Found this article online at the Spokesmanreview.
Some people in the Spokane area worry about rising utility rates. Not Marilynne Mueller.
“The meter’s been going backward until just recently,” she said.
Mueller and husband, Joris, both 71, haven’t figured out a way to cheat the electric company – their Spokane Valley home, with its sophisticated insulation, passive solar heating and large array of photovoltaic panels, generates about twice the energy it needs in summer months. The power grid sucks up the extra juice, and Avista credits their account. When the skies turn dark in the winter, that account pays for whatever additional energy they draw.
Solar energy is only one of many unique features of the 1,650-square-foot home.
The walls are made of straw bales and the roof beams are logs salvaged after a storm. A solar chimney pumps heat from the sun into the ground, where it stays until winter, when it rises to provide warmth. The home is built into the side of a hill, and a layer of soil on the roof provides insulation and serves as an herb garden. Barrels collect rainwater for irrigation and a compost bin turns waste into fertilizer.
Besides being a good investment, the home reflects the couple’s earth-friendly ethos.
“We always felt we wanted not to take more from the world than we left behind,” said Marilynne Mueller.
Read more about the Mueller’s eco-friendly home in Spokane, Washington
[tags]eco-friendly, home, heating, power, conservation, energy, green[/tags]
What's happening at www.ramsayhome.com 
Leave a comment