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See How to Get Off Fossil Fuels in Boulder, Colorado

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The catastrophic gusher of oil spilling from the sea floor onto the Gulf Coast of the US has many people taking a hard look at their use of fossil fuels. This house shows how you can stop using gasoline.

1. Switch to an electric car as they start to come on the market later this year in this country.
2. Be ready for your next car: the EV. To charge it; find out how to switch your home to solar power, to supply the power for your next car instead of fossil fuels. In many states in the USA you can very economically add solar power to your home; in some states that cost is as low as $0. And it’s completely free to find out. Solar power installers give estimates for free.

Just ask them to estimate for your planned EV charging. For every 10,000 miles driven a year, you’ll need to produce about 250 kilowatt hours a month.

This house is a famous one built in 2005 to demonstrate how to make a zero energy home. On the top of the roof; there’s a bank of solar thermal heaters to make hot water. That knocks out all the fossil fuel needed to heat both hot water and the house. The heat gets stored in 6,000 gallon “heat battery” tank, and it supplies both hot water and radiant flooring.

Lots of sun and heat is absorbed by sun spaces like this. The warmth is distributed throughout house via fans and ducts.

Earthtubes deliver temperate (70 degrees Fahrenheit) air through an Energy Recovery Ventilator. Simple fans move that cooled air around. Coolerado supplies the whole house with super-efficient air conditioning.

Electricity is amply supplied by the two roof-mounted PV arrays, that together total 9 KW, and produce about 12,500 kWh a year.
If you live in Boulder, Colorado you can sign up to take the zero house tour.