As I was doing research on alternative heating methods for my home, I kept coming back to wood. We have a small fireplace already – one that we have never used – and my first instinct was to either install a wood stove or a pellet stove to use wood to offset our oil costs.

Of course, the issue with this is you have to buy the wood to burn, pellet stoves are known to be dusty and messy and right now the demand for pellet stoves has not only made them less available but also more expensive. Also, I realized I didn’t know nearly enough about what it actually takes to heat my home.

I’ve mentioned AltE before, and this time I was actually chatting with their CEO, Sascha Deri, about home heating. He started to tell me all about solar thermal technology and how excited he was to begin really getting the word out about solar air heaters and solar water heaters. He relayed a number of the benefits of using solar thermal technology as a supplemental heat source to offset the cost of oil and my eyes narrowed – I was intrigued!

Then we talked about the cost. I had priced out pellet and wood stoves. The pellet stove that I liked was going to run about $2000.00 and then I was going to have to have it installed. My husband is handy, but our chimney is old and also needs a “tucking and pointing” so with something like that I felt more comfortable with a professional. The installation cost was going to run at least $1000.00. Sum total would be $3000.00 (at least) and I was going to have to pay for pellets as well.

Considering the efficiency of a pellet stove and the heat it would be putting out, the pellet stove could well be worth it – but that cost was going to be tough to absorb! As I explored the cost of the solar air heater with Sascha, I learned that this renewable technology which would require no additional fuel and very little maintenance on our part was roughly half the cost of a pellet stove and installation!

Depending on the system, solar air heaters run between $1500 and $6000. For me specifically, the cost for a single solar air heater which is all I really need would be around $1500.00. I was really excited at the prospect of truly integrating a renewable energy source and the return on investment, so I decided to learn more.

Solar air heaters are based on solar thermal technology. Solar thermal technology uses the warmth of the sun to heat air or water and then feed that air or water into your home. Solar thermal is extremely efficient, more so than solar electric conversion, performing at 55-85% efficiency, meaning that 55-85% of the sun’s heat hitting a solar thermal collector is converted into usable heat.

In the case of a solar air heater, the panel requires an intake and an outlet. The solar heater pulls in the cooler air, heats it, and blows it back into the room or duct system. You can find solar air heaters that will wire into your electric system to power the fan, or solar air heaters that even harness the fan power from the sun. One solar air heater can heat up to about 750 square feet and can offset your fuel usage by as much as 30-40% overall. As I learned about this technology I could literally see it sitting on my sunroom roof and making my home warmer and helping me to use less oil.

But I quickly deduced that I needed to get educated. After all, how can you make an intelligent decision about heating your home without even understand *how* your home is heated – other than flipping the “on” switch of your thermostat! So I started doing basic home heating research so I could understand what I was really dealing with.

First, all heating options for your home are measured in BTU’s which are British Thermal Units. This term is widely used in North America to describe heat value. “BTU” became invaluable to me so that I could really look at different heat sources and see how they measured up to each other.

Here is a very basic “apples to apples” comparison, so we can be clear on the costs and benefits of oil, pellet stoves or solar air heating systems. Please bear in mind that these figures are estimates and also change depending on many variables!:

Oil Heated Forced Hot Air	Oil Oil produces approximately 140,000 BTU per gallon Oil currently costs $3.60 per gallon, making the typical 150 gallon residential tank about $540.00. According to various sources, the cost of a new oil furnace for a 1200 square foot space will run about $6000.00 Produces heat whenever it is turned on (day or night) Requires professionals for installation, service and delivery
Our Wood Pile	Wood Stoves or Pellet Stoves Pellet Stoves can produce between 8000 and 9000 BTU per house Upfront prices seem to range from $1700 to $3100 for a pellet stove Wood pellets are about $200-$300 per ton 1 ton produces about 13 million BTUs Produces heat whenever it’s turned on – day or night. Requires you to refill once to twice a day unless you have a very large hopper, regular cleaning and maintenance needed for optimal functioning Installable by many DIYers
Our Sunshine	Solar Air Heater Produce 10000 BTUs in direct sunlight – does not heat at night. Produces heat when there is some sunlight (doesn’t have to be full direct) Storage of heat is done by the thermal mass of the home Automatic fuel, no refilling or lifting of wood or bags. Essentially zero maintenance. Assuming it’s running in Boston, MA, 7 months of the year (end Sept thru mid May), average solar insolation of 3.4 during that time, unit would roughly produce 7 million BTUs (10,000 BTUs x 7 mo x 3.4 x 30 days in a month) Unless you can get other fuels for free, this is the only system that will actually pay for itself. All other systems require never ending payment for fuel and in effect never pay for themselves. Installable by most DIYers

