years before I arrived and had already done some xeriscaping in the front yard, but still had a small lawn. We quickly decided our first project was going to be taking out the south-facing front lawn. Keeping it green was an exercise in futility and wasted a lot of water. This was the first step on our journey to reduce our water use and make our yard easier to maintain. What follows is a summary of our decade-long adventure in xeriscaping!

Front Yard

Here’s our front yard in June 2013:

You can see it was already getting dry and was a bit unkempt and in need of some love.

This is our front yard in June of 2023:

The plum trees have grown over the last 10 years and now shade the plants beneath them, so we are changing plants to more shade-loving species. We took out the invasive Russian Sage.
From this angle, you can see that we removed the maple tree to the left of the locust and the pine tree next to the house, behind the locust. They were either too close to other trees, the house, shading our solar panels, or threatening our sewer line. Then we planted flowers and shrubs where they had been. We took the Russian Sage out of this area and planted a shrub, echinacea and poppies. We removed the Scotch Broom that was under the bay window. It had become overgrown and collapsed during 2022’s heavy winter snows.

We took out the lawn and replaced it with decomposed granite (DG). We also added pots for flowers on each side of the front steps.

Here are some August photos of the front yard:

Aren’t the Black-Eyed Susans and Correopsis glorious? The tall grasses outdid themselves with all the winter and spring moisture.
We added a meditating frog and shasta daisies this year, looking forward to watching them fill in! We will add more flowers to this area where the Scotch Broom used to be in the upcoming summer season.

Back Yard

This is our back yard in June of 2013:

We had a small concrete patio and lots of lawn. There were aspen trees by the back fence and a large elm on the metal fence to the left of Scott. These trees were all removed over the years. The aspens were trying to grow a grove in our neighbor’s and our yard, and the elm was pushing the metal fence over.
Our concrete patio with our grill, outdoor tables and container garden (tomatoes, flowers, and basil). Clearly it was a real squeeze!
Looking to the west, there are raised wooden beds (behind Scott) and more containers, plus a dwarf willow that got out of hand. The locust tree to Scott’s right was still a baby.

This is our back yard in June of 2023:

In 2015 we took out part of the lawn and put in pavers and in 2022 we expanded the pavers, removed the lawn and put DG in the east side. We added patio furniture, a fountain, more containers of flowers, bird baths and other yard art. Now we have a large area for entertaining and it is much easier to maintain.
Here is the view back to the west showing the DG with custom concrete stepping stones made for us by a friend. We have planted shrubs, decorative grass, and flowers in the corners. There’s an ash tree in the center flanked by metal Kokopellis, and the tomato plants are to the right in the orange containers. Scott is relieved to no longer have to mow and fertilize the lawn!
Along the west fence we added a DG area and planted this beautiful Japanese Maple. I’d always wanted one and it loves this spot under the neighbor’s maple tree. All the old wooden raised beds and the dwarf willow were removed, now we have more containers in this area with herbs and succulents.
This is our beautiful coral honeysuckle along the north fence flanked by a succulent and decorative rock. We planted marigolds in the box planters that we replaced with begonias in late August. Our grill is now just to the left of the succulent. It’s better having it away from the house.
This shows the DG area and the east fence, the ash tree in the center and tomato boxes to the left.

The best way to really see the yard is through videos. You can click this link to go to our Google Photos album that has videos of our yard during the different seasons: Videos of Our Yard.

Water Savings

So, how did we do with our water savings? Here’s the table showing our use from our water bills:

After xeriscaping our yard, we now save 36,000 gallons of water per year! That is 35% less than what we used in 2013 trying to water our lawns! In the heat of the summer, we use about 50% less on average than we did before. Plus, we spend less time maintaining the yard now that we don’t have to fertilize and mow the lawns.

You can also see how much more we use in the six months where we are watering outdoors versus the winter months when the system is shut off and we are only using household water. Just out of curiosity, I added it up and for our household, we use about 47,000 gallons of water per year. For the landscaping, we use 20,000 gallons. So our household use is about 70% of the total and the landscaping now only takes 20%. It used to take 57,000 gallons and make up 55% of our total water use!

We love our new yard which is way more functional and beautiful than what we started with, plus it uses a lot less water, while taking less of our time to maintain (and less chemicals). We have learned that our yard is an evolving landscape, ever changing, so stay tuned as the journey continues!

Road Tripping in the Ariya

We’ve had the Ariya for about 7 months now. What a great car! We are enjoying getting to know her and wanted to share what we have learned. We’ve been on 7 road trips so far and find that the Ariya is comfortable, dependable, versatile and solid. She handles well in the snow and has higher clearance and a stiffer suspension for off-roading than the Ioniq. The downside of this is that on the highway, the ride is rougher. The Ariya has a larger battery by about 20%, so it as a longer range, which is handy if you have longer gaps between charging stations. The cargo space is a little smaller than the Ioniq, but not much.

Here’s what it looks like when we load up most of our house and go to a rental place:

Hilarious, isn’t it! As you can see it all fits easily, but blocks the rearview mirror.
Here’s the fix for that problem–the rearview mirror can be flipped into camera mode and it will use the rear camera to give you a picture of what is behind you! Pretty cool, huh? We love this feature!

