ATLANTA—‘Our gas bill is down fifty percent. It will be eighty percent when it turns cold. Our electric bill is down twenty-five percent, which is pretty good considering we switched some things to electric,’ said homeowner Randy Starnes. He and his wife, Peggy Berg, installed a geothermal heating and cooling system and a solar thermal water heater in their house. On October 4th, their house was on the National Solar Tour sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society, ASES. The event offered people a chance to see “how neighbors are using solar energy, energy efficiency and other sustainable technologies,” according to its news release. Renewable energy industries had $972 billion in revenue in 2006.
Berg felt angry about the Iraq war, and repeatedly could not see the city from a plane because it was covered in smog. That was her moment of truth. Even though the Georgia legislature had not yet offered any tax credits or rebates for installing solar systems, the couple decided to begin. ‘You feel better about global warming and the air you breathe. We have to do something.’
‘I am an American and I am not helpless. I chose to make a difference in air quality and U.S. foreign relations and U.S. politics and the direction of the U.S. economy with my spending. With all the talk of paybacks and business-like analyses to residential decisions, I think the core reason to invest in our homes gets lost. We spend money on our homes because we want to.’
They chose solar thermal because it was a mature, efficient technology, not quickly changing in price. They also chose it because they have three sons in college, which sometimes means nine young men taking showers in their house. The sons bring home friends, and “we never run out of hot water. Panels on the roof capture solar heat and warm the water. ‘It was pretty easy, just a question of who you trust, who has a good product,’ said Berg. The system cost about $4,000, partly offset by a $1,200 federal tax credit.
The decision to install a geothermal heating system was a bigger one. It was more costly. Workers from Cool-Ray brought a diamond-tipped drill to bore a narrow 400-foot deep well, partly through rock, to circulate water to equalize temperatures. A pump conveys the water around the house. Barnes said the earth stays at fifty-eight degrees. Geothermal brings that temperature into your living space. “You use the coolness of the earth to bring the coolness (or warmth) to the house...If it’s ninety degrees outside it brings it down....if it’s forty degrees outside the fifty-eight degrees brings it up so you only have to kick the heat in for the last 10-20 degrees. If it’s not enough you kick the electric in.” He estimates that the investment will pay for itself in seven years.
The geothermal system cost about $19,000, also offset by a $1,200 federal tax credit. Georgia now has a rebate program as well.
None of the technology is obtrusive. The coils that circulate the water are covered with panels and hidden. The solar thermal panels take up a few feet on the roof. The Barnes-Berg house is beautiful, full of natural light, musical instruments, and brightly painted Oaxacan wood sculptures. Barnes and one of his sons are musicians. The couple owns a Hampton Inn, where they are trying out ultra low flow toilets from Kohler.