So, here is this data processed through my personal perspective.

Right now, my oil cost is $3.60 per gallon which means that at 140,000 BTU per gallon of oil, with a need for approximately 600 gallons of oil per year, I am paying $2,200.00 annually for heat and hot water.

Taking the math one step further, I need about 84,000,000 BTU’s for home heating and hot water. Now, I can calculate that about 22% of my oil consumption goes to hot water heating. This means I actually need 65,520,000 BTU to heat my home.

So, if I need 65,520,000 BTU to heat my home, my cost is roughly 450 gallons of oil or $1620.00 (at the current rate). Now, if I bring in a solar air heater, at a cost of $1500.00, I will be bringing in 7,000,000 BTU (because of where I live and my insolation data). That is about 10% of my annual home heating need – and I’ll get that forever with minimal additional costs.

At the current rate of $3.60 per gallon of oil which provides 140,000 BTU, the 7,000,000 Solar Thermal BTU offsets approximately 50 Gallons of Oil which is equivalent to $180.00. This means, the solar air heater, for me, will easily pay for itself in 8 Years – but it may pay for itself more quickly depending on the cost of oil.

Also, because I did my research and improved the energy efficiency of my home with increased insulation and replacement windows, it may also pay for itself sooner because we are sure to need less oil.

Now, if I bought a Pellet Stove for $2000.00, plus $1,000.00 installation or $3000.00 total (some are more than this) and then I bought one ton of pellets for $299.00 (current rate of my local guys) then we’re looking at $3300.00 for 13,000,000 BTU (per ton of pellets) - assuming I only buy one ton.

13,000,000 BTU would offset my home heating needs by almost 20%. Twice the money up front would offset twice the home heating need. Annually, with just one ton of pellets, the pellet stove would offset 92 gallons of oil or $331.20.

So, the pellet stove would “pay for itself” in roughly 10 years EXCEPT that I need to buy fuel for it every year so really, it will never actually catch up with itself. Additionally, I’m still dependent on someone delivering a ton of pellets whenever I need them. Also, with the increase in demand for alternate fuel sources, pellet prices are up 50% over last year so that is certainly something to take into account.

So what’s my decision?

Well, because of my green sensibilities and my current budget, I am definitely going with the solar air heater in the short term. But, I am also going to look at installing a small wood or pellet stove and I’m going to look at replacing my oil furnace with one that is more efficient in the next 3 years as well. Why am I going hybrid in my home heating?

Well, I have a fireplace already – but burning wood in a fireplace as a heat source is incredibly inefficient, so in my case, I believe that the most important goal should be the efficient use of ALL fuels in my home – be they traditional ones like oil and wood, or alternative sources like the sun. That means a pellet stove and an upgraded furnace will ensure any fuel is being used optimally and I’ll get maximum flexibility. My ultimate goal will be to consistently reduce my need for oil, but I also know that I need to be realistic and make smart choices for the short and long term.

Now, if you’ve been following my adventure here, you may wonder why didn’t I just get the solar air heater and forego the other upgrades to the efficiency of my home.

That would have been like putting a band aid on a gaping wound. When you can physically feel a breeze through storm windows and double thick fleece curtains, you know you have a serious energy efficiency problem and just putting on the solar air heater would have been like blowing half of that hot air back out into the cold winter landscape.

