Solar Panels & Worms

Well our solar panel drama continues. Shortly after I posted my last entry, I found out (through the Vendor's FACEBOOK page) that they were actually mistaken in advising us that we would be eligible for the treasury grant. So we are back to relying on the IRS to reimburse a bulk of the cost of our solar panels.

We have reviewed the IRS code and language, and can see where our vendor gets their opinion, but the conflicting information from other vendors and web research still makes me very nervous.

Even more irritating is that we STILL do not have an installation date. After I sent the sales rep a nasty email a few weeks ago and CC'd the President of their company, they gave me a "tentative" date of April 20th. I would think that since that date is now only 3 weeks away they should be able to confirm it now, but they are avoiding my contact efforts.

For the record, our vendor is Astralux Solar and I do not recommend them.

On a more positive note, the worms are working out well. We made a bin for them using blue storage tubs and have 2 pounds of worms (aproximately 2000 of the little guys) working away on coffee grounds, wilted lettuce, egg shells, the Financial Times, and all kinds of other goodies. It took a couple of days to get it stabalized and we did have some odor and runaways at first, but the bin is virtually odorless now and when you open it to sift through it, you can't even tell that they are working on old moldy table scraps.

So, in summary: Worms = Highly Recommend; Astralux = Stay Away

Also, we're expecting a baby "any day now", keep posted or check the baby blog for more information!

Fall At The Kubec House

Fall has officially arrived, the buffalo grass has gone dormant, and the leaves have fallen from our trees. The change of the season has brought many new and exciting events to our home this year.

Solar Panels

Today we signed the contract for the long awaited and debated PV solar panels. I am happy to announce that we truly leveraged the poor economy on this one. One of the many "ear mark" items on the bailout bill passed by Congress a few weeks ago was an elimination of the $2,000 cap on federal solar energy credits. The utility companies are responding to this change in the law by reducing their rebates. We were able to squeeze into a very small window of time where we get both, the high tax credit AND the high rebate. This resulted in an additional savings of about $5,000 for the solar system we were looking at earlier this year.

In the long run, we are purchasing a solar system sufficient to generate about 80% of the electricity we used over the last year for just over $3,000. It works out to a ROI of about 10%. Where else are you going to find that in this economy?

New Jobs

Next week Erik and I both start new jobs. Erik will be working for a company called America's Job Network, selling career consulting services to high level executives (resume writing services, interview coaching, etc.). I will be working for a company called UC4 selling a software system that automates business processes. Both positions offer the opportunity for better pay, benefits, and flexibility than our previous jobs. Erik will even have the option to set up a home office.

Trees

The initial design of the back yard is now complete, with the addition of six trees this fall. All of the trees were stategically placed to solve specific "problems" in the yard. We planted two Austrian Pine trees at the corner of the yard to add privacy, two Autumn Blaze Maples on one side of the house to block the glaring glow of some annoying street lamps, and two clumps of Aspen trees on the other side to provide shade to the kitchen and living room in the heat of summer.

Of course we got the best deals possible on all of the trees, with a total out of pocket of about $500 for all six of them. And with all of this time off we've had recently, Erik planted them
himself.

Politics

We are now officially addicted to the 24 hour news cycle. This is by far the most exciting and inspiring presidential election that I can remember. This last week we voted early and also went to see Joe Biden. This weekend we are going to an Obama rally. If you'd like to read more detailed political views from our household, check out Erik's new blog.

(and last but not least...)

Speck

As if all of these changes weren't exciting enough, we've also got a baby on the way! We've known this news for some time now (I actually found out just before we left for Mexico), but I was keeping it out of the "public domain" until after new jobs had been secured. You can follow Speck's development and my experiences with pregnancy at the Kubec Baby Blog, which I am now making public.

I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and the baby is due sometime in early April.

The Buffalo Grass Is In!!

Yes, we've only been talking about the buffalo grass for about 18 months...and it's finally in! Tonight Erik completed the planting of all 1800 plugs of Prestige Buffalo Grass.

We have been obsessing about this project since before we found the house ("we" being mostly Erik), and are so happy that we are finally free of spring freezes so that we can get these little suckers growing.

We planted the plugs an average of about 8 inches apart, and expect that by end of summer they will fill in to create a nice, no-mow, no water turf grass. Unfortunately right now, they are terribly unimpressive so I am not bothering to post a photo--all of my attempts to capture the newness of the grass were unsucessful and my photos just looked like mounds of dirt--so instead I am posting a photo from the distributer's web site.

I was very skeptical about this project at first, but I'm very excited for it now. As pathetic as these little grasslings look, it is inspiring to see something actually growing in our yard. And they looked so nice in the trays when they were all grouped together...I put them all next to each other and pretended it was sod so I could see how it looks. I think our grass is going to be just as nice as the neighbors, and can't wait for them to envy us because we don't have to mow the lawn every Saturday morning.

The water bills will be nice too. My mom keeps warning me that the City of Thornton has high water prices in the summer, but after this new lawn is established, we should be able to get through the summer with only a slight increase in our water needs. We've even contacted the city to brag about our water conservation efforts, and they offered to run a feature on our yard!

Solar Panels - Part 2

No sooner did I publish my last post on being green, than low and behold a solution showed up on our front door.

I came home the following evening and found a flyer on my door with an invitation to a local community meeting on solar panels. Last night I learned about the financial benefits available with photovoltaic solar panels.

I came to find out that there are several rebate programs available through the local utility company, plus there is an IRS Tax Credit. Not only that, but if you are energy wise and generate more electricity with your panels than you use, you can actually sell the he excess back to the grid and could see a return on your investment.

I am in love with this solution. The biggest appeal to me is that (1) the solar panels provide benefit all year long, and (2) it is an opportunity to give back to the community. The solar system we have been looking into creates heat. Now this is all fine and dandy on days like today when the high outside is a chilly 25 degrees, but in Denver (beleive it or not) these days are few. Probably 7 out of 12 months we do not use our heater. If the panels create electricity, we can use it all year--and even power the AC with it!

Who says you can't have everything? I still need to set up time for the solar sales guy to come evaluate our home and put together a proposal, so it's not like this is a done deal--in fact E didn't even go to last nights meeting--but I have a good feeling about it.

It's Not Easy Being Green

In the years that my husband and I have been together, he has taught me many things. The two key values he has tried to impress upon me are frugality and concern for the environment.

Now this is not to say that I was completely absent of these values prior to meeting E (well, maybe I didn't even know what frugal meant), but they definitely did not drive my life. Yes, like everyone, I said I thought we should do our part to save the environment...but it's an easy thing to say.

Now that we are proud homeowners, he has organized all of his spare time around fulfilling these two goals: saving money and being "green". He's even started his own blog on the subject.

I, on the other hand, seem to have inadvertently organized myself around resisting his goals. I dread almost every aspect of making our home more economical and green. For me, meeting E's values means this: being cold at home, ugly solar panels, funky thermal curtains and/or blinds, noisy attic fan, and sacrificing cool AC for a less cool swamp cooler.

I'm torn in a dilemma that I know I've faced before: looking good vs. honoring my word. Why does so much of my life boil down to this? I know that the right thing to do (and the thing that will ultimately make me most proud) is to be on E's side about this and support it all. But there's this big part of me that just wants to have the prettiest, coolest, and best house on the block.

So what is there to do?

Just over a year ago, we created a goal of "having it all". I think I will recreate that goal for myself. Why not live for a future where we can have a green home, and be the best house on the block? What can it hurt to try?