Good thing I'm not Catholic. If I were, I'd be saying about 18,000 Hail Marys right now.

One for each cheap BTU that I'm coveting.

Yes, it's hot and I'm coveting BTUs. BTUs are British Thermal Units and 18,000 of them would cool a couple of rooms in a house, an office or one large open space. SolCool has a hybrid Direct Current and solar Heating and Air Conditioning system that will give me those BTUs for half the energy required by my old system.

I know what you're thinking, "Sheesh Jessica, just flip a switch and turn on yer farking Air Conditioner. Shaddup already."

I would except I'd be cooling my entire house and right now I'm the only person in it. That's just too much conspicuous consumption and, frankly, it'd be embarrassing.

By cooling segments of my home (ie. the home office when I'm writing or just the bedrooms at night) I'm saving oodles of cash energy.

If I could get my hands on one of these suckers I'd be cooling those rooms at a fraction of the price. I know all of you in the North East are wondering why I just noticed that HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) is expensive. It's because it's really just begun to hit us in the Southern States. You see, heating our homes lasts just moments but the cooling is a real issue. It's only the middle of May and it's over 100 degrees here in Los Angeles.

I'm hot.

I'm grumpy.

And the economy sucks.

I've talked before about baby steps. Not all of us can just leap off the grid but the ROI on micro climate control is undisputed. My calculations have the Millennia 1.5 ton paying for itself within 13 months.

Like so many of us I'm willing to forego the crisp 68 degree cooling of a mall or a movie theater but I don't want to live in an eighty degree home. I want to be comfortable, I want to be cool and I want to have money left over at the end of the month.

I really don't think that's asking too much, and SolCool seems to agree with me. This just might be my year.

Don't get me wrong, this SolCool system also generates heat, 22,000 BTUs but it's hard for me to care right now so get ready for a mid January article where I bitch and moan about being too cold get excited about the heating elements.

I've always been a critic of what some call eco-junk. I don't think I would take a brand new HVAC system and replace it with the Millennium but I definitely will supplement my existing system with it or I'd replace an ailing system.

There are three major components of energy consumption in the typical home; Climate control, lighting and hot water. It's truly remarkable that one unit could help so much in climate control, both heating and cooling. I'd love to send you anywhere for this but the SolCool is the only AC system in the world pre-wired for solar electric, DC lighting, DC ceiling fan options. That means no funky power surges or asking your best friend's cousin to rig the electric (we all know how well that works).

I hear that they're moments away from official energy star ratings which means it'll be eligible for rebates.

*Woot*

3 and 5 ton units are scheduled for release next summer.

Because sometimes being green means keeping your green – dollars that is.