Tax incentives add to alt energy allure
Increasingly, Island homeowners benefit from a combination of technological advances and federal and state tax credits for heating systems that are not dependent on fossil fuels.
A solar heating system using the latest technology - known as "evacuated tube" design - means that hot water can be at your fingertips year-round on Martha's Vineyard, according to Tim Twombly, American Independence Energy of West Tisbury. Mr. Twombly has installed three Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water (ETSHW) collectors atop a house he shares with Diane Hartmann in West Tisbury. He uses the project as a working model for a business that promises what its name suggests - greater independence from the high cost of fossil fuels.
"I watched the craze in solar panels, and I was not excited because they did not work in the north, but the evacuated tubes do work in the north. When the evacuated tubes came along I said, 'that's it.'" Mr. Twombly, a mechanical engineer, also has a system installed on his house in Oak Bluffs.
The evacuated tubes, mounted on the roof of a home at a 20-70 degree angle, absorb 97 percent of the light generated by the sun and convert it into usable heat. Like a teapot on the stove, the thermos-bottle-type tube units transfer heat from the sun to an insulated copper pipe through which a heat transfer liquid is circulated. The heated transfer liquid moves along 80 feet of piping to the glass-lined thermal storage tank in the basement.
Depending on the water heater's volume and the season, heating water from the 50 degrees at which it leaves a well to the 120 degrees most users seek may be powered solely by the sun or a combination of traditional fossil fuel (oil or propane) and that solar energy. During the period of October through March (when sunlight is often scarce here) Ms. Hartmann has been able to reduce her dependence on propane from 1.3 gallons per day for hot water to less than half a gallon per day (relying on only two collectors). She uses solar for approximately 65.4 percent of her hot water needs.
"I love it when the propane truck comes, the driver shakes his head and leaves," says Ms. Hartmann. "This is so long overdue for us. It is so simple and creates cheap energy."
To create a residential system to serve the needs of a family of four, Mr. Twombly estimates the unit would cost $20,000 (equipment is estimated at $12,000 and labor is about $8,000). Mr. Twombly suggests that there is now room to negotiate on the cost of installation due to the downturn of the economy.
The year the equipment is installed the federal government will give a 30-percent (uncapped) tax credit. Massachusetts will also give a 15-percent (up to $1,000) tax credit. Ms. Hartmann estimates that through these tax credits she will realize a $6,000 savings, reducing the cost of converting to approximately $14,000.
There are other federal government grant and loan programs for small businesses and farms interested in converting to solar heat hot water.
"Solar hot water is one use of solar energy that makes sense money-wise," Mr. Twombly says. "And, we are not at the mercy of forces we cannot control." Mr. Twombly refers to the fluctuating cost of propane and oil.
Originally, Ms. Hartmann estimated that the cost of converting to solar heat for hot water would require nine years to repay the investment. But, it is difficult to calculate with the changing cost of propane.
However, Mr. Twombly says that evacuated-tube solar heat for water is the ideal "entry point" for every other kind of alternative energy because it is dependable, affordable, and understandable.
Wood, the new alternative
New technology has also created a new opportunity for using a renewable resource - wood - to heat homes and perhaps cash in on a couple of government programs that help to offset the cost.
Room-size stoves, fireplace inserts, and home capacity furnaces that burn wood pellets are the latest innovations in heating that reduce the planet's carbon footprint. The pellets are made from pure wood sawdust that is recycled from manufacturing processes such as lumber production or furniture manufacturing.
According to equipment manufacturers, the wood pellet stove and furnace technology provides a clean wood heat with little smoke and low levels of emissions. The wood pellets are a renewable biomass energy, unlike the nonrenewable fossil fuels. Further, wood pellets utilized for heat have a 80-90 percent efficiency rating.
"Anything you can do with central heating you can do with pellets,'' says Sharon Strimling Florio, owner of Vineyard Alternative Heating in Vineyard Haven. The wood pellet units have integrated thermostats so that temperature may be maintained across an open floor plan.
Prices for residential furnaces using pellets start at $3,500 and pellet stoves start at $2,000. However, most units on the Vineyard Alternative Heating showroom floor have sale tags with reduced prices. And, the federal government is now providing a 30-percent tax credit (up to $1,500) on approved wood pellet equipment. A quality unit will last 15 to 25 years, according to Ms. Strimling Florio.
The pellets may be held in a bag or, in the case of furnace use, delivered by truck and stored in a basement or outdoor hopper. In either case the equipment feeds the pellets into the burner as needed to maintain the designated temperature. The system may be supplemental to traditional heating (using oil or propane) or may replace the traditional system entirely.
The cost of the pellets, $365 a ton, has remained consistently below the cost of the other heat sources. According to Ms. Strimling Florio, the average Massachusetts home would use three pallets a year of wood pellets at about $1,000 for the year versus the average $2,000 to $3,000 a year spent on 864 gallons of home heating oil.
"Pellets are the cleanest burning solid fuel there is," says Ms. Strimling Florio. In fact, burning wood is "carbon neutral," Ms. Strimling Florio explains because burning wood does not add carbon to the atmosphere beyond what a fallen tree would generate naturally.
Most importantly, Ms. Strimling Florio explains that wood pellets are a renewable energy resource with growth potential. Citing US Department of Energy research, Ms. Strimling Florio says that 1.3 billion tons of biomass can become available annually on a renewable basis. "Currently we are using two million tons in the U.S. That is the growth potential."
"We could keep every home and every commercial building warm in the U.S. without depleting our biomass resources," according to Ms. Strimling Floria. And, she adds, the potential is based on only responsible forestry -that is, cutting down what is healthy for the forest.
Massachusetts has also recently approved the use of wood pellet stoves or furnaces for residents who qualify by income for the state's winter fuel assistance program. The benefit is already effective and funds are available.