By upgrading the insulation and replacing the worst of the windows, we are requiring less work on the part of our fuel heating systems. And we are adhering to one of the most important tenets of the environmental movement – consume less! It’s not a dumb rule on the money front either, by the way, because for every $1 you invest in efficiency you can save $3-5 off your ultimate renewable energy electric system.

Having a small child means everything gets to be an educational opportunity. Trash is a great example since little kids can be such conspicuous consumers. Especially of paper since we all love the creative art time. I’ve been having many conversations these days with my daughter about not wasting things, so at this point, I am excited to get her into the recycling game.

The Bins: The first thing we did was to choose different colored bins for the various materials we were recycling. We then went online and found clip-art images of paper, cans, plastics and metal. I chose black and white line drawing illustrations so my daughter could even color them in to feel a bit more included. I then affixed them to the front of the bins with clear plastic tape so she could see them.

The Rewards: Then we set up a reward system. Go with whatever makes you and your child happiest and most comfortable. We went with chocolate chips. Every time she threw something away in the correct bin, or cleaned up really well without a lot of waste, we would mark on the chocolate chip wipey board wall. At the end of the day, she would either get the chocolate chips or they were incorporated into her dessert.

The Rules: The only thing we ended up needing to be careful of was super-efficient child trailing behind looking for paper, plastic or metals to be thrown away.

You can hear it now, can’t you? “No honey, don’t throw the mail away until we *open* it!”

The other rule we instituted was that no paper could be thrown away until it had art on it in some fashion. This meant the back of junk mail, both sides of all papers, envelopes – you name it – became her canvas. We ended up going through far less blank white paper and far less construction paper by making this rule. In fact, we create a blank paper bin just for her so she could retrieve a fresh “canvas” whenever she liked.

Getting Creative: We also ended up looking at the recyclables with a creative eye and tried to find interesting things we could do or make with them. As long as they were cleaned and washed out, after all, why not incorporate them into some sort of interesting art project?

Alternate Inspiration: I also went online to find fun websites that might give me even more ideas:

• http://www.epa.gov/kids/garbage.htm
• http://www.kidsrecycle.org/index.php
• http://www.thescrapkins.com/index.html
• http://www.recycleworks.org/kids/index.html

And does making it Tidy have to be so expensive?

My family and I have always been pretty good about recycling, but we are now taking it much more seriously. The only problem is the trash bins. They are seriously getting out of control. I suggested buying more tall bins to my husband who scoffed at me for wanting to buy more plastic bins that would damage the environment to make recycling easier – isn’t that counter intuitive?

But I HATE the situation as it stands. I have dogs that love to shred paper, so leaving paper products in a low, open bin is enabling them to make little piles of paper and paper towels all over the house. The receptacle we’re using for plastic is constantly overflowing and we still need a bin for cans which sit, staring at me from the kitchen counter.

So I think to myself, “Self, go look online for a cheap recycling trash can.” Well, guess what? There are not so many cheap, multi bin trashcans to be had. I guess the only good news is that there are several that are quite attractive and (maybe) utilitarian and then some that are kind of silly.

Here’s a snapshot of what I’ve found:

The Ovetto Recycling Bin:

I really think this one is my favorite. It’s so awesomely bizarre – a recycling trash can in the shape of an egg, multi-colored and European-fabulous.

Designed with modern and interesting form in mind, this um, trash can, can be yours for only about $242.00! Also, you’d have to buy it from Europe so make sure you budget for shipping!

Fingerprint-Proof Rectangular Recycler

The next thing I learned in my recycling receptacle fact finding mission is the importance of fingerprint –free in relation to recycling bins. I guess this is also specific to stainless steel which I hears drives parents batty with its smudginess, but it really never occurred to me how many people not only don’t want to touch their trash cans (by using those pedals at the bottom) but also how many of them don’t want others to know they touched them. Anyway, this recycler that will look untouched forever can be yours for only $180.00!

The Smart Bin Waste / Recycling Bin

At this point I was getting desperate with these price points so I headed over to Target to find a bargain. I mean, Target must have a cheaper option? And they do! This has a full three compartments, and pedals to go along with them.

