new member

[John Allen]

I just had a fun visit from a real plumber with decades of real experience with solar thermal systems. His name is Tin Alvarado and he owns general contracting firm called Alvco. While he does mostly general plumbing and remodeling now, he would love to do more solar thermal. I have invited him to join our conversation. Feel free to invite people yourself if you think they would be a net positive influence.

I met Tim because he was advertising a couple of used solar thermal collectors on Craigslist.

As much fun as this all is I really must go fill out a mortgage application to save $500 per month.

--
John A Allen

[johna...@gmail.com]

Just now I had a phone conversation with another person advertising
used solar panels on Craigslist. His name is Robert and he owns
Libertysolar.com. He gave me an unsolicited pitch about why solar
thermal is so great, so I asked him if he wanted to join us in
developing a more cost effective deployment. He said yes.

John Allen

[Joe Rich]

Welcome to the group, Tim - I saw your introduction from John Allen
and you can be a valuable asset to this group as sometimes we
homebrewers need "real" knowledge and experience to keep us on the
straight and narrow.

I have some specific interests and questions for you, which you can
graciously say you are not interested in if you want.

My interest is trying to start a grassroots effort in my area to get
homes (starting with my own) more energy efficient and sustainable. I
believe there could be a good payoff for this, but most of these folks
need to understand what their investment will bring them.

I live in one of those "cheaper" Eichler style homes which are common
around the valley. It is probably 60 years old with almost a flat,
originally tar composition roof, no insulation in the walls, etc. - I
am sure you know the type I am talking about.

My first task is to do a self assessment and attempt to understand
where the major advantages and returns on investment are.

I would like to talk with you further about what I need to do to get
such an effort going. Are you willing to start a discussion on this?

On Mar 20, 5:31 pm, "John Allen" <johnaal...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Timothy]

I think the Insullation and the glazing issues would give you your
fastest payback. Not cheap but necessary would be possibly a foam roof
and wall insul as well as double glazed windows. Just a thought. t