Depew Blogs

Utility bills are a worst enemy for some homeowners, and now that winter is in full swing, heating bills will rise.

A.J. Heiligman, 25, a Webster resident and 2002 graduate of Webster Schroeder High School, wanted to use his engineering degree for a environment-friendly purpose: to heat people's homes in the safest way possible.

"Alternative energy is independence, getting away from the guys overseas, the big power companies charging an arm and a leg," he said. "With deregulation, utility prices will be going up."

Heiligman works for Alternative Carbon Energy Systems, a company based in Depew, in Erie County, that specializes in geothermal and wind energy, commercial energy audits and measurement and verification.

Geothermal heat pumps use the earth as a free energy source for both the heating and cooling seasons. The system is comprised of a heat pump and an underground series of pipes transporting a safe anti-freeze solution. In the summer months, the earth is used to dissipate the heat from a home, and the heat pump will act like a typical air conditioner.

In the winter, the same unit reverses the procwww.websterschools.org/willink.cfmess; the underground piping system will absorb heat from the earth, and the heat pump will compress it to a higher temperature, providing heat for your home.

Heiligman said only one unit is needed for both heating and cooling. There is also no flame used for combustion, providing a safe, clean environment. Also, no vent is needed and no odors are present throughout the entire heating or cooling season.

Not only are residents turning to geothermal, but schools like Willink Middle School, built about five years ago, are too. Because of the technology, Heiligman said the school saves a third to half of other similar-sized schools' energy bills. Heiligman said that while Alternative Carbon hasn't installed systems at schools yet, they have put together proposals to present to several in the western New York area.

There are even tax credits for certain system models, Heiligman said. "You can get a 30-percent tax credit until 2016," he explained.

The company started about a year ago, and Heiligman has installed geothermal heating systems to two dozen customers in the western New York area, including Mike Young in Akron, also in Erie County.

Young, 41, had a system installed in November 2009, after hearing talk about it while out one night.

"I looked for geothermal companies online, and Alternative Carbon Energy Systems was the first one that came up," Young said.

The price tag is likely the most daunting for people, as well as the fact that in order to install the pipes, trenches need to be dug up. The cost for a system in a 2,000-square-foot home is $20,000.

Young, who has an 1,800-square-foot residence, said the price was worth it in the long run, and he will see the pay off five to ten years down the line.

"It is pricey, but it pays itself off though, and I will be putting money in the bank that I would have been paying the gas company," he said, adding that he qualified for a $6,000 tax credit, which lowered his payment to around $12,000.

Young did admit that his electric bill increased, since the system runs on electricity, but he now pays nothing for a natural gas bill. "My electric bill went up like $75 a month, but that's compared to a $200 to $300 gas bill," he said. "I figure after seven years, I will probably save $2,500 to $3,500 a year in energy costs."