MONROE - Improvements at the Super 8 Motel have put the business on the map for the Midwest Renewable Energy Association's Wisconsin Solar Tour.
Last year, Super 8 owners Art and Barbara Bartsch and Richard and Jane Thoman added 11 guest rooms and a swimming pool, as well as a conference room, exercise room and business room to the original 43-room.
And yet, due in part to new energy technology, the gas bills went down, thanks to 14 solar panels installed with the new construction.
"I didn't expect to do as well as we have," said Art Bartsch, who was hosting the Solar Tour, Friday at the motel.
Super 8 is the only hotel in Wisconsin with two different types of solar panel heating systems, he said.
Eight of the panels were expected to provide 50 percent of the heat for the pool water, but Bartsch said that number is closer to 80 percent. If the panels are over producing heat, their fluid drains into a holding tank until needed.
The other six panels use an evacuated tube system. Because the motel uses more hot water than the six panels produce, there's no need for a drain back tank. Excess fluid passes through a holding tank with a heat exchange and heats the domestic water which is stored in water heaters for showers and laundry.
Other measures taken during and after construction contribute to the energy conservation at the motel. The pool room and conference room are partly underground. Compact fluorescent lights are used throughout the hotel. Bathrooms, once lit with six 75-watt bulbs, now use one 18-watt fluorescent tube. New carpets are made from 20 percent recycled material. Heat pumps, connected to motion sensor thermostats, heat and cool guest rooms.
Public spaces use energy recovery ventilators with tubes that warm incoming air with the exhausted air. Heat produced by the pool room's dehumidifier is partly recovered and used to heat the whirl pool water.
"I'm very impressed," Bartsch said, about the heat recovery systems.
The Super 8 earned the Travel Green Wisconsin certificate for reducing their environmental footprint through eco-friendly practices. The Wisconsin Environmental Initiative certifies the applicants.
The Wisconsin Solar Tour is part of the National Solar Tour coordinated by the American Solar Energy Society.
The Wisconsin Solar Tour continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today with free tours of four area homes.
For a complete listing of tour sites or to sign up for a guided bus tour, contact MREA at info@the-mrea.org, call 715-592-6595, or visit www.mrea.org.
Last year, Super 8 owners Art and Barbara Bartsch and Richard and Jane Thoman added 11 guest rooms and a swimming pool, as well as a conference room, exercise room and business room to the original 43-room.
And yet, due in part to new energy technology, the gas bills went down, thanks to 14 solar panels installed with the new construction.
"I didn't expect to do as well as we have," said Art Bartsch, who was hosting the Solar Tour, Friday at the motel.
Super 8 is the only hotel in Wisconsin with two different types of solar panel heating systems, he said.
Eight of the panels were expected to provide 50 percent of the heat for the pool water, but Bartsch said that number is closer to 80 percent. If the panels are over producing heat, their fluid drains into a holding tank until needed.
The other six panels use an evacuated tube system. Because the motel uses more hot water than the six panels produce, there's no need for a drain back tank. Excess fluid passes through a holding tank with a heat exchange and heats the domestic water which is stored in water heaters for showers and laundry.
Other measures taken during and after construction contribute to the energy conservation at the motel. The pool room and conference room are partly underground. Compact fluorescent lights are used throughout the hotel. Bathrooms, once lit with six 75-watt bulbs, now use one 18-watt fluorescent tube. New carpets are made from 20 percent recycled material. Heat pumps, connected to motion sensor thermostats, heat and cool guest rooms.
Public spaces use energy recovery ventilators with tubes that warm incoming air with the exhausted air. Heat produced by the pool room's dehumidifier is partly recovered and used to heat the whirl pool water.
"I'm very impressed," Bartsch said, about the heat recovery systems.
The Super 8 earned the Travel Green Wisconsin certificate for reducing their environmental footprint through eco-friendly practices. The Wisconsin Environmental Initiative certifies the applicants.
The Wisconsin Solar Tour is part of the National Solar Tour coordinated by the American Solar Energy Society.
The Wisconsin Solar Tour continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today with free tours of four area homes.
For a complete listing of tour sites or to sign up for a guided bus tour, contact MREA at info@the-mrea.org, call 715-592-6595, or visit www.mrea.org.