Colin Goodson knows more about energy than most people.
The tall, bearded Mainer is an engineer on an offshore oil drilling ship in the Gulf of Mexico. But when it came time for him to build a home in Southern Maine, Goodson largely bypassed fossil fuels.
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The house he built is entirely off the grid, powered from rooftop solar and batteries that convert the sun’s energy to electricity. Electrons power much of his two-story home; it is heated and cooled with heat pumps, and Goodson and his wife cook meals on an induction range. Incredibly well-insulated, the entire home is heated by a small wood stove.
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Goodson loves his new house, even though it has raised the eyebrows of his drilling ship colleagues.
“All the guys at work think I’m crazy,” Goodson said during a recent tour of his home. “They think I’m living in a shack out in the woods somewhere and I go outside to use the toilet, but that’s clearly not the case.”
The house, built by New Hampshire company Unity Homes, is a far cry from a shack. Modern and spacious, it has running water and three bathrooms.
Despite also having initial concerns about her husband’s off-the-grid aspirations, Katie Goodson is a convert as well – especially after the lights stayed on during an intense storm that knocked their neighbors’ electricity out.
“I would never go back,” she told CNN. “When I tell co-workers or neighbors that we live off-grid and they see the house, they’re always like, ‘Whoa, this isn’t what I was expecting!’ It’s really fun surprising people; I live a totally normal life.”
The Goodsons are part of a small but growing number of homeowners who are choosing to build energy-efficient “panelized” homes that are pre-made in a factory. The homes are better for the climate, and although they have a high upfront cost, several homeowners say their energy savings, quality of life and overall cost of living has greatly improved since moving in.
