Pink Tanuki is now Solar Powered!

After a few months on the waiting list, we finally got our new solar panels installed on our new, white metal roof. It was a very exciting moment! Even more recently, we had a heat pump system installed throughout the house, including the workshop and salon, so we are relying less and less on petroleum (and no longer have our improperly installed furnace, thank goodness!). We’re finding that our solar panels are covering about 75% of our electrical use, which is pretty good for a house of 7, with four of us working from home.

Our vendors were all lovely, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. For our roof, we used Golden Rule Roof. They offer a range of roof types, but we were after metal for its longevity (about 75 years+), recycleability (fully), lack of toxicity, and its excellent insulation properties. They also installed new gutters and skylight for a smoothly functioning system. They were responsive, extremely professional, and just plain nice.

For solar, we used A&R Solar down on Rainier Ave. They got us in as quickly as possible, gave solid recommendations, and had a spiffy elevator for the panels to go up the ladder.

For our heat pump system, we used Evergreen Home Heating. Specializing in heat pumps, they had a competitive price, and we were able to get started just under a week from contract signing! They were incredibly speedy and did a great job. The fellow installing in the salon even redid the mounting because he thought it looked crooked. Now, we have whole house heating, cooling, and air purification, and I can still open the window in the salon during the summer. These systems are very efficient, and will maybe even reduce our electrical use from our various mobile heaters and AC units alone!