{"id":696,"date":"2017-09-19T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T10:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dandelionenergy.com\/?p=696"},"modified":"2025-09-19T14:05:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T18:05:58","slug":"clifton-park-couple-turns-1850s-era-farmhouse-model-energy-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dandelionenergy.com\/clifton-park-couple-turns-1850s-era-farmhouse-model-energy-efficiency","title":{"rendered":"Clifton Park Couple Turns 1850s-Era Farmhouse into Modern, Renewable Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul and Joanne Coons have a gift for seeing what\u2019s possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

In late 2009, a real estate developer in Clifton Park, NY appeared before the town\u2019s planning board to lay out <\/span>all the difficulties<\/span><\/a> he\u2019d had trying to sell the Peters-Lockrow House, a dilapidated, Greek Revival-style farmhouse originally built in 1852 that had sat vacant for 10 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

[inline_zip]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe previous owner had literally raised turkeys in the kitchen,\u201d homeowner Joanne Coons says. \u201cThere were holes in the roof, and in some of the areas, the ants had gotten in and destroyed the home\u2019s columns. It was a timber-constructed building, with wooden columns that that had been chewed up to sawdust. The rain came in through the holes in the roof and froze the sawdust.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The developer had listed the house for sale, but wasn\u2019t getting any takers. Prospective buyers had been wary of taking on a major renovation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three years before, the town had added the 2,100-square-foot house to its <\/span>Register of Historic Places<\/span><\/a>, which meant the developer couldn\u2019t bulldoze the home, despite its condition. After working out a deal with the town, the developer lowered the home\u2019s listing price, on the promise that the new owners would do as much as they could to preserve its original character.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Coons Step Up<\/h2>\n

Paul and Joanne Coons saw potential where others saw ruin. They envisioned restoring the home to its original beauty while making it one of the most energy-efficient houses in America.<\/p>\n

Today, the Peters-Lockrow House is certified as both a LEED Platinum and NAHB Certified Green Building Emerald home, has won a handful of green building awards, and has been photographed for a number of magazines and newspapers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Solar panels generate all of the home\u2019s electricity needs, and a geothermal heat pump installed by Dandelion<\/a> installation partner Aztech Geothermal<\/a> handles the home\u2019s heating and air conditioning–a must in upstate New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

Building an Energy-Efficient Future<\/h2>\n

The Coons started by spending months meticulously assessing the home\u2019s condition, and working with designers to plan out energy efficient features that maintained its historic look.<\/span><\/p>\n

With financing in place and approvals secured, a construction crew began demolition. They pulled out the rotting columns and restored the damaged foundation. The crew also ripped out design elements from a 1960s-era renovation, including a drop ceiling in the living room. During the work, they discovered delightful architectural features such as the home\u2019s original tin ceiling.<\/p>\n

Along the way, the Coons restored what they could and recycled what they couldn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

Powered by Geothermal and Solar<\/h2>\n

In restoring the walls and roof, the Coons opted for soy-based foam insulation and a period-appropriate metal roof with airtight insulation. A three-ton geothermal heat pump saves the couple an estimated $2,400 per year on HVAC costs. In the winter, the Coons keep the house at a steady 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the summer, they keep the house at 76 degrees.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the backyard, a small array of rooftop and pole-mounted solar panels generate 10.6 kWh of electricity per year. That amount is enough to power the whole house. It also charges their all-electric Nissan Leaf and their plug-in Toyota Prius hybrid. They\u2019re currently in line to buy a Tesla Model 3.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Coons\u2019 electric bill is just $17 per month. That amount covers the power company\u2019s service fee to stay connected to the grid. The town of Clifton Park lowered their bills even more. It granted the property a 95 percent historic tax easement on town, county, and school taxes for 25 years.<\/p>\n

A Lifelong Commitment to Sustainability<\/h2>\n

For the Coons, their home in upstate New York is the latest chapter in a long history of sustainable living. In 2002, Joanne, a high school environmental science teacher, spent $350 to buy a diesel car and the couple began making their own biodiesel from restaurant waste. <\/span><\/p>\n

They even experimented with burning their homebrewed biodiesel at home, to help offset the roughly $4,500 per year it took to heat the house they were living in at the time. Paul described the near-constant process of collecting grease and processing it into biodiesel as an all-consuming obsession.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the design process [for the house in Clifton Park], we thought, \u2018There\u2019s got to be a better way,\u2019\u201d Paul says. \u201cThat\u2019s when we found ground source heat pumps. To me, that\u2019s the best of both worlds. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can heat and cool your home with the power of the sun, and you don\u2019t have to keep fueling the system by going around and collecting grease from restaurants or chopping wood. To me, the combination of solar and a ground source heat pump is the ideal way to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul and Joanne Coons had a vision of not only restoring the house to perfect condition, but making it one of the most energy efficient homes in America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":4539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[34,33,35,11,32],"class_list":["post-696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-post","tag-aztech-geothermal","tag-clifton-park","tag-energy-efficiency","tag-geothermal","tag-homeowner-profiles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nClifton Park Couple Turns 1850s-Era Farmhouse into Modern, Renewable Home - Dandelion Energy | Residential Geothermal Heating & Cooling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Paul and Joanne Coons had a vision of not only restoring the house to perfect condition, but making it one of the most energy efficient homes in America.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dandelionenergy.com\/clifton-park-couple-turns-1850s-era-farmhouse-model-energy-efficiency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Clifton Park Couple Turns 1850s-Era Farmhouse into Modern, Renewable Home - 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