Curtis Dahl still tells the story of a sale he made in 1983.
He was presenting at a True Value hardware store, he recalled, when a prominent customer burst into the office. The customer put his feet up on the desk and asked what the presentation was about. Told it was for solar water heating, the customer harrumphed, doubting it could work in the Northwest.
Dahl looked at the customer and asked what he did for a living. The customer said he was a farmer.
“What part of your business doesn’t need solar energy?” Dahl recalled asking.
The farmer bought a system in a week, Dahl said.
Dahl, a manager and co-owner of Sundance Energy Services, will trot out sales pitches again this weekend, as his company mans a booth at the Everett Fall Home Show from Friday through Sunday in Comcast Arena at Everett.
Sundance Energy Services dabbles in various areas of home heating, but the one that gets Dahl most excited is solar energy, and perhaps with good reason.
The U.S. Department of Energy says that water heating accounts for 14 percent to 25 percent of the energy consumed by a home, and that solar water heating is a cost-effective way to heat water in any climate.
“The fuel they use — sunshine — is free,” the department writes.
Sundance Energy Services uses a looped system. In it, cold water fills your water heater tank. That water is then pumped to flat solar panels that Dahl said can measure about four by eight feet in size, resembling skylights. After it is heated, the water is sent back to the original tank, where it’s available for the home.
Dahl said Sundance’s systems are most successful heating water during the summer. The longer days and continual sunshine help heat the water to as much as 140 degrees. In the Northwest, however, the system doesn’t work as well in the cooler, darker seasons.
Even then, though, the system has benefits, Dahl said. The panels may heat up the water from 45 degrees to 65 degrees in the fall, for instance — meaning your water heater doesn’t have to heat it for as long.
“You have to heat it the rest of the distance,” Dahl said.
While the system may save money in the long run, it comes with a cost up front.
“Most people are investing somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000,” Dahl said.
Dahl pointed to a federal tax credit, however, as a way to lower the price tag.
That tax credit is available through Dec. 31 this year, according to the federal government. The credit covers 30 percent of the cost of the system, up to $2,000. In other words, the government will pay for $1,500 on a $5,000 system — 30 percent — but only $2,000 on a $10,000 system, or 20 percent.
Despite Dahl’s enthusiasm for the systems, he said they make up only about 15 percent of sales for Sundance Energy Services. The company also installs conventional water heating tanks and gas fireplaces, for instance.
Still, Dahl sees a bright future for solar energy. At one point, back in the 1980s, when he was selling systems to farmers, it made up a majority of sales for the company. Now, with fuel costs increasing, he expects enthusiasm for solar energy to rise like the sun.
“It’s coming back, it’s coming back,” he said. “Of course for us, we’ve never left it.”
Andy Rathbun
425-339-3455
arathbun@heraldnet.com
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