Renew • Colorado's Remodeling Magazine

Some homeowners aren’t just installing compact fluorescent light bulbs and turning down the air conditioning. They are taking energy savings further and transforming their homes to draw no electricity from the power grid.

Moving toward an off-grid home can lead to financial savings and green bragging rights. It can also mean producing power, making the electric meter spin backwards and generating credits from the electric utility.

Here are ten steps toward moving off the electric grid — five energy-saving ideas and five new power sources. Also, look for state and federal tax credits and rebates when taking any of these steps. Several renewable energy upgrades are eligible for federal stimulus money.

Save energy

One – Insulate and seal the house
An energy audit is the best way to determine existing insulation levels and check for gaps that leak air. A qualified auditor will explain how to seal around window frames that could let out more heat than the window panes.

For Colorado, the federal Department of Energy recommends at least R-38 insulation in the attic, the most important area to insulate. The best way to maximize attic insulation is to hire a contractor and blow in insulation, which is typically made of fiber glass or cellulose. Environmentally friendly alternatives include cotton- and hemp-based insulation. Blown-in insulation is cheaper and faster for contractors to install than batting and other insulation types, and it can fill small and hard-to-reach gaps.

Two – Increase natural light
Solar skylights cut artificial light needs by trapping sunlight in a dome-shaped collector on a south-facing roof and channeling it through reflective tubes and diffusing it into room. Other models move the light through fiber-optic tubes to a room on a lower level or in the north end of the home. Compared with a traditional skylight, the new technology is less likely to leak, more energy efficient and offers more consistent lighting throughout the day. The recessed fixtures can also be combined with compact fluorescent bulbs for nighttime lighting.

South-facing windows also provide natural light and winter heat. The most efficient windows have at least two panes and are coated to reduce heat loss. However, Nancy Kellogg of Treading Lightly Energy and Design said homeowners should avoid windows that are too shaded or too efficient because they reduce the impact of passive solar heat. Insulating shades and curtains are better for reducing heat loss at night and excessive heat gain in the summer.

Three – Use energy-efficient appliances
Look for the EnergyStar label, which indicates 10 to 50 percent less energy usage than a standard appliance or electronic device. Another feature to consider is a delay timer, which allows dishwashers and other appliance to run during off-peak hours when electric demand is lower. With solar electric panels, consider running the appliances during the day when the house is generating power but nobody is home.

Some energy-efficient appliances also have other advantages. For example, a front-loading washer uses less water, reduces wear on clothing and can typically be stacked with a dryer to save space.

Finally, to switch off the grid and generate all your own power, gas stoves and furnaces will need to be replaced with electric models.

Four – Get smart with power strips
Computers, DVD players and other electronics draw power even when they are switched off or in standby mode. New power strips can gauge when such items are idle or on standby and switch off the outlet. Other strips have “smart” plugs alongside conventional plugs, allowing homeowners to ensure consistent electricity to DVRs or other devices that are always on.

Five – Automate the home
To further cut active and idle energy consumption, consider a lighting management system or full home automation system. Lighting management systems use sensors to switch off lights in unoccupied rooms, adjust lighting levels according to ambient light conditions and set lights to timers.

Home automation systems allow homeowners to control various items in the home by remote control, or from the Internet or a PDA. For example, a homeowner can turn off all the lights with the press of a button, even after forgetting to do so before leaving the house. The system can also control temperature more tightly than a basic programmable thermostat. The system can even lower automatically lower shades at sundown to reduce heat loss.

Generating electricity

Six – Go solar
Solar power is popular and constantly in the news, particularly in sunny Colorado. Enough photovoltaic solar panels can power a home of any size for many years with minimal maintenance.

There are also other ways to harness the power of the sun. Solar thermal technology is simple, inexpensive and time-tested. Dark solar panels heat water and transfer it into storage tanks for use in bathrooms and kitchens, radiant floor heating or radiators.

Another simple way to use the sun’s heat is with a small solar thermal panel that works as a space heater. The panel is mounted on the roof or wall, where a vent draws cold air out of the room. The air is heated while circulating through tubes. A fan then blows warm air back into the room.

SolarGreen in Englewood sells all three types of solar panels.

Seven – Plant wind power
Buying offsets from Xcel and other electric utilities is not the only way to use wind power. Wind turbines are now spinning in back yards and on rooftops. They generate electricity any time the wind is blowing, day or night.

The turbines are simple to install and operate with minimal moving parts and little required maintenance. New models are rated to last 30 years, according to Standard Renewable Energy, a Denver company that sells Skystream wind turbines.

This year, Ace Hardware will begin selling a rooftop wind turbine that generates power starting at wind speeds of two miles per hour.

Eight – Go underground
In addition to turbines high above the ground, energy can be tapped from below the surface. Geothermal or geo-exchange heat pumps run a long loop of water pipes underground, where the temperature is higher. The water returns to the home far hotter and can be used to heat the home or fill hot-water tanks. Radiance Corporation in Nederland installs geothermal heat pumps. The firm estimates the pump uses only 25 to 50 percent of the electricity used in a standard heating and cooling system.

Nine – Pellet power
Wood stoves may not be a cutting-edge technology or even a renewable home-based heating source. However, pellet stoves are updating an old standby. The new stoves are highly efficient and clean-burning and they also use inexpensive, locally generated fuel. In Colorado, Confluence Energy is using swaths of beetle-killed trees to create pellets for the stoves. Other companies mix in waste products such as olive pits and walnut shells.

Some pellet stoves are not approved for use on red advisory days, so be sure to check with suppliers or contact the state health department for the approved list. Also look for low-emission stoves that are compliant with EPA Phase II requirements.

A pellet stove can reduce natural-gas heating bills by 30 percent even without other efficiency improvements, according to Staci Griffin of Boulder Stove and Flooring.

Ten – Go Micro-hydro (if you can)
Micro-hydro electricity generators are the least publicized and most selective home power systems. They only work for homes with water flowing through the property. For those rare homeowners, the idea is basically a tiny hydro-electric dam. The water spins a turbine that converts the motion into electricity.

An Energy Alternatives study found a micro-hydro system produces as least 10 times more power than PV solar or wind turbines for the same initial investment.

Photo credits to place with correct photos:

Photo Courtesy of Southwest Windpower

Photo provided by Whirlpool

Photo provided by Lennox Hearth