Last year while considering their home's needed renovations, Lynda and Edward Primka decided to look into weatherization. They had been interested in energy conservation for a while; and the house was using an unreasonable average of 10,000 Kilo-Watt Hours (kWhs) of electricity a month. Knowing there had to be ways to reduce thier electricity bill, Lynda contacted Sustainable Future on the recommendation of her general contractor, FE Trainer. "We would really like our country to do better with energy conservation and renewable energy...we wanted to do our part," she said about their decision to renovate "green".

After listening to Lynda's needs and energy goals, Sustainable Future (SF) suggested and completed a Home Energy Audit with the use of a blower door. A blower door pulls air out of the house, so the energy auditor can more easily feel areas where air is leaking out. Everywhere air is escaping, heat or air conditioning is escaping as well. Identifying gaps is the first step to "sealing the envelope" of a home.

The home's attic was a major source of heat gain so to remedy that Lynda chose to have SF install Solar Attic Fans and Radiant Barrier. The radiant barrier will reflect the sun's energy in the same way a reflective windshield helps keep the temperature down inside a car. Here is Lynda and her son in the attic with the radiant barrier in the background.

Over the winter, the Primka's made a host of other changes. By replacing the old heating system with a geo thermal heat pump, they now have energy friendly heat and air, as well as help heating the home's hot water. Insulating the hot water tank is an easy improvement that helps the tank hold it's temperature. Additional insulation was added in the attic, traditional lighting was swapped out for Compact Florescent Light bulbs (CFL's), and Energy Star rated appliances were chosen for a few places. With these material decisions a new consciousness developed. "It does make one think, does the computer wi-fi need to be on when no one's home?" Lynda said. "I think, do I really need (this) light?"

The goal to reduce their energy consumption had been accomplished. The Primka's now use roughly 3,000 to 4,000 kWh's of electricity a month. The combination of their efforts reduced their energy consumption to one third of where they started!

Encouraged by the dramatic drop in energy use and a 30% Federal Tax Credit for Renewable Energy Systems, the Primka's turned their focus towards producing renewable energy with solar power.

Again, by listening to the Primka's goals, their Account Manager at SF, sized a system to produce approximately half of the Primka's total energy use. With the TVA Generation Partners buyback incentive, the energy sales from a 14.28 kW system covers the home's total electricity cost. The system is 84 panels, 170 Watts each, supported by a Multi-Pole mount. An unexpected fun habit formed as Lynda found herself walking her two Newfoundland's down to the system each day. She can read from the inverter exactly how many kWh's of electricity have been produced each day. So far, the Primka's have saved 36,000 pounds of coal from being mined, burned, and turned to ash. Knowing their energy conservation and energy production efforts continue to contribute towards a more sustainable energy future, the Primka's have achieved their goal and are most definitely "doing their part".

See the Knoxville News Sentinel article about this install - "While government grants and tax incentives may favor businesses, homeowners are continuing to get into solar - some of them in a big way. One local residence, on 17 acres of woodsy hilltop in far West Knoxville, features what its installers believe is the largest photovoltaic array in East Tennessee."