Charging

The Ariya comes with the EVgo network. Scott tried for a few months to test it out at the station in Reno, but it was never operational. On the road, we have found that EVgo doesn’t have as many fast charging stations as Electrify America, and seems to have more problems with down units. We did find a 350 kW charger in Citrus Heights, CA that we used in November and it worked just as well as Electrify America. Most of the time we use the Electrify America network that we get free with the Ioniq (works for both cars). We’ve had good luck with charging overall, only having to wait a couple of times. But we don’t typically travel at busy times, so that helps. We had one recent incident where for some reason the charger and the app were not communicating and we had to use a credit card. It stopped after a few minutes and we had to restart it again, but then it worked fine. Most of the time, we are charged up and ready to go within 30 minutes. We take that time to stretch our legs, use the bathroom and check our messages; sometimes we check out other people’s EV’s!

When it comes to charging, the only thing we find irritating about the Ariya is that it locks the charger onto the car and sometimes doesn’t want to let go. You have to press lock and unlock on the FOB sometimes more than once to release the cable. It also doesn’t charge as quickly as the Ioniq, but this is compensated for by its larger battery.

Overall, we have not had any problems with charging the Ariya (or the Ioniq) especially using the Electrify America network. We are lucky to have a lot of working stations on the routes we typically drive through northern California. But, the vast majority of the time, we are driving only in the Reno area and are charging at home off our solar panels.

Range

People are always asking us about the range of our cars. That’s an interesting question. It depends on a number of factors: how low you are comfortable going before recharging the battery; your driving style (more aggressive and fast driving uses more power); load (how many passengers, cargo, pulling a trailer); road conditions (flat, downhill, uphill, in-town vs. highway); outside temperature (colder temps decrease battery performance); use of climate control (heat uses more than A/C). EV’s are a different than gas cars in that they use more power on the highway and less in town, due to regenerative braking. This can be a challenge in figuring out how far your EV can go on a road trip, because it’s going to need more power than it uses at home. In general our cars can go from 175-200 miles, leaving us about 15-20% in the battery (our comfort zone). But, here’s the truth, we can only go about 150 miles before we have to get out! So we always say, our range is 150, which is less than our car’s! We plan our road trips around our needs, not the cars.

NOTE: The range quoted by manufacturers includes a mix of city and highway driving, so it will always be higher than you can actually go on a road trip. The EPA estimated combined range on our Ariya is 267 miles. But that would be draining the battery to 0%, which no sane person would ever do! Remember the 267 includes some city driving, so our 200 mile estimate in the table below is more accurate, leaving about 20% in the battery when you reach your destination. This is important if you have any question about finding a charger.

We have found it helpful to keep a road trip charging log so we can figure out how many miles we can actually go per % charge we have in the battery. Here’s the Ariya’s log so far for its first year:

At the top of the log, you will see that we have built a table based on the Ariya’s average miles per % in the battery (2.5%/mile), so we know how much of a charge we need to go a certain distance. This is a very helpful thing to know and can be difficult to figure out unless you have a log like this to tell you your average miles per %. For some reason, EV’s show you the mile per kWh which doesn’t really help you on the road. We have noticed that when we are going uphill in cold weather, we use about 25% more energy, so we need more of a charge to pull mountain passes, especially when it’s cold (see Citrus Hts-Reno and Vacaville-Truckee).

You can also see the difference between what it costs to charge the car with electricity vs. what the comparable ICE (Nissan Murano) would have cost in gas. In the three trips where we tracked this difference, there was over $200 savings! (NOTE: We actually didn’t pay for this charging, since we still have free charging for our cars. The only exception was when we had to pay by credit card in Truckee in January.)

Using Highway Driving Assist Systems

The highway driving assist system in the Ariya (ProPILOT 2.0) does a great job on regular highways of lane-keeping, lane changing, smart cruise control (adjusts speed to car in front of you), and allowing some moments of handfree driving (great for stretching your hands and wrists to prevent fatigue). It won’t let you keep your hands off for too long before it alerts you. The Ariya also watches to make sure your eyes are on the road and will alert you when your attention wanders. The Ioniq doesn’t have this feature, but does have all the other features in its HDA 2 system. What we prefer in the Ioniq is that it allows us better control on curvy mountain roads, like I-80. The Ariya tends to slow down, sometimes drastically, going into a curve and we have not been successful in finding a setting that will turn off this feature. The Ioniq does allow us to change this setting so it doesn’t do automatic braking going into a curve, allowing us to control the speed more fluidly. Because of this issue, we have given up on using ProPILOT in the Ariya while driving on mountain roads. Unfortunately, most of our long road trips include this kind of driving.

Future Road Trips

After 7 months with the Ariya and 18 months with the Ioniq, we decided we prefer the Ioniq for longer road trips, particularly those involving mountain passes. The Ioniq has the smoother ride and the better highway driving assist system, plus it charges faster. The Ariya we use for trips around our local area, like going to Graeagle, Lake Tahoe, Carson and Topaz. If we had a trip where we were planning more off-roading, we would definitely take the Ariya. We would also use it for a trip where we had more gaps between charging stations and needed the longer range. Scott prefers the seating and cabin in his Ariya for everyday use, but on a longer road trip he’s decided he would take the Ioniq. Both cars are a great drive overall and we recommend them to anyone interested in owning a quality EV SUV.

The Ariya Completes the Mother of All Road Trips!

An EV adventure couple just completed their Pole-to-Pole road trip in a modified Nissan Ariya! Yes, that is from the North to the South Pole–a trip of over 30,000 kilometers! Read about it here:

https://www.thenissannext.com/en/PoletoPole.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/01/15/electric-car-north-to-south-pole-drive/

Or watch the video: