Living solar

ELKTON — When Gregory and Trudy Flick envisioned the home they would build to enjoy their retirement, they pictured recycled materials, retractable awnings and an organic garden.

They also envisioned heating and cooling their home with a passive solar system, plastering solar panels across the roof and using bubbling water from a tank heated by the sun.

Everything the pair envisioned, they have accomplished — and they show no signs of abandoning anytime soon their quest to live green.

Finding Elkton

As a longtime resident of Santa Rosa, Calif., Gregory had never even heard of the small city of Elkton. Gregory got his first glimpse of the city when he attended a fish and boat show in California 20 years ago. As he walked through the show, checking out various booths, he stumbled upon fishing guide Todd Hannah of the Elkton area.

Gregory stood at the booth mesmerized, watching a video of people fishing from a drift boat on the Umpqua River. The fishing and scenery captivated Gregory.

Ten years later, Gregory and Trudy were driving through Oregon to pick up a fruit press in Veneta. While driving, Gregory saw the highway sign for Elkton, and the pair decided to see the town for themselves. They drove through the community along the Umpqua River, put their toes in the water near Kellogg and fell in love with the area.

“We were looking at retirement and knew we couldn’t afford to stay in California,” Trudy said. “And Gregory said ‘I know just the place.’”

In 2001, the couple bought a vacant lot on Steelhead Drive in Elkton. Then they noticed a nearby lot on the Umpqua River for sale and bought it as well. They turned the first lot into their orchard and decided the second lot, which was occupied by a double-wide mobile home, would be the location of their future eco-friendly home.

Building a dream house

As an electrician for more than 30 years, Gregory had always been interested in solar energy and wanted to live in a home operating on that form of green energy. When it came time to design his future house with Trudy, Gregory put all of his research to work to create the perfect home.

Gregory used poster board and sewing pins to create a model of the home and took it to the Pacific Energy Center in San Francisco. His miniature house was tested in an instrument that simulates the sun at different times of the day and measures the amount of sunlight that would enter through the windows.

From the measurements, Gregory was able to determine how big to make the eaves of his house to maximize the amount of heat the sun could provide to the home. He also realized that he could add a fifth full-length window to the back side of the house, which faces south, and that he needed to shift the locations of the front and back doors.

With the findings in hand, Gregory hired a contractor, and the construction of their home began in September 2006.

Gregory and Trudy’s property is located in a Federal Emergency Management Agency designated flood area and, therefore, is required to have a substructure to protect the home from flooding. When construction crews began work on the new home, they deconstructed the old mobile home but left the substructure and the subfloor and steel structure of the double-wide. The crews built the new house using the old structures as a way to reuse supplies, Gregory said.

It took one year to build the one-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot home.

The Elkton home has 21 photovoltaic panels and one water collector panel, all covering half of the roof. The photovoltaic panels convert solar energy collected from the sun into electricity. The energy is converted from a direct current to an alternating current and is used to power the all-electric home, Gregory said.

During the summer months the panels generate more energy than the couple uses, but in the winter months the home runs on electricity as any other home would, Gregory said. The extra energy generated from the panels in the summer is sold to Douglas Electric Cooperative as green energy, available for other consumers to purchase. All of the energy-saving measures the Flicks have implemented are reflected in their electricity bill, which, during the highest month last year, was only $42, Trudy said.

The 4-by-10-foot panel on the roof that uses sunlight to heat water for the home also produces more energy than the couple can use. The energy from the panel heats the cold water drawn up from a well —sometimes to as hot as 100 degrees — and stores it in an 80-gallon tank. The heated water is then used to fill the conventional water-heating tank, where the water is brought up to the set temperature.

The system in the Flicks’ house, though, saves money and energy because the well water is, in a sense, preheated with solar energy before going to the water heater, where it would become “insta-hot,” Gregory said.

“If you preheat before insta-hot, you’re saving all those BTUs,” Gregory said. “Insta-hot would go from 38 degrees to 106 degrees, but if it’s only 70 degrees to 106 degrees you can fully understand the savings.”

