People are starting to do the math

 

Energy-efficient, fossil fuel-free homes here in the Northeast are not only possible, but are most likely the least costly energy option.

The average annual energy cost per household in New York State is $2,500. Fifty-seven percent of that energy typically goes toward heating and cooling. Seventeen percent is used to heat hot water and twenty-six percent for all else (cooking, lighting, appliances, electronics).

 

I built our averaged sized (2,500 square foot), three-bedroom home in 1978. Using standard material and technology available at the time, I created a comfortable, energy-efficient home. My daughter and I suffer from asthma, so burning fossil fuels or wood at home was not an option for us. We had environmental concerns with fossil fuels, so we deliberately chose wind and hydro for our electric supply (see The Power of Purchasing Renewable Energy for Your Home). Starting with built-in passive geothermal and passive solar, I supplemented our heating with fume-free, draft-free, electric radiant heat. With passive geothermal and fans, I kept our home comfortable in the summer as well. 

 

Energy efficiency matters. It can be accomplished when constructing your home or afterward as a retrofit. By paying attention to how our home was constructed, our average yearly energy cost was reduced from $2,500 to $1,200. The cost of building our home was no more than building an average house of our size — we simply built it differently. You could say that we were saving $1,300 a year without spending a dime. Retrofits require an upfront investment, but the money not spent on energy will pay off the investment in 2 months to 5 years. After that, it becomes money saved.*

 

Home electric generation was prohibitively expensive when we built in 1978. Since that time, the cost of solar panels has plummeted. In 2012, we decided to install photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on our roof, designed to generate our electricity “in-house.” 

 

Worst case scenario: it would take 10 years to pay them off with the money not sent to the utility. At minimum, that meant that we could hold our energy cost steady for 10 years, with free energy after that. As it happened, we paid off our loan in two years. The panels have a warranty of 25 years, with a life expectancy of much longer. Over 30 years, we will have cut our energy cost by two thirds at present prices and much more as the price of electricity goes up. 

We now pay approximately $500 annually to our utility company. This is not for energy per se, but a charge for when we use the energy we've stored on the grid — plus taxes, NYS fees, etc. Essentially, this is what we pay to use the grid as energy storage. As the price of in-house energy storage comes down, we plan to invest in our own energy storage system. Then the $500 (or whatever it is then) annual payment to the utility is saved and can be applied toward paying off our in-house storage system.

 

Our home was built to take advantage of passive solar, which made it ideal for active solar as well. Homes without this advantage have another option. They can invest in community solar. This involves joining with others to buy their panels and form a community solar farm. As long as it is located in the same utility zone, it acts as if the panels were installed on your roof, feeding electricity into the grid for your use. While this option costs a little more (you are basically leasing someone else’s land for your panels), it still saves you a lot of money over the course of 30 years (see above). This option is also available for renters who purchase their own electricity.

 

If you don’t want to own or finance your own panels, you can either lease your roof to a solar PV installer and purchase the generated electricity at a reduced rate or simply buy your power from a solar farm owned by someone else. You won’t own your panels, but you’ll at least receive power at competitive prices that will be stable over the life of the contract.

 

* All energy is subsidized. Currently, fossil fuels enjoy a four to one advantage in the dollar amount of government subsidies given out. Subsidies on renewables generated locally go to the homeowner and the local economy, while fossil fuel subsidies build profit for the fossil fuel industry. Money spent on fossil fuels is a financial drain on the household and local economy. Eliminate subsidies on energy from both fossil fuels and renewables, and energy efficiency and conservation makes even more economic sense.