Allen/Rudensey home   

    4512  38th Ave. S.

    Seattle, WA  98118

Owner:  Bob Allen and Lyle Rudensey

Telephone: 206-725-0480

E-mail:  captainbaba@hotmail.com,  lylecroc@yahoo.com   

Website: biolyle.com

Photovoltaic installer: Jim Bristow & Larry Owens BNO Solar 206-650-4596

Solar hot water designer:  Puget Sound Solar, Jeremy Smithson 206-706-1931

 

SYSTEMS

X  Active solar

       X   photovoltaics:  2.1 KW grid-tie (12  175W panels)

       X   hot water:  20 vacuum tubes

X   Biodiesel production

X   High efficiency (appliances, water heater etc.)

X Automobile (hybrid, bio-diesel): both hybrid and biodiesel

Size of project: 1700 square feet.  Year completed: 1990

Directions to Site:
I-5, take Columbian Way exit (163A), follow Columbian Way over top of Beacon Hill.  It will become Alaska St. and cross MLK Jr Way, then Rainier Ave. S.  After it crosses Rainier, take next left on 38th S.  Baseball field on left.  Go a block and a half. House is 2 story purple.

Descriptive Paragraph:
“Adding solar power to our house was the single most significant home improvement we've made since we purchased our home, new, fifteen years ago.  Our house is entirely electric, as are many newer homes; any fluctuation in electricity rates will affect us more than it will a family who have the option of using oil and/or natural gas.  Our solar water heating and photovoltaic systems went on line in November of 2004 and January of 2005, respectively.  Since that time we have seen a 40-50% reduction in our winter electric bill, and a reduction of 60-70% in our summer bill. 

On a normal sunny day in spring or summer, our house operates entirely on solar power, while still feeding excess power back into the Seattle City Light grid, for which we are paid at the retail electric rates per kilowatt hour.

The rather hefty upfront cost of installation is ameliorated in part by the value that these systems have added to the resale value of our house.  In "real estate" terms, adding solar is the resale value equivalent of adding a bathroom or expanding a kitchen, both of which would cost more than our solar installation.

We also feel an enormous satisfaction in being able to reduce our "ecological footprint" by limiting our production of greenhouse gases and our consumption of non-renewable resources.

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