Knutson Residence

This site features a solar hot water and radiant heating system supplemented with an on-demand hot water heater. The objective was to reduce natural gas usage by 500 thermal units a year. After considering three contractors, the homeowner designed and installed the system himself using periodicals, reference books, and websites, starting in November 2005 and finishing in February 2006. The homeowner is now looking into the Xcel Energy off-peak program since he has all the hardware needed to use cheap electricity at night.

• 150 square feet of ground-mounted evacuated tube collectors
• 2 chimney-mounted European style wall radiators
• Pumping mechanical package
• On-demand water heater
• 160-gallon storage tank with dual heat exchangers
• 350-gallon hot tub heat dump