| More and more NH builders are using energy saving | | | | burning oil, wood, gas or coal and you should look into |
| building techniques in Southern New Hampshire., | | | | Energystar and power company incentives. |
| offering some of the latest technology in heating and | | | | Other energy savings and eco friendly techniques |
| cooling homes. The term green construction is | | | | that are embraced in New Hampshire are solar and |
| becoming more common as energy costs soar | | | | passive solar technologies. There are simple and |
| across the nation. | | | | subtle changes that can be made with new |
| There has been a lot of interest in Geothermal | | | | construction, without installing solar panels, such as |
| technology which takes advantage of the relatively | | | | orienting the house to be facing South and installing |
| stable temperature of the earth to help heat and | | | | lots of insulated triple pane glass; we see sunrooms |
| cool your home. A series of pipes, called a loop, is | | | | with tile floors that open up to main living spaces, |
| installed underground. A water solution is circulated | | | | separated by doors to cut down heat loss at night, |
| through this loop where it picks up heat from the | | | | but open them up and let the sunshine and warmth |
| earth. This heat is brought back to a heat pump in | | | | flood in during the day. Builders and property owners |
| the home and from there it is circulated through duct | | | | have not embraced wind technology in NH at this |
| work to heat your home. In the summer months this | | | | point. |
| process is reversed so that heat is extracted from | | | | With the high price of energy and New Hampshire's |
| the home and deposited back into the earth. | | | | cold Winter climate, alternative energy sources are |
| According to the PSNH website, actual operating | | | | becoming more and more popular. This year we have |
| costs average 48 cents per square foot per year for | | | | seen a resurgence of "clean coal" that is marketed as |
| heat, hot water, and A/C. Even though the systems | | | | washed and is not the messy dusty coal of the past. |
| are costly, the advantages are obviously reduced | | | | It is marketed with clean burning coal stoves. |
| operating costs, lower maintenance, its cleaner than | | | | |