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Doing It Differently

KOLD News 13 News Reporter Bud Foster

What was once considered eccentric or even futuristic is becoming a reality for some middle class families in Tucson.

Sally Day and her family made the choice to go green. She says there is a cost to keeping it clean, but it's worth every penny. Sally, her husband Todd and their two kids drive an electric car which is powered by the solar panels that are installed on top of their home's roof. The car is made by a company called Zap. The cost is just over $11,000 and the car gets around 30 miles on a single charge. Sally says, "It really is not hard, and isn't strange to me, it is a very logical thing to do." Even with plugging in the car and running a heating/cooler system Sally and her family manage to get credit back from the power company. When we visited the family's home the meter was literally running in reverse.

Sally's solar install started by paying $6,800 for a 2 Kilowatt (18 panels) system including all the hardware. The family then attached the panels to their roof with a free TEP technical consultation. Sally paid the Solar Store $1,450 to connect the electrical hook up and turned it on last March.

According to our computerized meter, they have generated $1,171 worth of electricity. Sally says the system prevents 5.44 Tons of CO2 from going into the air. 

Sally and her family also cut back on their energy use by using a solar oven. The oven ran around $200 and can cook an apple pie in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. She also trained herself to look out for things around the house to save electricity.

 Like many families, this family's day often starts off with the smell of coffee brewing from the kitchen. What's different about this family is they do not let it sit on the warmer. As soon as the coffee is brewed Sally or her husband pour the pot of coffee into a thermal container to keep it warm. Then they unplug the coffee maker. Sally says, "they're all these things to do that are fun instead of thinking oh my God the world is going to end."