we know absolutely nothing about solar energy, but really thing we should start somewhere. live in hillsboro county in new hampshire. on the east side of a hill, about 1000 ft up. our zone for gardening so far is border 4 and 5.would starting with solar hot water be fesible for us? laura cavallari

-- laura cavallari (ladygoat13@aol.com), March 15, 2000

Answers

Here is a FAQ site on solar (gas, wood, etc.) water heaters. It helps give you the particulars prior to price comparing.

http://www.eren.doe.gov/erec/factsheets/solrwatr.html

Another great thing to help is go to a search engine (I use www.google.com or www.dogpile.com) and type in with the quotes "solar water heater". You will get all the relevant websites you could ask for. Happy hunting!

-- Sammie (sammie0x@yahoo.com), March 15, 2000.

http://www.homepower.com is a good starter

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), March 15, 2000.

One of the first things that must be done is determine how many hours a day that you get direct sunlight. If you have a compass, also try to determine the azmuth (direction) of the sun when it first hits your house and when it disappears. These figures should be obtained for the summer sun and the winter sun.

It would also help to have an idea of how many days in a year are clear. You can research this information from your local weather bureau.

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), March 16, 2000.

Books help a lot.

See www.chelseagreen.com They have a "book sale" section that has a couple of the most widely circulated books at very nice prices.

Best regards,

-- Joe (KEITH@neesnet.com), March 16, 2000.