nfaguys

Thanks for the information. Alternative heating and power has always interested me. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had a business in northern Michigan in the early 70's selling wind turbines and photovoltacics. I turned out to be a bit early in the development of the products and after a few years they had to close up.
When we lived in Maine (Portland) my wife and I renovated a 4 story Queen Anne brick home right in the city. We put a new heating system in that would burn wood, coal or back up with oil if the temp dropped to low in the house. About once each heating season someone in the neighborhood would see the smoke coming from the chimney and call the Fire Dept. It would usually be on a Sunday afternoon the door bell would ring and when you answered it 6 or more Firemen would come rushing in telling me that the house was on fire. After I explained what it was they always wanted to go to the basement to to see what it looked like. 25 years ago there were a lot of wood stoves but not many furnaces.
When we moved to Florida I had visions of wind generation and geothermal exchange for heating and cooling when we were ready to build outside the city. Research I did do showed the possibilities of wind power for the Tampa area as virtually non-existent. The people I have talked to that have done geothermal keep saying they don't think its worth it. I keep looking for people with the answer I want and someone who has been successful with it since there is a lot of 60-70 degree sand not to many feet down.
Please keep writing about any part of your alternative power and heat/cooling choices that cross your mind it's quite interesting