Going Green...or just slightly Green

After a long, snowy winter my husband and I have come to realize that we must do something about the ancient oil furnace that lurks below our creaky wood floors. We had already installed a "previously owned" 1970's-ish wood burning fireplace insert in our 1960's-ish brick fireplace that the former owners had constructed. We kept the thermostat at 65 (husband) to 68 (wife) degrees all winter to economize. My husband seemed to never get cold while I had to bundle up in all sorts of layers, slippers, and throws. Writing out the massive check when the heating oil bill came due was a major irritant which the wood stove insert helped alleviate, but not eliminate.

A couple of years ago we traveled to Taos, New Mexico and rented "The Hut" in an Earth ship Community for one week. Totally off the grid and miles from Taos, this dwelling gave us insight into "off the grid" living. While there we felt slightly Mad Max-ish!

Living here (between two hills with trees all around and highly variable sunshine during winter months) limits our alternative energy choices, but we are investigating the possibilities of heating our water through a passive solar energy system. Wind turbines are not practical for us due to the large costs of installation of this sort of system and the lack of sufficient wind down in our "yard between the hills." Sadly, our state offers no tax rebate for installation of alternative energy systems.

In our rural county many folks have outside wood boilers that heat their entire house plus furnish hot water. Since we have an unlimited supply of wood here on our acres we will probably go this route; hoping to get one that meets 2010 emission standards. A new high efficiency propane furnace for back-up heat will use less fossil fuel and is on our list of improvements as well!

I guess slightly greener is better than "no greener" at all, but part of me dreams of living off the grid.