Zero Is The New Black

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When we were renovating our new old farmhouse, we were sorely tempted to go all out. Put in that geothermal heat pump. Install a solar water heater. Hook up that wind turbine and sell energy back to the utilities rather than the other way around. Light up the house with sun tunnels. In other words, do what we could to get off the grid as much as possible.

And then reality set in. Namely, finances. While we’d have loved to do all of the above, after updating the home to modern standards, not a whole lot was left in the ol’ bank to afford our off grid dreaming. So, what did we actually do?

• Yes, we installed a very efficient heat pump. But no, it was not a geothermal one, as we were quoted approximately $7,500 more than we could afford.
• Yes, we replaced our hot water heater with one substantially more efficient than what was already in place. But no, it wasn’t a solar unit.
• No, we didn’t put up a wind turbine, even though our location makes it a feasible energy source. Unfortunately, the installation cost versus our local energy costs shows that this project just didn’t make much economic sense right now.
• And the sun tunnels? Well, lets just say they weren’t the highest priorities on the list to start with, and you saw how the list has went so far…

So as you can see, we fell a little short of the dream. The intent was there. Even the feasibility of our plans was there. The money, alas, was not. But, that doesn’t mean I’m abandoning the idea. It just means I’ve got to be a little more involved to finance it.

Another of my obsessions is money, investing, debt reduction, yadda, yadda, yadda. So I thought, if we’re investing so we don’t starve in retirement, why shouldn’t we do a bit of investing to be able to afford to go off grid. Equally laudable goal I believe, and a little complimentary to boot — after all, if our energy footprint isn’t so expensive, retirement suddenly becomes cheaper as well. So that’s what we’re going to do.

But what to invest in, that’s the big question. I’m thinking that picking up shares of, say, Exxon just wouldn’t feel quite right. So even though I have an idea or ten, I’m going to do a little research and see if I can come up with a few more appropriate avenues. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear ‘em!

The wife came in this morning, amazed at the cost of the latest trip to the gas pump: almost $55 to fill up our minivan’s not-particularly-large tank. While the vehicle doesn’t get phenomenal mileage, we’re content not to wander far from home, so a tank will last us awhile. Oh, and least it’s no Escalade. Nevertheless, Ouch!

I’m probably one of the very few, but whenever I see the gas prices go up dramatically like they have been lately, a part of me feels more than a little hope. Not that us gluttonous drivers will finally get a clue, because, apparently we just don’t get it. But that greener alternatives might finally see some serious investments as the higher costs associated with their development get a little cheaper, compared to the cost of more mainstream energy sources.

There’s no telling where the next game-changing energy resource will come from. But motivating tens of thousands of scientists and engineers to look for it increases the odds of finding the path to a happier, maybe even cleaner, planet.

It looks like Home Depot is doing a little Earth Day marketing by pledging to give away 1,000,000 CFLs this Sunday. Too bad I’m many miles away from the nearest store. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense - economically or environmentally - for me to stop on by just to get a free bulb.

Then again, in my opinion, Home Depot has become the Walmart of home improvement stores - lots of cheap, shoddy goods and customer service that is borderline invisible. The last few times I stopped in, I left without finding everything I needed to complete my list (and twice with nothing from my list), nor could find anyone who was all that interested in helping me do so.

Nevertheless, a free n:vision bulb (the first brand of CFLs tried that put out light I actually liked) might convince me to stop in if I was going by…

This may be old news to those of you paying better attention, but Australia appears to be banning incandescent light bulbs in favor of CFLs.

But, of course, any attempts to do something similar is bound to get met with ridicule here in the states. Because, you know, taking away the freedom to chose what kind of bulb to use in your light sockets is tantamount to pissing on the Constitution. Or some such nonsense.

This February, we finally moved into our new home in the countryside. We bought the property over a year ago, and loved it at first sight. But quite a bit of modernizing had to be done to ye’ olde homestead, the place having been built in 1925 with minimal updating done over the years. For instance:

• We replaced many of our borderline antique single pane windows with low-e double pane ones.
• Added insulation to much of the house, where none was before. Considering we live in a part of the Midwest where it will hit 103+° in the summer and -20+° in the winter at least once almost every year, we were a little surprised to find no insulation when we opened up a few walls. (As an aside, apparently the house is built very well, because even the portion of the house that isn’t insulated hasn’t been particularly cold when the last bit of winter moved through.)
• Removed the scary fill-half-a-room coal-burning… then corn cob-burning… then, in the end, fuel oil furnace. We replaced it with a modern high-efficiency heat pump system. We were tempted to go with a geothermal system, but unfortunately, space in the budget for it just wasn’t to be found.

Needless to say, we substantially increased the energy efficiency of our little home, which we certainly will appreciate when the utility bills roll in.

But it leaves part of me pondering how much energy was used bringing us that efficiency. i.e. How much energy was spent - and waste created - assembling the components of that shiny new heat pump system?