Energy Fair at Furtaw Field

[OscodaGirl]

I was wondering what the thoughts were on the Renewable Energy Fair at Furtaw Field this weekend...and why it costs $5.00 to get in to it?...There wasn't enough there to warrant the $5.00 charge...

[Just Another Voice]

Not enough there to warrant a $1 dollar charge. Was interested in the wind generator but not enough to spend $5. Seems like the first thing they decided on was the price of admission and then tried to line up exhibitors. Wonder if they charged the exhibitors a fee for booth space? It was a good idea poorly executed.
Reminds me that I see collection buckets around town for donations to finance 4th of July fireworks. Are they then going to charge $5 to park to see the fireworks?
And while I'm at it, I understand it used to be free admission to the home show at the Community Center. Do they charge the exhibitors to rent floor space for that event?
Think I'll go stand at 23 and River with a collection cannister for donations to my favorite charity - ME!

[chiliman]

Actually,

I only spent 2 hours rhere and I got information that is worth thousands to me.

This is information I have been searching various sources for (including the web) for almost 3 years. Even our elected officials were either unwilling or unable to share that information.

It may now be possible for us to incorporate alternative energy.

When I got there they had suspended the admission. Because of the information I received, I gave them the 5.00 when I left - money well spent for me.

[Just Another Voice]

Interesting chiliman. Curious as to what info our elected officials were either unwilling or unable to share. Will you share it with us and also which elected officials?

[chiliman]

Sheltrown at first either did not know or was unwilling to discuss the new alterrnative energy law last fall.

This Spring once the State of Michigna had the law displayed on their web page. I contacted Sheltrown's office to get a layman's breakdown on the essentials - such as: the State of Michigan incentives; what technologies qualified and uncer what circumstances; and the metering responsibilities of the utilities and what utilities. He (or his office - you can't be sure who wrties the actual email) simply pointed me to the web page I cited as being unreadable for the average citizen.

At the energy fair I learned of a State program which Sheltrown never presented to me even though his emails acknowledged my interest in the topic and his office would keep me informed of new developments.

Not to pick on Sheltrown, I would expect little more form vitually any representative - unless I represented one of the Utilities or some other industry.

I had posed the same questions to the various contacts listed on the State of Michigan Web Pages (including the Governor's office) and never received anything any more informative than either 'thanks for the query' or again pointing me to sources I already indicated were either unreadable, conflicting in their content, or just plain confusing.

[OHS Alumni]

According to the event organizer they had around 50 exhibitors lined up but almost all cancelled within the last 10 days. The did forgo admission as pointed out above and only accepted donations. As for the Home Show, they've always charged admission and a fee to rent booth space.

[OscodaDreamer]

Any event involves costs whether it's successful or not. Chamber staff, township staff, time and paperwork... just to mention a few. In the end you keep your fingers crossed that the weather will co-operate, participants will show up and the community will be interested and show support. Hopefully you will have an event you want to repeat, that shows a profit. At least you hope you learn something and don't go too far in the red. At worst people d*** you if you do or if you don't make an effort.

[Way Out]

Isn't it the job of any chamber to do marketing?

If you are going to introduce a new "annual" event in the area shouldn't you first get community support.

First off if there are only five vendors and the admission is five dollars hy would anyone attend?

Then if a vendor comes all the way to oscoda and finds he or she is only one of five vendors and the event is charging admission which is turning away potential customers why would you come back for the second annual Renewable Energy Fair in Oscoda.

The chamber should be investing in the community, they should have charged no admission to build a crowd. Crowds draw crowds. Vendor see more people, better possibility of a sale, interest in returning to Oscoda, talk to other vendors at other fairs--tell how great they did in Oscoda, more vendors bigger crowds, me sales.... then charge admission.

Sorry this is so long but I am hoping the chamber reads this and learns. Oh and don't send your dues in late, they are quick to remind you your overdue!

[My Opinion]

Several Chamber members and local businesses are engaged in the "energy" or "green building" development etc, so why were they not invited or chose not to participate and why were there not many local business involved? An example would by Colvins Heating from Hale... don't we have heating contractors in Oscoda doing the same thing??

[OHS Alumni]

None of the HVAC contractors in Oscoda offer geo thermal systems. The main reason is cost. The average furnace changeout is around $2400 for a 90% furnace, which is out of reach for most homeowners. Despite the return on investment for a geo system it's average cost is $25,000.

[chiliman]

We recently put a large addition on our house up here.

We checked out Geo-thermal. I had been following its development fro the past 4-5 years.

We have the horizontal ground to put in the loop and that is the cheapest of the three options.

Besides the cost of the unit and the excavation, we would incounter a cost of duct work since we are currently using a boiler.

That cost came to over 36,000. Since there are now boiler systems that give 90-95% efficiency, Geo-thermal no longer holds an efficiency advantage and the ROI then becomes unacceptable. Especially when considering this is our summer retirement home - we won't be here in the winter - and we really don't see a need for Air Conditioning here (that is where Geo-thermal really shines)

Instead we stayed with our existing boiler and when we remodel the rest of the house we will put in a high efficiency boiler.

My opinion is the best place to spend our 'green' dollars is in generating electricity. We are very interested in solar-voltaic and wind generation and somewhat interested in solar hot water.

We will also sink some green dollars into led lighting (cfl or flourescent are not the way to go imho) and Energy Start appliances (in our addition all of the electrical - ceiling fans, exhaust fans are Energy Start Rated).

We will alos reseal the envelope of our house - this is something the local folks could do a better job of providing. I could not find anyone local qualified to do an energy audit so I had someone from down state do it.

Now I am in need of someone to do the actual sealing and as of yet have not found anyone local qualified (I have had a few say they would do it but they are not certified to do it).

If the local HVAC folks want to be working in the very near future they need to get with the future technology. Like it or not there will be more of us who will be demanding it and with the government subsidizing it the market will exist. If we cannot find locals qualified to do the work we will get the work done anyway.

[OHS Alumni]

I agree that the need to be "greener and more efficient" is the way to go, but there are very few here (NE MI) that have the means to install those high end systems. How long will the government be able to subsidise these systems? When the warranty runs out, and it will, replacement parts are an expensive cost to incur. Not trying to be a pessimist, just realistic. Being "green" will definately save you money in the long haul, but it's the initial investment that most folks can't seem to get past.
If you haven'y already checked into a modulating boiler for your place, do so. It'll save money and has over 90% AFUE ratings.

[chiliman]

OHS Alumni-

Thanks - I am looking at the triangle Tube boiler which I believe is a modulating boiler and has some other goodies as well including intelligently utilizing my Triangle tube indirect 80 gal hot water heater.

I actually believe that if there is sufficient utilization of these new technologies, economies of scale will kick in.

So those of us who have the means need to lead the way so that the price point can favor others.

However, the future is in this direction - there will no going back - and those who do not embrace this future will be left by the wayside. Not something I like to see but something I believe will occur.

I personally experienced this phenomenon 45 years ago when I was fortunate enough to get in on the ground floor of computerization. The thought at that time is this was a niche field because only very large corporations could afford computers. As we have seen it is expected that the current work force be able to deploy the proliferation of computers a though they were just another utility - computers havre become just that biquitous.

That is what will happen in the energy field in my opinion.

If someone wants to get involved in a growth industry they should get involved in the alternative energy technology. This is still early enough that there are and will be good jobs for those that will work at it and learn - if only to install.

I make no money from this industry but I am highly intrigued by it potential and that potential is worldwide.

Off my soapbox for now - thanks for listening.