"You can’t do solar in the Northeast!" said a local tradesperson. I didn’t respond at the time, because our house wasn’t done and we were only hoping to prove him wrong. Now, I’d respond, "Only if you don’t try!"

We’ve lived in our passive solar, off-grid home for almost a year, and know full well that you can do solar in the Northeast. You can do all of it, or some of it. But even in the worst of winters and the cloudiest of summers, it is well worth doing something.

We established some design criteria that emphasized solar orientation, extra insulation (Don’t let anyone tell you "it’s not cost effective") and quality materials (e.g., a standing-seam metal roof that probably won’t be replaced for 40-plus years: "Pay me now or pay me later"). We also contemplated lifestyle changes that were minimal, but important to the low-energy home we wanted. Thinking about appliances that sip rather than gulp energy was included. Day-lighting to avoid dark corners and the need for daytime electric lights was done, and has worked better than hoped. Low water usage was contemplated and implemented. So, while we don’t have the biggest or fanciest appliances, we’ve got them all. Washer (No, no dryer but that’s a silly item at best. We just hang our stuff up, inside or outside.), computer with printer (Sarah works from the house. It’s a fully equipped office, including fax), freezer (8 cubic ft. from Denmark, but readily available here), frige (Sunfrost 10 cubic ft., plenty for two and more), deep-well pump that pumps slowly but steadily from 180 ft., and lots of electric lights (Sorry, no gas, no candles, no kerosene).

This all came together in a 1,300-sq.-ft. house that gets a lot of its heat from the sun in the winter and keeps relatively cool in the summer. Our firewood consumption last winter was 1.5 cords. We have eight Astropower 120-watt panels that give us almost a kilowatt of power to be stored in 12 batteries. Our panels are made in this country with no oil company money.

We—along with other Capital District residents with similar homes—would like to show them to you on Saturday, October 4 from 10 am to 4 pm. To find out where homes are open near you, go to www.nesea.org or call 413-774-6051 (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association coordinates the tour for the Northeast.)