A to Z Now Produced by Sunbeams
Dateline: 4/20/08
By Ann Zeise
I am excited to announce that A to Z Home's Cool of Milpitas, CA, is now being produced using sunbeams.
Our carbon footprint has just become considerably smaller as electricity for our computing and other household and business use will be considerably generated by two sets of 8 solar panels: one shown on the south-facing roof in the photo above, and a second set of 8 on the second story west-facing roof.
The salesman and the installation crew from REC Solar did a wonderful job this past Thursday and Friday, April 17-18, 2008. The City building inspection was on the following Monday, and PG&E also needs to make the final connection to the meter, but it appears for the "sunny" months we will be selling more electricity back to the power company then we normally have used in the past.
Update April 29, 2008: PG&E hooked up a new meter to our solar PVC system shortly after noon today. My husband is happily watching the meter showing a credit to our energy account.
Update June 8, 2008: We just got our first full month's gas and electric bill for the month of May. Are you ready for this? Combined gas and electricity bill was $29.83! The electricity part was $8.69, most of the rest was for hot water heated by gas. Fred figures the bill would have been $270 without the PVC installed.
Several months ago we replaced our dishwasher with a highly efficient model. Our older Maytag dishwasher was being recalled, and the Maytag company offered us to either fix it or give us $75 toward a new one. At the same time, the power company was offering a rebate, and a nearby appliance store had a sale on this KitchenAid Energy Star dishwasher. [Note: we did not pay anywhere near this list price!]
All three toilets on our home office are water efficient models. Two are EcoQuantum toilets which have dual flush capibility: down for #1 (1.0 gals.) and up for #2 (1.6 gals.). We watched for rebates, and so were able to get a partial refund from the area water company for installing more efficient toilets. Kitchen and shower faucets are all low-flow.
We have been recycling for years, so I almost forgot to mention it. We have three large bins: one for garden waste to be composted, one for recyclables, and one for ordinary trash. We have a compost barrel in our back yard, so much kitchen and garden compostables go in that.
Most of our lighting has been replaced with Full Spectrum Compact Florescent light bulbs. As many of you know, I find natural spectrum lights more harmonious, and they make my photographs look their best, so I was glad that florescents finally came in this spectrum range. Driveway, entry way and back deck lights are motion sensitive, so are only on when needed.
Most of our bills are viewed and paid online through our credit union, saving who knows how much paper waste. We are also doing all we can to refuse junk mail. Paper waste is shredded and goes in the compost pile.
Our front lawn has been replaced by a low-maintenance butterfly and hummingbird attracting garden (Seen in part in the photo), and so is a delight to all who pass by. We don't have a lawn anywhere else either! We go to the community park next door when we feel the need to be on grass.
All the downstairs windows are now double-paned and better sealed. Upstairs is yet to be made more efficient.
Our pool has been solar heated all along, but will be getting an upgrade soon. One of the perks of working from home: jumping in the pool to cool off, and working in my swimsuit. (No, you won't be seeing a photo of THAT any time soon!)
Extra insulation has been added under the roof, in the attic, and Reflectix under the floor.
We added an attic fan to help keep our place cool in the summer, so we seldom need air conditioning. It comes on automatically when the attic temperature hits a certain temperature.
Our cars? Well, they may not be the most efficient, but we all work here at home, so we have eliminated commuting costs. When we do go out, we try to run at least three errands, and plot the most efficient route to get the most done. My husband is working with a group to try to make hydrogen-fueled cars a reality.
I don't know if we are the first large homeschool site to go so majorly Green, but I believe we're the only one posting about it. I would love to have some competition in this area!
Now you know where your money goes when you make purchases on this site: to make payments for these Green improvements and more to come. We recently refinanced our home loan, and got some money out for these improvements. (Fixed at 5.25% for about 1/3 the current value of our home.) The payments are less than they were earlier, so this helps us out by having both lower mortgage payments and lower power and water bills. Improvements were made over time, and not all were recent. We are paying less and using less limited resources. This allows us to save for the next earth-friendly improvement.
We're not done yet. Stay tuned here to hear about new Green improvements to A to Z Home's Cool. Saving for:
- energy efficient laundry appliances
- energy efficient TV
- bamboo flooring
- upgraded energy efficient pool filtering, heating and sanitation
|