LTE – Greg St. Onge -12-15-2021
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Letter to the Editor: My path to a more conservation minded future:
A step at a time approach has served me well towards reducing the amount of gasoline and power grid electricity that I use. I’ve approached the idea of reducing my energy use from a conservation perspective during the last twenty years and to some degree before that. My path is just one of many that you can choose that can benefit you and society.
Some of us were jarred by the cost of heating oil when in 1974, the price of heating oil went from about 17 cents a gallon to double that in a few months. The result here was that many of us began heating with wood. For me that continued for 27 years, so my heating costs were low. In 1980, President Carter introduced me to solar and that solar water heating system is still working almost forty years later.
About twenty years ago, I drove a small pickup that got about 20 miles a gallon. Then I figured out that I could do better and purchased a 30 mpg wagon followed by a hybrid that got 46 miles per gallon. Each of these vehicles served my needs and now a plug in hybrid vehicle has gotten 57 mpg over the last four years. Someday not too far off, I hope to be driving an all-electric vehicle.
In 2012 encouraged by tax-credits, I purchased my first photovoltaic array which provided enough electricity for my house for nine months of the year, meaning not enough power for November thru January. So, I began a process of learning what it takes to power my house and my vehicle. After 8 years and four separate increases in solar capacity, I now have 6500 watts of potential solar output. You need not construct it all at once.
I’ve learned thru this process that I can run my car on electricity for 5 to 6000 miles on solar powered electricity each year while also powering my house plus the latest in AC and heat pump technology. I don’t need much AC here, but if you look carefully, heat pump technology has really improved lately. Heat pumps like mine are rated at 80 % efficiency down to -15 degrees.
At temps closer to freezing they are much more efficient than my gas fired boiler which is rated 80% efficient at best. If you go to purchase a mini-split for your home, check out the HSPF number which is the heat-producing efficiency number. Numbers above 10 are what you want for heating. By combining the heating efficiency of my mini-split with my boiler running on gas, I’ve just cut my home heating cost in half for November 2021. You can too with a properly designed system.
I’m still learning the best path to take. Learn about the many options available for safe affordable improvements available to reduce your imprint on nature. Work on a plan to make it happen.
Greg St. Onge