EDSR INFORMATION #2 05-10-1999 ---
More than s "If you take the heat
out of an attic [in the
Ai summer],it alters the dy-
Hotr " namics of your air condi-
• 1 tioning," he explains.
SOLARATTIC IS A PIONEER IN DEVELOPING PRODUCTS "There are big savings,
THAT MAKE EFFICIENT USE OF A HOME'S HEAT. because you don't have
• to run your air condition-
ing as much."
., � -"''''''',.i,- In addition,Palmer has
� - •- r I ''''',4!°„" - e, -� a space-heating product
,40...-� ��' �• , that removes excess heat
j# ,f '�,%� from an attic and forces
V
1 t cy"4 `
}� .',r it back into the home,
.•:,,,;4.-,1 , �� u ', 1 - 3 ' / do
which he says can cut
; E . fi ,
_ ++ l �'w heating cpsts by between
'4s•., „ ', +ma y r" ° I ,,, 15 to 30 percent. He's al-
, a Ns } pie t+r ' ''
s
aka �x <; '� s" E� so now working on an
,,,. r,,, ,n • �,,• other product, one that
s z. -..-4.4i.,:ro= ,. '"' ' ` will use attic heat to pro-
.r.-. vide hot water.
Perhaps one of the
} '-` ','..- '.' , /
largesttadvantages, how-
of
', ' ever,is that all the So
• ,' p
laraticproducts are en-
vironmentally friendly.
Edward Palmer says his environmentally friendly product can cut 1 I Without relying on
4, r, Ire ; , r •
the cost of heating a pool to$10 per month ° t;. r chemicals, they can re-
t' 4,r_'-ec ,!4",,i, r+ duce the use of fossil fu-
ll/
1 els in the home or busi-
I home's attic usually could cut the cost to heat a I nesses by relying on the
stands alone. Either pool (typically $200 to $400 in 4 more efficient power of
it serves as nothing more than gas heating) to approximately solar energy.
a crawlspace with insulation $10 per month in electrical Although Solarattic re-
packed between the beams, or heating by using his system. V mains a small company
it becomes the final resting In short, that system, which (only three people, in-
place for never-used clutter. now is being used in 31 states, I <cluding Palmer), its
Talk.to Edward Palmer, how- features a pump that forces products have managed
ever, and he'll tell you that the unheated swimming-pool wa- 11 to make a national im-
attic is an essential part of a ter through a coil that runs be- ) pact. SolarAttic runs six
home—especially when you tween a user's pool and his or ( to eight radio ads daily.
can make it earn its keep. V her attic. Excess hot air from { "Each time one airs, our
You see, Palmer is the the attic is then drawn over the 1 office is flooded with
founder and CEO of SolarAt- coil to heat the water, which i calls," Palmer says. The
tic, an Elk River-based com- returns to the pool. company's Web site
pany that has patented some Palmer, along with the help ! (www.solarattic.com) al-
out-of-the-ordinary, but effec- of University of Minnesota ;; so has provided big ex-
tive forms of attic ventilation professor Ephraim Sparrow, posure,receiving 4,000 to
and duct technology. SolarAt- also has added a few new 1 ..-5,000 hits every day, ac-
tic came into being as a result products. For starters, they've .1 V cording to Palmer.
of an experiment Palmer con- developed a ventilation system 5 Given that, Palmer
ducted in an effort to helpheatthat helps circulate air `! sees sunny days ahead.
1 a friend's swimming pool with throughout an attic. Palmer "There's no question we
• I excess attic heat. notes that the system elimi- , can grow to $100 million
After several years of re- nates ice dams(often the cause ' in business revenues in
search and development, of higher heating costs) in the 10 years,"he notes. ■
Palmer came up with a forced- winter and lowers air condi-
air technique that he found tioning costs in the summer. ] —Lisa Thiegs
MAY 1999 TWIN CITIES BUSINESS MONTHLY