Winooski, Vermont - August 22, 2011
The average American household spends about 700-dollars a year on hot water. Now one Vermont company is trying to change that.
People are busy at work at DR Power Equipment -- building lawn maintenance tools created by Country Home Products.
And down at the end of the factory, tucked away, is their newest product that has nothing to do with your lawn.
"Sunward is a brand of solar hot water systems. We collect the energy from the sun and preheat the water that goes into your existing hot water tank," said Sunward's Tom Hughes.
Sunward's energy efficient solar hot water systems are picking up steam -- and not just in Vermont. They sell the made in Vermont products all over the U.S.
"It doesn't replace your hot water heater, it augments it. It preheats the water that flows into your existing hot water system," Hughes said.
The system usually comes with two solar collectors -- big solar panels which collect the sun's energy once they're mounted to the roof or ground. And Sunward says its an easy way to go solar. "The heat is transferred to a glycol solution which flows thru tubing, flows down to a heat exchanger and heats up your water for free," Hughes said.
Although Vermont might not be known for its sunshine, water flows out of the system around 180 degrees on a sunny summer day, or around 120 degrees in winter. But no matter what the season, your at home water heater isn't working as hard using other energy like oil, which means homeowners save dollars.
"In most cases, for a family of four, the pay off is in 5-7 years," Hughes said.
The 10-thousand dollar system may seem like a lot, but with federal and state incentives, that price tag gets knocked down to around 5 thousand dollars.
"It still makes sense. It still saves you money in the long run and adds value to your home and its the right thing to do for the environment," Hughes said. "It's assembled in Vermont, shipped from Vermont and it's creating the kind of jobs that our economy needs--creating jobs in manufacturing, in assembly and installation."
Capturing the sun's rays and turning them into a Vermont product.
Gina Bullard - WCAX News
www.gosunward.com/
