WEST BEND - If Allen Bruggink of the town of Trenton is the local Pied Piper of renewable energy, this weekend is his annual festival.

Actually, it’s one of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s main events. The Wisconsin Solar Tours includes 41 homes and businesses in the southeastern part of the state and six homes in Washington County are open to the public.

"My interest is just to spread the word," Bruggink said of his half-decade in the tour as well as study and use of renewable energy that spans four decades.

"It’s just an amazing growth," said Amy Heart, programs director for MREA, based just outside of Stevens Point.

This year there are more than 200 sites statewide, compared to about 140 last year on the tour, she said. Businesses are available for viewing today and residences will be open to the public on Saturday.

"The heating costs in the Midwest will be a big concern," Heart said.

In addition to saving money, people want to do something positive for the environment, she said. The number of visitors has taken off since the tour’s start 11 or 12 years ago, topping 3,000 last year.

The tour includes brand new homes as well as retro fits.

"We couldn’t do it without the homeowners and their willingness to share their stories. It allows you to see these technologies up close and ask questions such as what was the financing like and how did you you install it," Heart said.

Count Bruggink among those willing homeowners.

While he feels the country is at the mercy of foreign energy producers, especially oil, he enjoys sharing his firsthand knowledge to help people become more self-sufficient.

Bruggink’s home, which he had built in 1994 on 11 acres at 5901 Oak Road, town of Trenton, models what he teaches.

Bruggink has:

• Three wind generators.
• Two sets of solar panels (one on a sun tracker).
• Hot water panels for daily use and for heat storage.
• Well water pumped through a fan coil for air conditioning.
• Rain water storage system.
• An earth-bermed site.
• Passive solar windows.
• No furnace.

On the southeastern Wisconsin solar tour list, the only category of seven that isn’t checked off after Bruggink’s name is geothermal heating and cooling. He doesn’t need it.

"My home is a zero-energy home. I get a check from the electric company every month for the excess I produce," Bruggink said.

"You’re dang right I like that," said the retired Wisconsin Gas Co. (now We Energies) industrial service technician.

He’s never had an energy bill since moving into his house 14 years ago.

"The biggest kick I get is when I tell people, ‘Come see my meter run backwards,’" Bruggink said with a smile.

Michael Richter, another tour veteran, pays $180 in energy bills for his 1,500-square-foot home in the town of Addison. That’s for the whole year.

He does it to keep his heating and cooling bills under control and rues over how the MREA seems to be focusing more on climate change. He laughs when he’s called cheap, but doesn’t deny it.

"As a ham operator I’ve operated solar for many years," he said, utilizing 60-watt panels.

He bought the house in 2004 and shares it with a roommate.

Many of the renewable energy features came with the house. They include:

* Solar space heating, in which a solar panel warms the air and injects it into the house with a fan that’s powered by a small panel.

* A photo-voltaic (PV) array.

* Wood pellet stove.

* Superinsulation, which Richter believes to be in the R50 and R60 range.

Some of the projects can be done by an able do-it-yourselfer, such as the solar space heating, said Richter, a wireless electrical engineer. Others shouldn’t be attempted by the typical handyman, such as the wood pellet stove, he said.

Some changes can pay off in a couple years, others will never return the full investment, he said. Equipment costs, how much you can do yourself and other factors make the payback fluctuate wildly, he added. Changeable government grants are another wildcard.

The good news: Anyone can start saving energy and money in a few months.

Quick and easy improvements include compact fluorescent bulbs, weather stripping, and turning down the thermostat and turning off energy in use, Richter and Bruggink say.

"If it’s plugged in, it’s using energy," Bruggink said.

The electricity to his TV, VCR and DVR can be turned off with one flick of the switch.

He recommends watt meters to measure the current being used by household devices, such as refrigerators that might be economical to replace, or just to be aware of the energy expended throughout the house. Three meters are available for checkout from the West Bend Community Memorial Library for two weeks at a time.

"It adds quite a bit of savings, doing all the little things," said Richter, who also uses a solar sun oven.

"Put it in the sun, come home from work and your food’s done. It’s a slow cooker," he said. "It’ll cook your chicken or whatever."

Their desire to save money and energy can also be found in their choice of travel.

Bruggink’s Jetta diesel gets 47 miles per gallon. He credits the-better-than-EPA-estimate economy to a scan gauge that shows mileage instantaneously. It was a Father’s Day gift. He also has an electric bike and an electric car that’s a bit of a project.

Richter has a Nissan pickup that gets 32 mpg and a Ford Escort that gets 52 mpg.

"The biggest way to cut fuel prices is to control that right foot," Richter said.

Of course, there is no substitute for building an energy-efficient home from the ground up.

Bruggink began with his home site, selecting a south-facing hill that was high enough for wind generators. The south-side has plenty of low-E (emissivity) windows in 11/2 stories and the colder north side has a half-story above the ground.

Insulation was laid before the concrete basement was poured.

Go on the tour Saturday and he can show you the sealed water barrels in the basement and explain how it heats and cools the house.

Richter notes the roof vent allows hot air to escape in the summer time. The central air-conditioning runs a half-hour on the hottest day.

"I’m not sweltering at all," he said.

Neither homeowner sweats the electric bill.