Paul and Joanne Coons’ energy bill is about $200 per year.
The Coons participated in an open house sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association on Saturday, Oct. 6, opening their doors to visitors who toured the environmentally friendly aspects of their Rexford home.
The most visible features of their green` home are the large solar panels in the back yard. The four panels generate approximately 70 percent of the energy the family uses.
To calculate energy costs, National Grid uses a net meter system, which calculates how much energy the Coons generate for the grid, which is then deducted from the energy they use from the grid.
The family also has solar vacuum tubes on top of their barn, which heat their water to a constant 120 degrees. If the tubes don’t have enough sunlight, a bio-diesel generator heats the water. A propane heater is a second backup.
The Coons collect kitchen oil from five local Chinese restaurants every Sunday and combine it with other materials to make the bio-diesel.
`I’m voting with my dollar,` Joanne Coons said. `If I buy a panel, more panels will be made. I’m a science teacher, and I believe the data. If I’m guilty of more emissions, that’s all I can do is control what I do, so I’m doing what I can do.`
Joanne Coons teaches earth and environmental science at Shenendehowa High School, and her husband works for the state Office of Mental Health.
They have a gas-electric hybrid car, which gets about 50 miles per gallon, and a diesel car, which gets about 45 miles per gallon. The diesel car runs on the bio-diesel the family creates, except in the winter.
`These are stepping stones until we really come upon the next big solution,` Joanne Coons said. `I don’t know what that is.`
Ann Reynolds and Ed McCorry of Albany toured three area homes on Saturday with their children.
`We’ve upgraded our furnace, we’ve put windows in, but now we’re thinking of going even further and buying a new place and putting solar panels in and having a completely energy efficient home,` McCorry said. `We have a belief as a family and our role and relationship to our community and our planet.`
Reynolds said they chose the Coons’ home to visit because they wanted to see how older homes can be fitted with environmentally friendly measures.
`These people are proving you can have an old house and have it be really high-tech and environmental, too,` she said.
Twenty-eight local homes and businesses participated in the open house, which was part of the American Solar Energy Society’s `National Solar Tour.`
The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association recommends three ways of reducing energy costs: Changing all light bulbs to compact florescent, which reduce energy use by about 66 percent over traditional bulbs; seal air leaks to reduce drafts; and unplug appliances when not in use.
`There’s not going to be any oil left, and eventually oil is going to get so high-priced that only the rich can afford it. Oil is killing us, it’s going to ruin the environment,` Paul Coons said. `I look at my grandkids. What are they going to have when we’re all done with this?`
He added that his home also features a more low-tech energy saver: `We’ve got the solar clothes drier, everybody used to have them,` he said, pointing to wet clothes hanging on his clothesline.
For information about the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, visit the Web site at www.nesea.org or call 413-774-6051.
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