This recycler is also stainless steel but does not promise to be fingerprint proof – and it has a little “brother” with only two drawers for a bit less money yet. I almost forgot – this recycling trash can will only set you back $99.99 (its little brother is only $89.99) but you can only order it online so don’t rush off to your local Target thinking you’re going to get lucky!

Residential and Home Recycling Systems!

If you’re really ready to commit, you might consider heading over to RecyclingBin.com where you can not only find hexagonal recycling bins, but also wood contoured frames to hold them in place in a cluster. At least these are unusually shaped and I like the idea of this wood frame to hold them all together. After all, I have those dogs running amok and did I mention the four year old? Anyway, you can get a “system” of two bins and a frame for as little as $137.85 but you can also end up spending a bit more than that depending on how many bins you really want.

2-Bin Recycle Center

Next I headed over to the Container Store to just see what they might have to offer. This is our only two story recycling container! The front loading compartments keep everything tidy but easy to access and it’s made of solid steel so it might even stand up to my household. This skyscraper can be yours for …wait for it…$169.00! But right now its back ordered so be prepared if I just got you all excited.

Ok, so there you go – a good cross section of multi bin recycling trash cans if I do say so myself, but can you believe the prices? The cheapest I could find was $100.00 – coincidentally the only one with *three* full bins and I could get trash are for $240.00 or so. I’m tempted to head to target but maybe instead I’ll just have the hubs build one for me. How hard can it be, and it would have to be cheaper than the one’s I found today…

Here in Massachusetts, there’s a lot of noise about wind farms off shore. They are a terrific potential power resource but everyone seems to be suffering from Not In My Back Yard syndrome. So check out this image, to get an idea of how things would actually look from only 20 miles away.

As I’ve been walking down the path towards alternative energy, I realized I had really overlooked (up until this point) the rebates and tax incentives available to me. This is sort of ironic given my cheap Yankee nature, and my budget consciousness – but I’ve always been of an independent nature and willing to go it alone. Now that the tax incentives have also been extended by the Government, it’s all the more important that I assess how much help I can get with my renewable energy installations.

You’re probably thinking, like I did, that you wouldn’t know where to start or how to find the rebates and incentives even if they are out there. Well, we have some good news. There is a website that lists all the State incentives for Renewables and Efficiency. You can search for one or the other, or both on a state by state basis at DSIRE, The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency.

I will warn you though – you will have to read.  Although the site is user friendly and extremely well organized, the information is still written in government-ese and can try the patience. That’s really the only bad news though, as once you choose your state, you get links to Federal Incentives as well as state incentives and even local programs. All of these incentives are also organized by residential vs. commercial so if you’re a business owner or a random guy who wants to integrate solar and get some help, you’ll be able to find what you need.

Now, I live in Massachusetts and we are a state that loves renewable energy. That being said, as a homeowner who is making her home more efficient and considering the installation of a renewable energy product, I needed to figure out what I was eligible for. In the past three months, after all, I’ve purchased four energy star windows and roughly $500.00 worth of insulation. I’ve also installed my programmable thermostat and am on the verge of going solar thermal!

So here’s some of what I found:

• Residential Renewable Energy Income Tax Credit

The first thing I find is that if I install my solar air heater, I’ll be eligible for a 15% credit, up to $1000.00 against the state income tax for the cost of a renewable energy system (including installation costs) installed on my house.

• MassSave.org

Through National Grid, which happens to be my electric company, there are a ton of incentives and rebates where I may be able to get money back for including insulation, Energy Star Windows and my new Programmable Thermostat.

• I found out I can get a Home Energy Analysis which might even pave the way for a 0% interest for 7 years loan to purchase a more efficient boiler and hot water heating system!

• I also discovered there may be incentives for me on the federal level as well – but of course those incentives just got passed so I’ll have to dig a little deeper to find out exactly what those are! There are, for example tax credits listed for both energy efficiency and renewable energy – they just list and expiration date that may well be incorrect as of the passage of the extension.

