I'm a green geek.

I like stuff, I'll confess. I love to buy things. What things? I'm not sure but I'm quite certain I could end up in bankruptcy court $10 at a time so I resist the urge to purchase.

But we needed a new roof. You know, the brown spots were coming after the rain and we tried really hard to think about ignoring them and I thought maybe I'd just repaint the room -  but then reality set in.

So we're re-roofing the palace house (I do have just a little diva in me, ya know).

With a new roof comes a wonderful opportunity for a gadget buyer like me. Here in Los Angeles we insulate and weather proof and double-glaze our homes to keep the heat out. August and September are just brutal with entire weeks of 100 degree weather. Today was 98 degrees and Halloween is only a week away.

So it's all about solar.

And today the roofers installed this! (picture above right). Yeah baby, it's a solar-powered attic fan.

Not excited about it? What, are you a zombie?

This sucker will take all the air in my attic that's over 100 degrees (or so) and suck it out so that my house stays cool and dry without running the air conditioner endlessly.

Ooh, and it doesn't even plug into the wall. It comes with its own little solar panel. Mine was only $200 and it requires a bit of flashing (according to my roofer) but no other parts. He swears up and down that you can install it with a screwdriver but hanging out on the rooftop doesn't seem all that realistic to me.

See, not all of us can afford $10,000 of solar panels (or multiples thereof) for our homes. But one appliance that will pay for itself within a month or so? I'm all about that.

Wanna hear the bestest part of all? The guys at Lowes gave me 10% off because the box was dirty (filthy really) and then they carried it to my car too.

Sucka!

Now I'm even looking forward to the electric bill. Imagine that!

Note: Check with your local power company for rebates. Los Angeles (LADWP has oodles of rebates listed online)