The Solar Patriot
(Page 2 of 4)
August/September 2003
By Amanda Griscom
Bradley also minimized the house's energy consumption. He and the Hathaways started with a prefabricated model from Design Homes in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania [www.designhomesllc.com; (800) 242-5377], then customized it with highly insulated malls, windows and ductwork.
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Energy-efficient choices include compact fluorescent bulbs on motion-sensing timers, an Energy Star Whirlpool refrigerator, a horizontal-axis Whirlpool Duet clothes washer and a Jenn-Air convection oven.
Because Carol and the three young Hathaways aren't exactly abstemious about their electricity use — the house has four computers, three televisions, two Nintendo systems, three stereos and a full complement of domestic;appliances — Alden built a hefty 6-kilowatt solar energy system that spans 1,000 square feet on the rooftops of tile house and garage.
In addition to the photovoltaic panels, the house uses other renewable technologies: Solar thermal panels heat the water and a geothermal system provides space heating and air-conditioning. The latter is a labyrinth of pipes sunk 5 feet underground, where the earth is a constant temperature of 58 degrees. A heat-transfer fluid pumped through tile pipe system heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer.
SOLAR SAVINGS
In August 2001, the Hathaway family moved into their new home. 'With the Department of Energy monitoring daily electricity use, they have completed a successful test run in one of America's first "zero net-energy" homes.
A zero net-energy home produces its own power. usually from solar panels, but is connected to the electricity grid used by traditional houses. It draws power from tile utility whenever necessary — the sun isn't shining — and pumps its own "green" electricity hatch into the grid when it produces a surplus. It s a zero sum-game: Nights balance out against days, sunny summer months balance out against dark winter months. Over a full year, a zero net-energy house produces at least as much electricity as it consumes.
Next to car and mortgage payments, energy bills are one of the largest household expenses for most U.S. families today. The average annual energy bill for a detached house is $1,570, according to the DOE. The Hathaway house, in contrast, has an annual energy bill of $300, or $25 a month, which includes the cost of the connect fee.
Of course, the energy-saving technology doesn't come free. But the Hathaways developed a long-term financing plan to manage the added costs. In total, the energy technology cost an additional $45,000 (the house cost $320,000), but increased the monthly mortgage payments by only 10 percent. So far, their savings in energy bills is about $260 a month, which offsets the increased payments.
Alden, currently director of the Green Power Program at the Washington-based Environmental Resources Trust, also calculates that his hybrid gas-electric car, a Toyota Prius, saves him more than $2,900 a year in gasoline costs.
