Show Draws Green Consumers

By EMILY KLEIN

Today is the final day of the three-day Tri-State Home and Builders Show. The hours for the show at the Grand River Center are noon to 5 p.m.

Nearing the end of a winter that brought near-record amounts of snow and colder than average temperatures, it seemed clear why many people at Saturday’s Tri-State Home and Builders Show were focusing on energy savings.

The unusually brutal winter weather paired with the rising costs of propane, heating oil, natural gas and electricity left homeowners looking for alternative ways to heat their houses, save money and protect the environment.

The chairs at an afternoon seminar on geothermal radiant floor heat were nearly filled.

Doug Schuster, of Schuster Heating and Pump Co. Inc. in Dubuque, told the group how using geothermal technology could help cut their heating and cooling costs by half, eliminate the danger of carbon monoxide, concentrate the heat to the lower part of the room and minimize environmental threats linked to the burning of fossil fuels.

Geothermal energy uses the natural ability of the Earth to heat and cool water that can then be used as an energy source to keep a house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

“It’s basically taking the heat out of your backyard and putting it into your house,” Schuster said.

Dave and Debbie Krug, of Dubuque, are planning to build a home sometime in the next year.

Debbie said they are nearing retirement age and want to make decisions about their home that will serve them well in coming years.

“We want it to be energy efficient so our bills are economical when we retire,” she said.

The couple has been considering geothermal as an option for some time and Debbie said their research suggests that it would be a wise way to keep their energy costs low while also protecting the environment for their grandchildren’s generation.

When Dave and Sharon Kieffer, of Menominee, Ill., renovated their home recently, the couple used geothermal technology to heat the floors in the three new rooms. Sharon said they pay the same amount to heat their home today as they did before the addition.

Now the couple is thinking about building a workshop for Dave and using another form of geothermal technology to heat it.

“We’re just trying to put back more than we take out,” Sharon said.

Saturday’s 20th annual Home Show drew 120 exhibitors, said William Jackson, the event’s producer, who works with Jackson Expo Group Inc. Hundreds turned out on Saturday.

In recent years, Jackson said he has noticed a trend toward energy-efficient products at the show.

Josh Rubner, an energy consultant for the Ankeny-based company Energy Doctor, showed off a solar-powered attic fan.

“Everyone is interested in saving money, but of course there are people who want to save the planet, too,” Rubner said.

Originally published by EMILY KLEIN TH staff writer/ eklein@wcinetcom.

(c) 2008 Telegraph – Herald (Dubuque). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.