Incentives will vary state by state, of course, and what you need to do is dig into your eligibility. Don’t be afraid to call your local agency, or even the state government to get pointed to the right location. For example, I hopped onto Mass.gov and did a search for “renewable energy” and was directed to a fantastic page all about Massachusetts and Renewable Energy. Make sure you keep all receipts and all information about every system or home efficiency improvement in which you invest.

Don’t be afraid, either, of finding a good accountant – especially on the tax side to make sure you make the most of the incentives and credits available to you. Also, prepare to be inspired. As you see the various enticements for installing solar panels and wind turbines on your property, you’ll certainly be excited to take your renewable energy installation further faster.

Although you need to have the cash up front to invest in these systems, you deserve to get that money back in your pocket – or into the next system you decide to implement!

So now I really started to get online and read. I knew there had to me more I could do and I started at AltE because I knew their University section would be jam packed with idea on things I could do to make my home more efficient. AltE sells alternative energy products but they don’t want to sell you a solar power system or wind power system until your home has hit optimal energy efficiency. Makes perfect sense to me since you can’t size a system until you really understand your power needs!

Anyway, among their list of big home efficiency improvements are, of course, to replace windows and improve insulation but the other great tip I picked up was to install a programmable thermostat! Now, I’m quite sure the thermostat had not been touched since the house was built and I know that several times last winter I had to haul my tired self out of bed to turn the thermostat down when I realized the heat was still pumping at 10PM.

The programmable thermostat is pretty simple to install and very inexpensive for the benefits. According to our programmable thermostat you can save $100 in your first year by using this type of system properly which means it will pay for itself almost immediately.

These are also very easy to install if you have a handy human in your home. It can not only make sure you know exactly what your interior temperature is at any time, but you can schedule what it should be throughout the day. The one we chose even allows us to program temperature fluctuations for all seven days of the week!

	This was my fabulous thermostat control - circa 1964 most likely. Sure, it worked fine, but I admit I never knew exactly what my interior temperature was, and we would shift it at will and many times we’d forget to turn it down before sleeping! Note: This thermostat also uses mercury - so if you have one like this that you are replacing then make sure you dispose of it properly - which means do NOT throw it away in the trash!
	After we pulled the thermostat off, we discovered we had only a two wire configuration.Good news for us because it made for a simple installation. The manufacturer did a great job with the installation guide showing multiple wire configurations. You may have anything from a two wire configuration up through 6 wires. Once you identify how many wires you have, you go to the next step.
	Here are all the tools we used to complete the installation. Basic power drill Quarter inch drill bit (for the screw anchors) Screwdriver Hemostat or hemostatic clamps Needle nose pliers
	Here you see the hemostats holding the two wires.
	Here is an image of the installation instruction book for the two wire configuration.
	Here you see the wires connected to the proper place in the programmable thermostat.
	Connected and calibrating - I assure you our house is never 79.5 degrees in the fall, winter or spring!
	Complete installation - ready for programming which was super easy!

Making Our Home More Energy Efficient

At the close of the summer, my husband and I decided we had to commit to some home renovations – mainly to that leaky sunroom. We figured we could improve our quality of life, the value of our home and we could make the house more efficient to boot. The only issue was financing – big surprise! We decided we wanted to handle all the renovations with cash. To that end, we decided to vault the ceilings, re-insulate and replace the longest wall of windows – which also happen to be on the windward side of the house.

When we took down half the ceiling to really get the lay of the land, we realized how justified we had been in making the decision. The first thing we noticed was the old insulation.

The R value of insulation measures its resistance to heat flow. The higher the R value, the better the insulation factor. Being in the Northeast, we wanted an insulation with an R30 or better for maximum effectiveness and we found R19 insulation on the floor of the attic (just above the poorly executed drop ceiling the in sun room). Therefore we saw a lot of opportunity for making the room more energy efficient just in improving the insulation.

The first thing we did was to deepen the joists of the roof – allowing for the deeper R38 insulation. We lost some height in the room – maybe 5 inches with this process, but that was of little importance when considering the potential increase in efficiency of the room. Essentially, we deepened the space that would hold the insulation from about 4 inches deep, to 8-10 inches deep. I had no idea that it was critical not to compress insulation in order for it to yield maximum benefit – but this would be one of the many things I would learn while going through this process.

