Rick Scarlet and Gloria Johnson paid their electric bill last month, just like most people.
It was $3.35.
That took care of heating the couple's energy-efficient Springfield home and charging their electric car using solar power.
The key is solar panels that went up behind their home in 2009.
The system is tied into the power grid. When their system generates surplus power -- more than they use -- Scarlet and Johnson receive credit on their electric bill. When they use more than they generate, they pay the difference.
The difference last month: $3.35.
The solar panels are one of a number of steps they have taken to save energy and cut the carbon footprint in the bargain.
"Solar is the icing on the cake," Scarlet said. "The rest is basics."
"You can do things one at a time if you want to," he said.
Scarlet has been into energy conservation most of his adult life, but got serious about it while working for a barge company on the Mississippi River.
Some of his co-workers from Illinois were paying hundreds of dollars a month for utilities. It gave him pause.
"I don't want to be 80 years old reading by candlelight, so I figured I'd better do something."
They've done a variety of projects since he moved in a couple of years ago with Johnson in the home she's lived in since 1993.
The pergola supporting the solar panels was built by Johnson's son, Todd, a builder. It overlooks a garden full of raised beds and cold frames. Scarlet and Johnson also collect rainwater and will soon put in a cistern system.
Appliances include a high-efficiency refrigerator. Features such as extra thick insulation and a top-mounted compressor allow the Sun Frost to use just 15 percent as much energy as a conventional unit.
A pump on the kitchen faucet moves water from the hot to the cold side -- no waiting for the water to warm up.
Another appliance will be installed soon: a wood cookstove.
This is not grandma's wood stove. After some home remodeling, the sleek, black cooker will also help heat the house. With the addition of water jackets, it can also heat water. If another ice storm like the 2007 disaster comes along, they'll be ready.
They also have an electric car and do a lot of bicycling. Scarlet will soon add an electric assist to his bicycle. Powered by a lithium battery, it can take you 15 to 30 miles for about 3 cents, he said.
They like discussing their conservation measures and answering others' questions about them. People are often curious, Johnson said.
"They're kind of interested, but they don't know anybody who's done it," she said.
Aside from high-tech solutions like solar power and cutting-edge cookstoves, plenty of other steps can conserve power.
Insulate your house. Install energy-efficient windows. Weather-strip. Rein in phantom power waste.
Appliances like televisions, computer monitors, and DVD players can draw power when plugged into an outlet and account for about 10 percent of a home's electricity use, planetgreen.com says. Plug them into a power strip and turn off the strip when the devices are turned off.
Saving energy is a choice they made and one others can make, Scarlet and Johnson said.
"It's not going to solve all the world's problems, but we'll do what we can," Johnson said.
Others are doing what they can, too.
Jim Evans of rural Republic added a massive solar array -- 140 thin-film panels on a 16 by 93-foot structure -- near his all-electric home last summer.
Altogether, it cost about $20,000, he said, but the savings have been dramatic. He had no electric bill in November and December and his January bill was just $36. By comparison, a neighbor's monthly bills were $150 to $450.
Evans and his wife, Terri, have been practicing conservation since the 1970s.
They completed their energy-efficient home in 1977. Efficiency began with a south-facing site and design features such as proper building materials, roof area and overhang. Insulation, efficient windows, weather stripping, green appliances and a
homemade solar water heater are also part of the formula.
Pete Pirotte, also of rural Republic, uses a solar water heater, a tankless gas water heater and a solar cooker, along with insulation and weather stripping.
A current project is a wind generator. He is not yet using power from it, but expects to do so soon.
Another recent addition is four photovoltaic panels that will be put in service soon. Other works in progress or planned include expansion of a solar space
heater already used to heat a bathroom; and a solar outside wall warmer.
Pirotte is experimenting with making fuel ethanol from waste fruit, grain and paper, using fermentation and distillation processes.
A physician, Pirotte describes himself as an unapologetic conservative, but he adds, "Conservation and alternative energy is not a political thing."
The economy must be sustained, but it's going to happen through private citizen efforts, he believes. The government may well become a prime mover in the effort, he said, but it has not been one up to now, either through spending or practice.
Whatever your reason for saving energy, Pirotte notes a couple of points to remember:
» Taxes: The government can't tax money you didn't spend.
» Energy-saving projects and purchases pay for themselves.
"That's not true of anything else you buy," Pirotte said. "It's a pretty good investment."
