Those who know me know I am passionate about renewable energy and making America energy independent. We can move towards that goal without each of us doing our part. Yes, buy CFL and LED lights to replace your energy corrupt incandescent bulbs, but there's more you can do. While I give advice I must do my part too. This year I made two big moves towards lowering my dependance on foreign oil. The first thing was to give back my 2006 Passat for the smaller and brand new clean burning VW Jetta TDI diesel station wagon. I am waiting anxiously for it to arrive. The demo I drove was fantastic. A German engineered vehicle that is a delight to drive that is loaded with my favorite items like a glass retractable roof, 10gb hard disk GPS/Entertainment system with touch screen and that allows my iPhone to even play videos through it, heated seats and 18" wheels, and the best part 50+ miles per gallon. Some say why not the Prius or other hybrid? Well the Prius would have been my choice just based on its tenure in the hybrid world. That plus everyone I know absolutely loves it. However, they aren't giving the tax credit for them anymore (my new Jetta will get a $1,300 tax credit this year) and it was about $4,000 more expensive than my fully loaded VW. I have almost always owned a VW and or BMW my entire life (save for my mistaken purchase of a Subaru which was a miserable in comfort and quality from my experience) so this was easy. That coupled with the hungry VW company buying my lease out early so I could get it now rather than run my less efficient, but zippy, 3.6l v6 engine. Although my very large and comfy Passat got 24mpg, it was painful feeding it $150 a week in fuel for all the miles I drive in the Real Estate business. I will write more after I own it for a few weeks to let you know if hindsight is as sharp as my foresight. 

As for heating my old 1760 antique home, getting energy costs down was almost as expensive as buying a new car. However, my 20 year old oil driven Slant Fin boiler and its companion hot water tank was bleeding me dry using 3,300 gallons of foreign heating oil each year. At the $4.46 per gallon lock my oil company offered me as a long time high volume customer I did a Sarah Palin thanks, but no thanks, on that one. I researched my heating contractor as thoroughly as the equipment I was to buy. I found out that many of the sales people that came to my home to quote their oil eating systems were incompetent or just out for their bottom line. They simply were quoting the brand and system they made their money on without regard to the volume of water my large system. I ended up choosing Silverio Mechanicals in Old Saybrook, CT simply because the proprietor loved his job and loved the technology that was out there to be had. He didn't sell fuel so he wasn't predisposed to either oil or gas and could talk to me about the benefits and negatives of each. in the end I chose gas. It just made more sense to me. The oil companies told me that a gallon of fuel oil produced 133,000 btu to 117,000 that propane produced. However, and at the time, the price for my volume of use for gas was $2.20 per gallon to the $4+ for oil I was quoted. Add to that the efficiency of Buderus oil furnace was 86% to the 96% propane model. I didn't need a math professor to tell me what to buy. 

I love the new Buderus system my contractor installed for me. For one, it uses a computerized control system that monitors the outside temperature so that it heats the water to a temperature that is appropriate to overcome that ambient temperature. My home is a constant and comfortable temperature. I used to experience a sinusoidal temperature curve of real hot to real cold because the oil boiler just heated the water to one temp regardless of outside temperature. Add to that, Buderus has solar hot water panels that work in concert with its propane counterpart. I am projecting that 80% of my hot water will be produce by the solar collectors which will add to my bottom line I hope in about 3-4 years based on today's fuel prices. 

I hope those who read this will feel compelled to at least think about what they will do to get us off our oil dependancy and lower their carbon footprint. My next investment will be in Solar PV so I can cut my electric costs. What will your next move be?