Solar Power Cells, Hot Water, Energy, Collectors

Voluntown, Ashford families win prizes for energy-efficient homes

01.01.70

In building their new homes, two Eastern Connecticut families got what they’d always wanted — new houses and lower energy bills.

John and Delaine Simonds, of Voluntown, and Cindy Moeckel and Larry Grasso, of Ashford, earned prizes in the 2011 Connecticut Zero Energy Challenge. The program awards homeowners and builders whose projects use “green” technology to produce as much energy as they use, and sometimes more, said Enoch Lenge, an associate program administrator for residential new construction at Connecticut Light & Power.

The Simondses took home the overall prize in the competition for their 2,800 square-foot Beach Pond Road home. The house, which was built in 2010, is heated and cooled with a geothermal system. The oil tank and furnace were replaced by a massive solar array that provides the power for heating, cooling, hot water and electric. Gone are the oil tank and furnace.

“We wave at the oil trucks when they drive by,” Delaine Simonds said with a laugh.

Source: Norwich Bulletin