Gerchard Pfau for Golden City Council – Ward 2

I was excited to purchase a Volt when it was first rolled out by Chevrolet in 2012. The Volt is a combination electric battery driven car with a gas engine that kicks in and powers a generator when the battery is dead. It was a true transition car because it had about 60 miles of battery range. That 60 miles covered all of our daily needs. We only filled up the gas tank once or twice a year. It could charge slowly using a 110v circuit or more quickly using a 220v circuit.

We currently own a 2017 Volt and we love it. The battery is 8 years old and the range has dropped into the 50’s. But it still provides us with enough battery range to get our daily chores done.

We installed solar panels on our home in Golden. It’s a 7.082 kW system. Since it came online we have been net 0kW from the grid. That includes charging the Volt on a daily basis. We sell our excess energy to the grid during the day and buy back electricity at night – overall we generate as much electricity as we use (net 0 kW).

If you either can’t afford Solar Panels or don’t have a roof to put them on, consider Solar Farms. They are a great way to get many of the advantages of solar energy but without the large upfront investment. We looked into them but decided we could get more out of our own solar panel system.

We installed a house battery in 2024. There were two reasons. First to provide backup electricity when there are blackouts in our area. Second to provide electricity during peak use periods in order to reduce the demand on the grid during that time. This helps the utility reduce generating needs during those peak hours and save us money by charging the battery during low-cost periods.

We installed a WIFI capable programmable thermostat for our home. It allows us to adjust the heating/cooling automatically. Inaddition, the WIFI capablity lets us adjust the temperatures from anywhere in the world. This saves us energy and money.

When we remodeled, we installed a separate upstairs and ground floor heating and cooling systems. This lets us save energy by running the heat or A/C for the two areas separately. Why heat or cool the upstairs if nobody is up there – wastes energy and costs money? Why cool the ground floor when the upstairs rooms are hot?

Electricity in Australia is very expensive. We always hung our clothes outside to dry in order to save electricity. One of the first things I did when we purchased our home in Golden was to install an outdoor foldable laundry rack on the exterior of our home. We also have a smaller mobile rack which we use inside the house on those rare days we can’t dry outside. Our climate is very dry. Taking advantage of all that dry air to dry your laundry saves electricity (and money).

We live on a relatively small lot (approx 9600 sqft). About half of the lot is Xeroscaped with native plants, mulch, tile, rocks, and a deck. This reduces the need to irrigate saving water. About half of the lot still has grass for our two dogs to use. The wifi enabled controller allows us to alter the water times quickly when the weather is cooler or when it rains.

During our years in Houston we did not have curbside recycling. We regularly collected and hauled our recycling to the city recycle center about 15 miles away from our home. Now we make full use of Golden’s cubside recycling and composting. We also are regular users of the Rooney Road Recycling Center. They take care of larger items and a range of Hazardous Waste. If you haven’t used them go to www.rooneyroadrecycling.org to find out details.