During the deconstruction process, we also pulled the old wood paneling off the walls of the room and this showed us yet another problem. Not only was there only R9.6 insulation in the walls – the insulation had been smooshed into place – meaning that it was not even operating at maximum efficiency. We pulled out the old stuff and replaced all of it with R13 and fastidiously placed it for maximum dead air space protection.

We were also super careful to save all extra insulation so every piece possible was used. Ultimately, the two walls we reinsulated – at the front and back of the house will be re-done when we replace those windows, but we knew the extra insulation in the short term would be well worth it and we place to re-use as much as possible in the next phase of the renovation project.

We then did our research into the insulation itself. Although my husband and I were loathe to put in fiberglass, because we were putting this in ourselves and because we were going to be insulating over our heads rather than on a floor, we decided to go with the standard fiberglass. Our hope is that the environmental impact we make by needing less heating oil will make up for using a less than green insulation. We spent the most money of the project on the insulation, and we knew it would probably be that way going in – but we also knew it was the smartest place to put the money!

We also designed the vaulted ceiling to accommodate a ceiling fan to circulate warm air in the winter and cool air in the summer. We did consider implementing skylights to bring in natural light to the room, but we ultimately chose not to so we would be assured of the insulation and so we could stay within our seriously meager budget.

The other huge obstacle to energy efficiency was the jalousie windows. They offer so much lovely light and breeze in the summer – but those benefits become their downfall in the winter months. We wanted to find a way to preserve the light, airy feel of the room while using more efficient windows that would also not break our budget.

We considered and got the prices of new windows. Consider though, that our old jalousie windows were approximately five feet high and about 16 inches wide and we had, oh, eight or so that needed replacing. That’s a lot of space. We knew we also wanted to get rid of the leaky and strangely placed door in the sunroom as well – which was more potential window space. We also knew we couldn’t just get giant picture windows because we needed air flow. The replacement windows would have run anywhere from $800.00 to $1500.00 and that would have been for one half of the wall only – and not including the labor to actually put them in.

We did some research on efficient window ratings so we’d be prepared if we came upon a good deal. Here’s what we learned!

Window efficiency is primarily rated in three ways:

• U-Factor - U-Factor measures how much heat a window will allow to escape. This means, the lower the U-Factor, the better!
• Solar Heat Gain - Solar Heat Gain measures how well the window blocks solar heat from coming in via sunlight. A lower Solar Heat Gain ratings means less heat gain. (Thanks Captain Obvious!)
• Visible Transmittance - Visible transmittance measures how much light comes though the glass. The heavier the tint on a window, the lower the visible transmittance and conversely the less tint, the higher the visible transmittance.

Once we were armed with information, we started to consider our options.

First we started with a couple of websites

• Craig’s List (To see if anyone was selling)
• Freecycle (To see if anyone was giving)
• Angie’s List (for suggestions on where to buy)

Crazy? Maybe – but one of the best ways to go green is to recycle existing materials. The important thing for us was to find windows for that whole wall with good efficiency ratings. Did they have to be fancy and new? Not on our budget.

We didn’t end up finding out solution through any of these venues - but we did see some interesting options and supplies and it was definitely worth the time to research!

We also put the word out among our friends. Now, we’re in a small town and my husband is the king of Craig’s List and Ebay because of his hobbies – so his friends around town always have their ear the ground for good deals on antiques and everything else.

One of our friends had been poking around in an antique coop a couple of towns over and had stumbled into their warehouse area – which was full of new or replacement windows, doors, cabinets and more! He told us about it and we drove down there – assuming we couldn’t really find what we needed.

In an amazing stroke of luck, we were able to secure four 50×50 energy star rated windows for a fraction of the typical cost. Two picture windows and two sliders would allow for light we wanted, allowed us to keep our view of our two gorgeous flowering trees and because of the cost savings, we were able to replace all the windows and remove the door on our breeziest wall. Also, they were well rated in the mid to upper class of efficient windows, so we knew we were getting more than a reasonable bargain.

