Paybacks...........
I’ll guarantee right now that this will turn into a RANT of some sort.
I get weary of the pragmatic, money and cost questions about ROI, (return on investment) . It’s soooooo backward and short sighted. The line of thinking goes like this........ If I spend $11,000 of a wood fired system and my annual fuel costs are $2,500, how long will it take before I get my money back. If I didn’t buy the wood burner and invested the money instead at 6% interest and continued to burn gas/oil what would the financial’s look like then........ and on and on and on. There is far more to the decision than mere dollars and cents.
Have you ever stopped to think what our current national energy situation would be like if everyone took the most efficient route instead of the cheapest? Let’s just take one example that we missed the boat on in the last 30 years. Think about the millions of new homes constructed in the last decade and how much less energy would be used nationally if every one of them had been built with solar heating for the domestic hot water. Forget the energy dollars and think about the reduction on CO2 emissions alone. Why didn’t they get built that way? Very simple my dear reader, the ONLY issue considered in the equation was initial investment $$.$$, not dependence on oil from other countries, not CO2 emissions, not sustainability, not environmental contamination from power plant pollution, oil drilling......need I go on? What are the hidden costs of not choosing to heat, cool, power or propel ourselves in the most efficient way available?
It’s time we get off our collective duff and start making decisions based on a more holistic approach rather than just what does it cost me right here and right now. The long term costs of not embracing the best available technology for energy production and consumption are catching up with us in a big way and those costs will become much larger over the next ten years. (you heard it here first) I read an article about a builder who was proclaiming himself to be “green” in one of the downstate newspapers this past weekend. He was right as far as his insulating practices and the rest of the envelope treatment but fell far short of doing all that could be done. No solar, no zoning for the HVAC system, no high efficiency ground source heat pumps, not even a variable speed furnace. They are all “cost prohibitive and take dollars away from what the homebuyer really want’s”. end of quote. So we wind up substituting granite counter tops, human car wash showers, fancy tray type ceilings etc. for things that would actually make a difference to our national security, the environment, the long term cost of ownership, sustainability.
It’s the American mindset which is programmed to expect cheap endless energy that is a major part of the problem. The sad truth of the matter is that those days are numbered if not already over unless fusion is perfected tomorrow. I got a call from a doctor a few weeks ago regarding high fuel costs for his new home. It’s pretty much standard construction. R-17 walls, R-38 ceiling, lot’s of glass, cathedral ceilings etc. We installed a condensing boiler and radiant floor in the house for him and he didn’t scrimp on that. But he’s wondering why it takes 300 gallons of propane a month to heat it. Well it’s 6,700 sq ft for one thing. And how about the two person bathtub that gets filled everyday for the little ones daily dunk. 80 gallons of hot water down the drain. I wanted to say “THINK man, THINK!”. ..........I’m too polite. That’s a classic illustration of what people expect but reality is creeping up on them.
I’m here to say that every dollar spent on any form of energy conservation will be returned many times over and often in ways that are unseen and not felt by the original spender of those $$.$$
Sorry............I knew I’d get over revved and wander all over the place on this topic.