The savings Gregory and Trudy are enjoying now did come at a cost, though. After rebates and tax credits, Gregory said the hot water system cost about $4,000 and the photovoltaic panel system ran about $7,500. Gregory installed the photovoltaic system himself, which also saved money. Without rebates and tax credits, those costs double, he said.

Solar living

The Flicks didn’t stop at the panels, though.

Gregory and Trudy outfitted their home with dual-pane windows filled with argon gas. The windows are more energy-efficient than traditional windows that are filled with air. The large windows allow plenty of sunlight into the home for passive solar heating, and the retractable awning over the back deck provides shade and passive solar cooling in the summer.

In the winter, the couple uses a wood stove to heat their home, and in the summer they open all of the windows in the evening to let in cool air and keep windows shut and covered during the day. In addition, the interior paint and wood finish of the home are environmentally friendly, the home is lit with LED light bulbs, all of the appliances are Energy Star-rated and the couple uses a drying rack rather than a energy-consuming dryer for laundry.

During the summer, and from time to time in the winter, the pair even uses solar energy to cook their food. The couple cooks with a device called a Sun Oven, which is a box made of fiberglass and rockwool insulation and has a thermal glass cover. Polished stainless steel wings are attached to the box by hinges and can be adjusted to reflect the sunlight onto the food inside the box. The oven can be used to cook the turkey, steak, roast, rice, soup or whatever else is on the menu for the night.

Gregory said he and Trudy put their dinner in the oven during the late morning, and it’s ready to eat by dinnertime. They complement their solar-cooked food with fresh fruits and veggies from their organic gardens.

Enjoying retirement

Gregory retired two years ago when he turned 55. He moved from the pair’s Santa Rosa home to work on their new house. Trudy, 60, retired nine months ago, after working as a registered nurse for more than 30 years, and joined Gregory in Elkton.

Gregory spends most of his retirement spreading the word about solar energy by giving presentations, teaching classes and providing cooking demonstrations whenever the opportunity arises. Trudy spends her time weaving. She even uses recycled material scraps when making her blankets and rugs.

Last summer the house was added to the National Solar Home Tour, which brought people from all over the state to the couple’s Elkton home. The tour highlights homes using solar energy. Because of information provided during the tour, Gregory said several people and businesses in Douglas County have talked to him about how they can use solar energy.

“A lot of it is because of the success we’ve had here,” Gregory said. “People see that it’s not a whole bunch of smoke and mirrors and (that) it’s pretty easy.”

Gregory and Trudy’s home will be part of the solar tour again this summer, and they hope the tour will continue to grab the attention of people in the community, Gregory said.

“Solar works, man,” he said. “It works great.”

• You can reach reporter Marissa Harshman at 957-4202 or by e-mail at mharshman@nrtoday.com.

SO YOU KNOW ...

Installing panels to collect solar energy can be expensive, but Gregory and Trudy Flick insist there are easy ways to live a greener life. Here are a few of their tips:

• Call your utility company and ask for a free energy audit. A utility worker can tell you areas of your home that can be improved, such as replacing the insulation under the ceiling or walls, to save energy and money.

• After washing clothes, hang them on a line outside instead of using a clothes dryer.

• Turn down the temperature on your water heater — it doesn’t need to be hotter than 106 degrees.

• Use energy-efficient light bulbs, such as compact fluorescent lights, and dispose of them properly. Some stores that sell the CFLs also have disposal boxes.

• Take advantage of passive solar energy by using a retractable awning to shade windows in direct sunlight. In summer, keep windows closed and shaded during the day and open them in the evening to cool your home.

• Get regular tune-ups on your car and make sure the tires are filled to the correct pressure to receive the best gas mileage.

• Build your own solar oven using a cardboard box and tin foil. Place your food in a black pot and seal it inside a plastic oven bag. Use a thermometer to make sure the food is cooked completely.

• If you decide to have solar panels installed, make sure the contractor you hire is certified to install the panels, otherwise you may not be eligible for rebates. Check certifications at the Oregon Construction Contractors Board Web site, www.oregon.gov/CCB.