Just to put the windows into perspective according to our ratings above:

• U Factor: .33
• Solar Heat Gain: .36.

Since most windows have a U Factor between .20 and 1.20, we could see that the U Factor of these windows was above average.

The Solar Heat Gain of most windows ranges from 0 to 1.0, so again, we could see the SHG rating was above average. Although the brand name wasn’t the greatest, the proof was in the ratings – and these were energy star rated and ridiculously prices at $70.00 per window. You couldn’t even get the glass for that much money!

So now we had the windows, we had the insulation and we were ready to begin the real renovation. While Mark got to work on the dirty jobs – I started the next phase of research – how else could we make our home more efficient and what kind of renewable energy could we incorporate as soon as possible within our budget!

I’ll be honest, I’m cheap. I’m also a Yankee, so I guess it comes pretty naturally. Cheapness is not even really a trait that has been forced upon me – I love bargains, I love things that pay for themselves – I love Return on Investment (ROI). What’s nice is that being conscious about energy usage and being an alternative energy enthusiast actually works beautifully with being cheap.

I love our planet – I went to a small liberal arts school so I was well exposed to environmentalists and their movement long ago. I recycled, I didn’t use aerosol, but I’ll admit I never really associated myself with the movement. And then I saw “An Inconvenient Truth” and I looked down at my small daughter. I knew I really wanted to make some changes just to do the right thing. And hey – by doing the right thing, I support my cheapness. Sweet!

Some things were already done – mostly out of frugality – but I felt good that we were already on our way. My husband and I are a one car family, and our one car is a Toyota that gets fabulous gas mileage. I work primarily out of my home – so I’ve reduced my car emissions significantly. We keep our heat low, we buy local produce and we have a part in an organic farm share. We have replaced old incandescent bulbs with CFL as they go out, we carry the reusable grocery bags and we recycle. But the bills were still rising with the cost of oil and electricity so we knew we needed to and wanted to do more.

Sadly, we have old and inefficient home heating and water heating. When our oil costs crested at $500 for a tank, I started to get really worried. I knew that we didn’t have the income to cover a winter of $500 tanks of oil – and also, I just didn’t want to pay that much on principle.

I was pumping so much money into oil that I couldn’t even save up for a more efficient boiler or an alternate heating system. I live in the boonies, so natural gas wasn’t an option (and really, I’d just be trading one fossil fuel for another) and our fireplace is tiny and inefficient. My feeling was and is that the cost of oil isn’t going to go down in the future – sure it will ebb and flow but I felt like it was really time to start long term planning and implementation now.

We live in a small, split level house that was built in 1964. In 1966, the square footage of the house was roughly doubled with the addition of a “sun room.” Roughly 600 square feet, this room is really where we “live” and it is comprised of three walls of five foot high jalousie windows. This made the room three seasons ready – with a chilly fourth tacked on for those of us who were really determined.

Every winter we put the storm windows up – and last year we even duct taped the seams. We hung curtains made from fleece, kept the heat down to 62 degrees and wore a lot of cozy clothing and layers. The rest of the house is quite snug but since the sunroom is critical to our sanity, I knew I couldn’t spend another winter watching the curtains move with the cold air seeping through.

I determined that I would change my situation. I’ll admit it, part of me wanted to jump in the deep end; solar electricity, grants, wind turbines! But I learned that the first step had to be in upgrading the efficiency of my home. The truth is that even if you get grants and help and tax write-offs, you still need cash flow. And how can you design a renewable energy power system without really knowing your optimal (most efficient) power needs? I needed to slow down and get informed.

Becoming an Energy Ace isn’t as fun or cool as buying and installing some cool and massive renewable energy system – mostly I knew it was just changing some habits. Turning off lights, using power strips to get rid of ghost loads, faster showers…you know the drill. We did that stuff

As I became more informed, I realized we needed to invest in some larger changes and that ultimately I could incorporate alternative energy technology in my home – technology that wouldn’t break the bank - and so began my adventure in renewable energy.